I am interested in buying a meat grinder for making burger out of some of my deer kills.
I have always steaked the deer for the most part with a bit taken to someone else to grind it but now want to do my own grinding.I love deer chili !

Can I get a decent one for $150.00 or less ?
Will be using for 2 or 3 deer a year.

Thanks
Craig

The grinding attachment on a kitchen aid will work for small batches like your talking about. Also I just saw an Lem #8 at sportsmans warehouse in that PRIc e range.

The $60 special from WalMart has not broken yet for us, and we've probably ground about 15 deer/antelope with it.

This. We've ground a moose, 6 caribou, and 4 deer in the last three years with my wife's mixer and the grinder attachment.

In the past I've used the hand crank cast iron type as well as several stand alone tabletop electric units and the KitchenAid kicks their ass. I keep the blade sharp with the surface grinder at work but they can be stoned if you don't have a grinder at your disposal. Keep it sharp and it will chew trough an amazing amount of trimmings in a pretty short time.

Now that sounds like what I am looking for !
Do you have the make and model ?

Thanks
Craig

Same here. I bought 2 on clearance for $30 each about 8 years ago. The "spare" is still in the box. Mine looks very similar to this one. Check out the reviews.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Prago-Weston-Heavy-Duty-Electric-Meat-Grinder/14321012

That's the one to try on the cheap. Mine worked good till I over did it with a hunk of too frozen buck and it blew out the plastic gearing. Next, got a LEM #8 Big Bite and very happy with it for about $260 on sale. Just sucks the meat right in. Of course a #12 would be even better but that little Weston-branded unit gets it done.

Only thing I can say is do not buy a grinder with plastic gears, get a grinder with metal ones. Had an Outdoor Edge, 3 deer and bang.. Not worth trying to fix it. Bought a LEM no issues 8 deer and counting. Basically you get what you pay for.

Check out used restaurant equipment and supply stores as there are often great bargains to had there for very low prices.

Mid size LEM here, works great. Check for 'refurbished' grinders or ebay deals. LEM will send you a catalog to look over models.

For the price range you're looking for,this one might be a good choice.Reviews are good too.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267

I'd eat a bullet before I tried grinding with a KitchenAid attachment again. You boys are some tough SOB's.

I bought a Cabela's 1hp grinder about 10 years ago. I wish that when I first started hunting, I'd spent the money on an equivalent grinder.

I tried a couple of cheaper ones and ended up using a larger hand grinder for a number of years. I finally gave up and bought the Cabela's.

Likely you can grind a $60 unit with a 1hp Cabelas!

Steelhead...get your own kitchen aid....or better yet buy the wife a new one for Xmas and keep her old one. Problem solved..without the bullet. :-)

I was in the same place a couple of years ago. I ended up the 1/2 hp Cabelas commercial model #8. Got it on sale and an with a discount... No regrets, it will really grind meat. One thing I notice on some of the cheaper units is that they used plastic or composite gears, that turned me off.

Buy once cry once...

good luck,

The cheap grinders, like the $60 Walmart, will work a long time on 2 deer a year. They'll be slower than bigger grinders, but so what? It's not like you'll be grinding tons of burger.

It ain't a problem with the wife. I've tried grinding with one, that is some SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW grinding.

I don't find the kitchen aid to be hatefully slow. It surely isn't as fast as a decent dedicated unit, but if the meat is firm, preferably with a few ice crystal in it, it grinds fairly fast.
Edit to add: the sausage stuffer IS painfully slow. I'm looking at a dedicated stuffing unit for Christmas.

I used the inexpensive wal mart one for 5 years and 13 deer. plastic gear gave out, I picked up another on amazon for $50. 4 deer so far on that one. Processing one deer pays for itself. Ill continue with what has worked so far.

You said what I was trying to think of saying. Some just have a better grasp of the English language. I ground part of 1 deer with the Kitchen Aid. After having used other grinders for years (not my own) I knew to not continue. I bit the bullet and bought a 3/4 hp Cabelas. Life is good.

I bought a old #22 Hobart that will grind like nobodies business for 75.00 from a guy who retired and was relocating to Florida. Deals are around if you look in the right places.

That can just be read in so many different ways!

I just now ordered this grinder. According to the video it has all metal internal parts and steel shaft and gears. I'll post a review in a couple of weeks, and thanks for the link.

I went through a half dozen cheap ones over the years, finally bought a 3/4 hp Cabelas and could not be more pleased.
Save a coupon, wait for a sale and snag one. As good as mine is I'll bet the 1/2 hp would be fine. Did my spike elk this year in 17 minutes. Sucks the meat in without stuffing and is QUIET!
Worth the extra $$$ for me. And I'm a cheap bastard.

We bought a #32 grinder with the v belt pulley from northern tools mounted it on a board powered it with a motor from harbor freight and it grinds anything you put in it !

TFF

I have a #5 LEM big bite grinder and it is plenty of machine for occasional deer processing. When I first looked at it, it looked tiny compared to some of the monstrous ones they sell and I was concerned it would be too small. No worries unless you want to open your own butcher shop. Basspro has them on sale this week for $219.

I'd either get one of those or go for one of the really cheap ones and see how long it lasts. Take your time and don't crowd it too much. If you can get through 10 deer with a $60 machine, you can't argue with that. While you are using it, maybe watch Craigslist for a lightly used, LEM, Weston, Cabelas, or if you are real lucky, a $75 Hobart!

My wife has the kitchen aid attachment. It came free with the mixer. I've used it a few times with venison. It works alright, but i usually only do a little bit to make sausage. I don't run a whole deer through it etc.

I helped a former coworker of mine grind horseradish root one time, his home built/modified hand grinder schit the bed in about 5 minutes, so we used his wife's kitchen aid with the grinder. It ground that tough crap a bit better but by the time we were done there was grease leaking out of the motor on the mixer, and it was hot as hell. He just wiped off the grease and told me to keep my damn mouth shut.

Now that's funny!!!!!

I feed the chunks into the grinder and my wife weighs and wraps it as it comes out. The KitchenAid is fast enough that she can't keep up with it so I guess it's fast enough for us. I like not having an extra appliance taking up cabinet space too, but I guess that's how you get when you live in a 600sqft hobbit house!

Don't know if the newer ones are as good, but my $120 Northern Tool one has been working fro 15-20 years, with as many elk and antelope and a few deer.

Any grinder from Cabelas is over priced, even with a sale and coupon. I do have the grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid also. It works great if you freeze your trims and take out enough for one or two meals and grind that. I did that with an old bull I shot in 2009 that I found out the steaks were too tough to chew. I'd do that instead of paying Cabelas twice of what they are worth

That's your opinion. Always cute to watch guys give opinions like they're facts. I doubt you'd use a Barnes bullet shot from a Lilja barreled McMillan stocked rifle cut meat with a Ingram blade and put in a yeti cooler either.......

To each his own and many ways to skin cats.

Well, if you are going to process deer, a decent meat grinder actually offers you utility over and above a grinder attachment on a mixer or perhaps a walmart special.....depending on the volume of meat you process.

Custom rifles, knives, and Yeti coolers are for enthusiasts, ie looneys.....not that there is anything wrong with that. They are in no way necessary to put a whitetail in the freezer. In those items I see beauty and coolness, but practically zero utility.

Wonder if there are meat grinder looneys? I bet there are. I know there is some guy out there who spent $10K on some massive commercial Hobart grinder that requires three phase power, takes up a small room, and grinds 72 pounds of meat per second.....and uses it to grind his 50 lbs of deer meat a year or maybe make a little sausage...and who looks down his nose at the guys with the Cabelas grinders!

I used mine ($120 Northern Tool) the other day and it did not sound quite right, so I took it apart. One of the gears had dried and galled the shaft a little. Emory cloth and some lube fixed it right up. Sounds great now. Never did quit working just sounded rough. I am thinking about seeing if I can seal it and make it run in oil instead of having grease in there. miles

That's for sure. This forum is filled with guys that have more money than brains. At least my opinions are based on 50 plus years of experience

This one has served us for 16yrs. now doing an elk & a deer every year with the occasional antelope thrown in and sausage making on top of it all. Very satisfied for <$100.00

You could have just gave your advice but chose to trash mine.
Tried to give a good tip based on 45 years of experience but some are too stuck in the stone age to listen.
Keep chipping arrowheads in your cave.
You've never seen a 3/4 hp Cabelas grinder do an elk have you?
But then I may have put more of them on the ground than you have.
I've spent enough money on cheap ones to buy two of them.
Do the math. With "your" brain. Is it worth it? The OP can decide. Or someone else considering a grinder.
My opinion is worth the same as yours.
About $0.02.

When I get serious,I use the 6" throat grinder out at the farm.

BTW, this year I put my 48th elk on the ground. So I do know thing or two about grinding elk, beef, or deer.

I've wished I'd have bought higher quality before after taking the cheaper route first. Can't say I've ever looked back and wished I'd have spent less after it was all said and done.

You are right. I should not have said anything. Please accept my apology.

My neighbor is a butcher by trade however he now runs the meat dept for a major grocery chain in AZ. He cuts all my game for me and several other guys. I usually wrap while he cuts.

He bought a 3/4 hp Cabelas grinder and it is toooo slow. I can't imagine using a smaller one. I bid on every Hobart I see come up for auction. I will get one some day. Missed that last one that came up as I was hunting and didn't get in on time. Went for $600. They are about $4000 new.

He probably cuts about 10 animals a year. The bigger grinder would be very nice.

Well I had the Kitchen Aid grinder attachment and used it for years,the base gear broke in the mixer. I took the long view and gave it to a coworker who could use the mixer for parts and the grinder on his own. Partially frozen meat gives you the most consistant grind. Extra hp to do this is nice I have used a 1 hp #22 grinder from Cabelas for the last 8 years. It's great,I only have $220 in it but well worth that and they go for about $500+. Heartily concur if a guy can get a Hobart used that is the ultimate way to go. Magnum Man.