Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best meat grinder?

lem or cabelas are good grinders and you dont need a huge one. ran a lem #5 for 4-5 years and it saw 50-150lb batches 4-5 times a year without any problems

bought a used #8 cabelas and have been using it for a year or so. grinds a little faster and works good.

main thing it sharp blades and cold meat. it also helps to add a little water to your mixes to make it go thru the grinder easier. make sure to tighten the head on any grinder tight, foot pedal is great to have with any grinder.

Need a better grinder, our old one is getting tired, Also setting up to do all our own butchering, including beef. So who makes a good grinder for doing several deer, a hog or two, and a beef every year?

After buying two I would recommend start by going up one size bigger than you think you need. I process 4-6 deer and antelope a year and usually at 6-10 pigs I have the LEM brand and my dad has the Cabelas brand size 8 both were pretty equal. We used to run both to process our deer or pigs together on the same day but after I bought a bigger one horse power size 22 and it goes faster through meat than the two smaller ones combined with half the clean up time. I had the seal go out on the #8 LEM and their customer service department was very good to deal with. When I bought a bigger one I bought another LEM size 22 but got a refurbished one for a lot less and it has run like a champ for five years now. Big difference in how the bigger size 22 doesn’t bog down on semi frozen meat and the bigger neck makes loading the second grind go faster. This time I also got a separate knife for each grind plate and kept them paired together and it makes a noticeable difference in how long they stayed sharp and doesn’t gum up as fast. Another thing I wish I bought sooner was the foot pedal for the power cord, and the bulk bag and tape dispenser kit for bulk sausage and hamburger it’s so much faster than a vacuum sealer and stays just as fresh for a year in my freezer. The plastic meat lugs LEM sells are great get at least one more than you think you need they are really handy, aren’t that expensive, and make the day go smoother, we use them for a lot of stuff like picking vegetables in the garden too, but if you get a smaller size grinder get the economy or shallower meat lug so it fits under the grinder spout, the heavy duty doesn’t fit under the number 8 LEM I have. I don’t do little batches of grind if we get the grinder out I try to do a few animals at once or call over a buddy or two to get their freezer cleaned out to make it worth the clean up. Made a day of it but the two of us made 70 lbs of antelope and wild hog breakfast sausage, 80 lbs venison and wild hog Italian sausage, and 40 lbs of venison hamburger with 15% hog belly a few Saturdays ago. All got a double grind the size 22 grinder didn’t slow us down it was waiting on me more than the other way around, going up in size on the neck of the grinder makes feeding the second grind in a lot easier big difference in going from an 8 to the 22 not sure if the size bigger 32 would have gone any faster. I don’t think I need to go up to the size 32 and I have no complaints with my LEM grinder but if I were starting over today, for the price I would be tempted to try the big size 32 1.5 hp from meat your maker especially if your going to tackle a whole beef at home!, I have bought a few little things like a bone saw and vacuum bags and the chamber vacuum sealer from meat your maker .com and it’s been working well for over a year, they were helpful on the phone coaching me on how to use the vacuum sealer when I got it.

but clogs badly with connective tissue and has since new. Hoping to solve that issue now that we need a new one.

Who is that Bob?