Lets talk Meat Grinders

[Adicted]

I am need of a new one. Tell me about yours. What HP do you have and have u had any issues with it. I grind up 80% of all my animals. Have done 7 in last 2 years. Time for a new one. Where did you get it? Rough $ u paid. And would u buy again.

[rossislider]

I run the 3/4 HP LEM. I bought it at Bass Pro on discount for about $400. Since I bought it a few years ago I have dumped another $200-$300 in upgrades (sausage accessories, jumbo cutting boards, meat bins, etc.) It has been a great grinder and fantastic investment. I've done 5 elk, as many deer, a couple of antelope, and at least 150 pounds in domestic meat. If you do the math, it has already paid for itself in butcher fees at least five times over, and my meat tastes exponentially better. The grinder is still going as strong as the day I got it. The only time I have had an issue with it was the result of operator error, I put it together with a plastic washer in the wrong place. It didn't damage anything, but it didn't grind correctly until I discovered my error and moved the washer. Here is an old post and review of mine about it.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/56953-sausage-fest-and-meat-grinder-review/?hl=%2Bsausage+%2Bfest

 

If it broke today, I would buy a LEM again without hesitation. The only difference is, I would probably spend about $100 more and upgrade to the 1 HP (on sale now on the LEM site). It isn't so much a power issue, the 3/4 HP is a beast and has as much power as I need. Speed wise, it chews through meat faster than I can feed it. Rather it is the meat feeding hopper/throat opening. When you jump up to the 1 HP you get a big jump up in the hopper/throat size from the #12 to the #22 to stuff the meat into. A bigger opening would allow me to dump a lot of meat in quicker, especially on the secondary fine grinds where the meat tends to stick to the sides of the throat, and more than gravity (you use the stomper) is needed to get it through to the auger .

 

http://www.lemproducts.com/product/big-bite-grinder-22/butcher-meat-grinders

 

One other suggestion, a heavy duty fillet knife may be the second best tool (next to the grinder) that I purchased for processing my own game at home in my kitchen. I'm not referring to the cheap $10-$20 dollar ones, I use the Knives of Alaska (KOA) Coho Fillet knife for about $70. When I process game I usually do it with my wife or a hunting buddy. After using my KOA Coho compared to their kitchen knives, hunting knives, or cheap fillet knives, it always turns into a fight for the KOA. I can break down a quarter CLEANLY in big chunks at twice the speed using this knife as opposed to any other knife I own, and yes I have and have used Havalon, Outdoor Edge, etc. Those others are fantastic for in the field, but don't even compare in the kitchen. The KOA is long, very sturdy and holds an edge like no other "kitchen" knife I own. I got so tired of fighting over the KOA with my wife and buddies, that I went and bought a second this summer,

 

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Knives-of-Alaska-Coho-Fillet-Knife/productDetail/Fillet-Knives-and-Processing/prod9999000095/cat101133

[muleybowhunter]

cabela's 3/4 hp commercial one, i am on my second grinder we have done a bunch of animals.

[TOBY]

Grinders are like optics. buy once cry once. Get at least a 32mm plate. I was trained on a 5 horse 3 phase commercial grinder, so nothing compares. I have the second to the largest cabelas grinder and have beat the piss out of it for 6 years with no issues. I cut a few elk and more deer than i want each year and it does well. Smaller grinders work ok but I want to get done fast and move on to the next deer or elk . The smaller the grinder the smaller chunks of meat you have to make to drop down thr throat. I dont want to cut 1" chunks of meat to grind preferably. Go big or grind all night...your choice.

[Curtis Reed]

I have the #12, 1/2 HP grinder from Northern Tool. I'm very happy with it and gets great reviews. I got it on sale for $99 but I think it is $129.99 normally.

 

http://m.northerntool.com/products/shop~tools~product_200451267_200451267?adv=false

[Adicted]

I run the 3/4 HP LEM. I bought it at Bass Pro on discount for about $400. Since I bought it a few years ago I have dumped another $200-$300 in upgrades (sausage accessories, jumbo cutting boards, meat bins, etc.) It has been a great grinder and fantastic investment. I've done 5 elk, as many deer, a couple of antelope, and at least 150 pounds in domestic meat. If you do the math, it has already paid for itself in butcher fees at least five times over, and my meat tastes exponentially better. The grinder is still going as strong as the day I got it. The only time I have had an issue with it was the result of operator error, I put it together with a plastic washer in the wrong place. It didn't damage anything, but it didn't grind correctly until I discovered my error and moved the washer. Here is an old post and review of mine about it.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/56953-sausage-fest-and-meat-grinder-review/?hl=%2Bsausage+%2Bfest

 

If it broke today, I would buy a LEM again without hesitation. The only difference is, I would probably spend about $100 more and upgrade to the 1 HP (on sale now on the LEM site). It isn't so much a power issue, the 3/4 HP is a beast and has as much power as I need. Speed wise, it chews through meat faster than I can feed it. Rather it is the meat feeding hopper/throat opening. When you jump up to the 1 HP you get a big jump up in the hopper/throat size from the #12 to the #22 to stuff the meat into. A bigger opening would allow me to dump a lot of meat in quicker, especially on the secondary fine grinds where the meat tends to stick to the sides of the throat, and more than gravity (you use the stomper) is needed to get it to the auger it through.

 

http://www.lemproducts.com/product/big-bite-grinder-22/butcher-meat-grinders

 

One other suggestion, a heavy duty fillet knife may be the second best tool (next to the grinder) that I purchased for processing my own game at home in my kitchen. I'm not referring to the cheap $10-$20 dollar ones, I use the Knives of Alaska (KOA) Coho Fillet knife for about $70. When I process game I usually do it with my wife or a hunting buddy. After using my KOA Coho compared to their kitchen knives, hunting knives, or cheap fillet knives, it always turns into a fight for the KOA. I can break down a quarter CLEANLY at twice the speed using this knife as opposed to any other knife I own, and yes I have and have used Havalon, Outdoor Edge, etc. Those others are fantastic for in the field, but don't even compare in the kitchen. The KOA is long, very sturdy and holds an edge life no other "kitchen" knife I own. I got so tired of fighting over the KOA with my wife and buddies, that I went and bought a second this summer,

 

 

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Knives-of-Alaska-Coho-Fillet-Knife/productDetail/Fillet-Knives-and-Processing/prod9999000095/cat101133

 

Thx for the long great report...been looking for a great filet knife

[Coues79]

I run the 3/4 HP LEM. I bought it at Bass Pro on discount for about $400. Since I bought it a few years ago I have dumped another $200-$300 in upgrades (sausage accessories, jumbo cutting boards, meat bins, etc.) It has been a great grinder and fantastic investment. I've done 5 elk, as many deer, a couple of antelope, and at least 150 pounds in domestic meat. If you do the math, it has already paid for itself in butcher fees at least five times over, and my meat tastes exponentially better. The grinder is still going as strong as the day I got it. The only time I have had an issue with it was the result of operator error, I put it together with a plastic washer in the wrong place. It didn't damage anything, but it didn't grind correctly until I discovered my error and moved the washer. Here is an old post and review of mine about it.

 

http://www.coueswhitetail.com/forums/topic/56953-sausage-fest-and-meat-grinder-review/?hl=%2Bsausage+%2Bfest

 

If it broke today, I would buy a LEM again without hesitation. The only difference is, I would probably spend about $100 more and upgrade to the 1 HP (on sale now on the LEM site). It isn't so much a power issue, the 3/4 HP is a beast and has as much power as I need. Speed wise, it chews through meat faster than I can feed it. Rather it is the meat feeding hopper/throat opening. When you jump up to the 1 HP you get a big jump up in the hopper/throat size from the #12 to the #22 to stuff the meat into. A bigger opening would allow me to dump a lot of meat in quicker, especially on the secondary fine grinds where the meat tends to stick to the sides of the throat, and more than gravity (you use the stomper) is needed to get it to the auger it through.

 

http://www.lemproducts.com/product/big-bite-grinder-22/butcher-meat-grinders

 

One other suggestion, a heavy duty fillet knife may be the second best tool (next to the grinder) that I purchased for processing my own game at home in my kitchen. I'm not referring to the cheap $10-$20 dollar ones, I use the Knives of Alaska (KOA) Coho Fillet knife for about $70. When I process game I usually do it with my wife or a hunting buddy. After using my KOA Coho compared to their kitchen knives, hunting knives, or cheap fillet knives, it always turns into a fight for the KOA. I can break down a quarter CLEANLY at twice the speed using this knife as opposed to any other knife I own, and yes I have and have used Havalon, Outdoor Edge, etc. Those others are fantastic for in the field, but don't even compare in the kitchen. The KOA is long, very sturdy and holds an edge life no other "kitchen" knife I own. I got so tired of fighting over the KOA with my wife and buddies, that I went and bought a second this summer,

 

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Knives-of-Alaska-Coho-Fillet-Knife/productDetail/Fillet-Knives-and-Processing/prod9999000095/cat101133

If I were to write a review, it would be identical to this. I own the same grinder and have the same compliments for it and the one suggestion for a bigger hopper. There has been nothing it cannot handle with ease. The regrind is where that larger neck indeed comes into play. I use a different plunger than the one that comes with it. Paid in the 400 range for mine as well, however, every so often they have a large discount/sale on them.

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

I hear the foot pedal is nice too , do you guys run the foot pedal?

[rossislider]

I hear the foot pedal is nice too , do you guys run the foot pedal?

My buddy got one free with his LEM as part of a rebate/promo LEM did last year. He let me borrow it. I now plan to buy one prior to this season.

[GreyGhost85]

I run the big 1 3/4 hp grinder from cabelas. It's been going strong for about 10 years. We process 5-10 animals year. It has ground many thousands of pounds. The foot pedal is the only way to go.

[trophyseeker]

Cabela's had an electric slicer and a grinder on sale in a flyer this week. I'll see if I still have it around somewhere for the details.

[Flatlander]

Really? No comments from trphyhntr yet?

 

Someone better do a wellness check.

[Big or Bust]

Anybody looking for a grinder, I have one for sale in Tucson. Electric, either 3/4 or 1 Horse with everything you need. PM me.

[Pine Donkey]

I have used cheap little ones and large ones, but have settled on the 1/2 hp Lem. It does everything I need, but not to big/heavy to store away. We do about 5 animals a year, mainly elk, and have had it for 6 years. Ground an entire buffalo in about 6 hours.

 

The 1/2 hp is not the grinder to blow through a bunch of meat real quickly. I tend to grind on a Sunday, NASCAR on the TV and a few cold ones to help the process.

 

By the way, I heard it is possible to butcher and grind without drinking beer, but never seen anyone actually try it.

[25-06]

 

By the way, I heard it is possible to butcher and grind without drinking beer, but never seen anyone actually try it.

That's a old wives tale.