Meat grinders

[booger]

Anyone have any advice on meat grinders?

We decided that we want a separate meat grinder, not part of another gizmo. We want it to be manual, not electric. I've only just begun to look around and would welcome any suggestions!

I found this one that's similar to the ones from my childhood:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/...0&PHOTOS=on&productId=22776&categoryId=763441

Now you can make meat loaf, sausage, ground beef, turkey stuffing, fruit cobblers, vegetable sauces and many other delicious ground foods the easy way! Old World style cast iron grinder is good-sized: 12in.H x 4in.W x 12in.L. Bright plated; disassembles for easy cleanup. Clamps to a table edge up to 1 1/2in. thick. Includes sausage stuffer attachments in 3 sizes. Grinds 1.65 pounds per minute.

Nothing fancy. Won't do gobs of pounds per minute but should get teh job done and be sturdy if it is, in fact, like the ones I've used before. $14.99 from Northern Tool.

 

[goatlady2]

I used to have one like that and it worked just fine as long as you cut the meat in small pieces and trimmed the tendons/gristle really well as those tend to really gun up the grinder. It takes LOTS of arm power so be sure to mount very securely and at a good height for your arm, and be sure to change arms a lot or you will end up with a charley horse in the biceps.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

Take a look at the Lehman's Hardware (http://www.lehmans.com) catalog for their manual meat grinders. I have some meat processing supply mail order places listed in the FAQ as well that will also have some interesting equipment you may want to look at.

I use an electric grinder now, but have used a manual in the past when I was a boy. The thing you want to remember is that the manual mills simply must be solidly mounted on something heavy or immovable or you'll work yourself to death trying to crank the thing. You'll also want the crank at a good height for comfortable turning. Getting it too low or high is hard on the arms and shoulders.

Like Goatlady says you'll need to trim as much of the tendons and silverskin (membrane) out as you can as these make cranking difficult and the smaller the pieces you cut the meat into the easier they'll go through.

You'll want two sizes of plates so that you can coarse grind stuff and a smaller one for finer grinds. A good hamburger ought to be at least a medium grind or a little finer, but good chili calls for chunky meat.

Look at Lehmans and the meat processing suppliers I mentioned and you'll get a good feel for what's available. If you think you're going to be grinding a lot of meat at one time you'll really be doing yourself a favor to get a larger grinder. I've put an entire deer through a clamp-on grinder way back when and even for a sixteen year old boy it was a chore.

.....Alan.

 

[booger]

Thanks! I can never seem to remember to check Lehman's. Must have some mental block against them. :sb:

I'm still doing some reading up on the grinder subject and have come across several complaints about rust. Most grinders that I've seen so far seem to be made from the same things, mostly plated cast iron or stainless steel.

Yes, one of the larger sizes would be best for us. Thanks for reinforcing that. I tend to focus on cost and have been known to forget needed things like size.

I do remember how much muscle power it takes. Boy, do I remember! We'll probably only be grinding meat twice a year so, between the six of us (and mucho bribes for the kids ), we can deal a manual.

Just thinking out loud again. Thanks for the links and info!