Deer season is upon us, time for the annual meat grinder thread.

Are people still liking the LEM products for value and what model?

Other makes and models?

I've had the need on 2 cows this month. May be time for me to buy a good one.

LEM are good and they usually have sales... sometimes they have refurbished ones on their website for bargain prices...

I bought a 1hp from Cabelas.

I was a meat cutter for 24yrs and find it works great. Grind the meat slightly frozen and keep as much tendon out as possible.

I am tempted to say I have a 1 HP Cabelas that has been grinding for quite a few years But nothing at Cabelas is like it was quite a few years ago

They are probably made by a Chinese toy company today
Hank

Well, made some calls. Going to get the LEM Big Bite #12. Instead of Trying to baby this cow along until mid december waiting on the butcher. 5 year warranty and local pickup. 365.00 and I got somebody chipping in. Hard for me to justify for deer, but the cattle change things. Especially when I sold 2 Broken Mouth cows for .05 and .12 a pound the other day.

Build your own. Mine is on a #32 grinder. You can get v belt pulleys to replace the grinder handle. I put a commercial/farm grade 3/4hp electric motor on it. All mounted on a polyurethaned wood base. I can drop in chunks of meat half the size of my fist. Don't need to partially freeze the meat. No special chants needed. It'll grind handfuls of meat as fast as I can drop them in. Pretty sure I had under $300 into it.

I built my own.

Keep your man-tits strapped down, it's not osha approved.

I have a Lem 12.

Wish I would have bought a larger model......

The second grind is slow.

I bought a 1/2 hp from Cabelas about 3 years ago and have been well pleased so far. I usually save all my grind for the end of the season so I’m usually doing 3 to 4 deer at one time. I almost bought the 3/4 but I’m glad I didn’t now. That 1/2 will grind faster than I can feed it. The 3/4 would have been over kill.

I bought the 3/4hp version about 6-7 years ago. It's been great. Probably cut up half a dozen deer a year and the grinding goes really fast.

I use a food processor. Twice as fast, twice as easy.
Cover and pulse the meat 8 to 10 times with 1-second pulses.
That don't sound right but that's what i do.

I also have the 3/4 HP Cabela's model. I've had it for 3-4 years now, no complaints. A few weeks ago I ground 23lbs of chunked venison in four minutes...........took longer to clean up the parts.

For the average personal processor,I think a #12 is about the best.Plates and knives are reasonably priced and you will probably spend as much or more time cleaning than grinding.Also look for a good size throat on the grinder head so you don't have to cut the meat into little pieces before you grind it.I use an old General small commercial grinder.It's quiet,powerful and designed to grind large quantities of meat.

I have the 3/4hp cabelas carnivore. Did 44lbs of ground and 18lbs of hot sausages last Sunday in no time. Used to work at a steak house with big commercial units. This definitely isn’t the same but way bigger and faster than I need. Don’t regret the purchase at all

Forget OSHA, Id worry about the Health Dept....

No shít. I wouldn't grind chum in that thing.


It's certainly Halloween themed.

It's got mud daubers in it, just a little scrub and it's ready for action.

Next on my list is a sausage stuffer. The grinder with the nozzles works ok, but kinda hard for one person to do and not end up chasing air bubbles.

What do you guys recommend for sausage stuffers? Don’t mind to buy quality as it will last many years. Don’t need commercial

I know an old girl that is afraid of brussels sprouts.

Lol. Knew a girl, that thing looked like a grinder got ahold of it.

POffline
LJBass
Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 430
Missouri
Well, made some calls. Going to get the LEM Big Bite #12. Instead of Trying to baby this cow along until mid december waiting on the butcher. 5 year warranty and local pickup. 365.00 and I got somebody chipping in. Hard for me to justify for deer, but the cattle change things. Especially when I sold 2 Broken Mouth cows for .05 and .12 a pound the other day.


Man 5 cents a pound? I sold a limper a month ago and she brought 58 cents which i thought was bad.

Get a peddle switch.

Around $13 at Harbor Freight.
They are the cats ass when you are stuffing, making patties,
Or just have your hands all slopped up and need to flip the switch.

Aubrey was grinding the trimmings from my two antelope last night. 20 some lbs ground faster than she could load it. 3/4 hp 10 year old Cabelas. Their design is new (and improved???) from my model.



I’ve used it for stuffing burger bags and sausage. I can stumble through it. A sausage stuffer is the kittens whiskers though. I think I bought an 11 lb canister. Wish I’d gone bigger.



A side note, I buy those stainless buffet pans at Sams and restaurant supply stores. Half deep full width, half width, full depth and width. They come in handy for holding the various cuts in the butchering process and keeps momma from complaining about using her good pans.

I had a field rep come out and bid a group of 14. 2-1/2yr old blk bwf cows that calved but didnt breed back. I'ld say body codition score of 5. He said .50-.60, He recommended breeding them and rolling them to a fall calving herd.

I sold 2 old cows that were pretty fleshy for 33.50cwt. Seemed standard for the day.

Calf market is pretty rough too. Especially if you are one of that guys that dont band, vaccinate, or wean. The fields around here are still full of calves waiting for a better market. I'm glad I shipped mine when I did.

Pretty sure this contraption was used in a SAW movie. Worked good, too. 😬😎

Amazon has the LEM 22 on sale for 393.00. I just ordered one today. Free shipping. $30.00 more than the #12. Figured that was a no brainer.

Timing of this thread is good for me. Since my butcher retired last year, the wife has decided she wants to do her own processing. Making summer sausage, pepperoni sticks, and brats.

We are looking at the Hobart with 7 hp on the grind and 1 hp on the mix....Wife loves all things commercial.

What other handy tools or equipment will we need to make the above?

Thanks 😎

Apologies to Bass. Not trying to hijack your thread...figured maybe you could benefit from any replies.

Edit...Wife just told me how much this thing would cost...No frick’n way!

I got a Cabelas about 10 years back when they were still Cabelas. It works great. But I been thinking that it might be better to buy a brand name like Lems. If you ever need parts you can always go to Lems. Then there was the thread just the other day about Cabelas no longer warranty their stuff unless you pay for it. I think for sure if I ever have to buy another I will go with a brand like Lems.

Thread title reminded me of Jessica: she liked to be on top.

Looks like it's got a tape worm too..........

When I bought mine a big consideration was lifetime warranty from cabelas. Had i known that would go away 1 year later I would have gone LEM or picked up one from the local restaurant supply guy. He always has high quality used stuff at great prices.

My cabelas hasn’t given any issues yet. Hopefully never does.

Had a call for a woman who got her middle finger wrapped around the auger with a contraption like that. She was processing tomatoes and slid her finger a little to deep. We took it apart and sent her and the grinder to the emergency room. That finger had to be a foot long,,

I'am the 3rd generation to own the same grinder its made 100's of tons of ground meat in the past 70 + years....have the knifes sharpened every couple years and change the gear box fluid....

LEM is having a 25% off on their Big Bite grinders through the weekend...I just bought another grinder and 10# stuffer...

Word

That's why I make my kids run it.

in laws just sent me an early christmas present, never heard of the brand, megachef MG700, 1500 W power

We ran an antelope grind through it last night, about 7 pounds of burger, took about 90 seconds to feed it through.

It actually only bogged down on frozen pieces, the rest went through as fast as I could feed it in.

No idea on longevity and hopefully we run an elk grind through is soon to really test it!

This one?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/MegaChe...nd-Kibbe-Attachments-98596263M/302164262