Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting best meat grinder?

I have a large LEM and like it.

The Cabelas,Lem,and Weston grinders work fine but they aren’t a commercial grinder.Compared to true commercial grinder they are slow.We used a Cabelas size 22 and a Lem 32 got a good deal on a Hobart 4822 it easily out grinds both of them running at the same time.Anybody that thinks their Cabelas or Weston is a beast has never been around a real meat grinder and there are grinders a lot bigger than a 4822

Check out The Sausage Maker. Have done business with them for years. They have a good sale going right now on some great grinders....

Yep, loaded question.

How in the hell would one know what is best.
Gonna try every single one sold, under different conditions?

We have a pre-BP Cabella's 1hp.
Only complaint is it's heavy and not self cleaning.

Well built is heavy.
Anyone to design a self cleaning grinder will get rich.

$5,000 versus $500

$500 is going to do everything 99% of the average hunter is going to ever need.

I have a Cabela's to which I added a footpedal, does a great job on my 1-2 deer a year.

He’s probably out spreading manure But seriously if you’re looking at old commercial grinders get one that’s at least 1/2 hp. I have an old 1/3 hp Hobart. It still works great but is kind of slow and bogs down with semi frozen meat. They’re also really heavy. For occasional use I think I’d buy a Cabelas grinder if it were me.

Love my pedal.
Only a few bucks at Harbor Fraught.
Only issue, it is a click on/click off.
Wish it was momentary.
Still works ok.

I bought a small lem when I was in college, about 8 years later I was doing processing as a side gig and needed an upgrade to handle the volume. Decided to go for the Cabela's brand because they were a hair cheaper than Lem of the same size. Tried it on one deer and it sucked. Auger got hot, cooked meat it was supposed to grind and clogged easily. Everything I don't want in a grinder. I took it back and told them it was junk. I would avoid all Cabela's junk, haven't gotten anything worth owning from there in a long time. Powder and bullets are about the only thing I use my points on.

Went with the Lem because that's what my old one was. I just went bigger, not sure right off hand how big butHave been very happy with it. Got a mixer attachment and a juicer attachment for processing tomatoes. We use it multiple times a year.

We must have gotten grinders from the same lot as mine did the same thing. Lots of people have Cabela's grinders that work properly though so we likely just drew short straws in the Chinese QC gamble. I too went with a LEM and it has worked fine, albeit way too loud.

I have an LEM 1 hp and it works great!

I bought a 1 1/2hp European #32 grinder in the 80's and haven't had any problems at all with it. Just lay a 14" metal chop saw blade on a flat surface and sharpen the knife and plates before each use.

Like a lot of their higher priced products Cabela's seems to switch names and models on their grinders. Like their scopes and bino's I'm sure they're rebranded items. A couple of buddies have the 1/2 hp Commercial model that was made by Weston and swear by them. Not sure who makes the newer models but my nephew has a 1 1/2 hp Carnivore that grinds 15-20 deer every year.

If I remember correctly (it's been over a decade), Cabela's had me contact Weston to try to fix the heat problem before returning. Weston sent me a tube of lube/grease for the gears but that didn't help. No slight on Weston, as I said it's the QC issue with everything from China. Some duds come off the line right next to exemplary examples. Case in point, I bought two Athlon scopes with consecutive serial numbers. One works flawlessly and the other would pop the locking windage turret up while shooting. "Price" we pay for less expensive goods.

I've got an LEM #12, works great after a few elk, deer and the occasional beef and pork roasts we use for sticks and sausages. We have the LEM 5lb sausage stuffer, I wish I would have gotten the 10lb.

Only grinder I’ve used is the 1/2 horse Carnivore from Cabelas. If you bought the 1 horse you will be more than happy. The pedal switch is a must. The neck coolers actually work. Bought an extra and swap them out on major grinds. Also bought the big mixer attachment. If you mix in fat or seasonings or make sausage it works well. We bag any ground product straight off the grinder with the largest tube attachment and seal with a tape dispenser. You won’t regret going the DoItYourself route.

Any of the 3/4 hp big name brands will do a good job. They will all eat the meat as fast as you can feed it for the first grind. If you are doing a second grind is when the extra power comes in handy.
Money spent saves you time. The bigger grinders accept larger pieces of meat and are easier to clean.
Keep the meat partially frozen for the second grind and your life will be a lot easier.
Last year sold my 3/4 hp Cabelas grinder and bought a 1 1/2 Lem. The 3/4 did an OK job but the 1 1/2 makes me smile, especially since we like a second grind for our burger.