[kfin]

I am going to start processing my own deer. I helped some friends do it last year (they used a band saw) and I wasn't too keen on cutting the bone and getting it into the meat -- so I will be doing it more like the "Kentucky" video that is brought up on here from time to time when the guy bones it out as it hangs.

My question is what type / kind of grinder should I get? I will be doing between 3 and 6 deer per year. Do I need an electric one? or would a decent hand crank work? I want to make sausage and sticks also and don't know if this needs to come into the equation also.

Also a mixer -- to mix in some fat or whatever else. Should this be a hand crank deal or buy a fancy one that is run by an electric grinder?

I don't mind spending a little bit of money but need to keep it somewhat reasonable.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks in advance,
Keith

 

[tuckcut]

For home processing, if your doing more than a couple of deer, I'd go with an electric one. Check out www.lemproducts.com they have a good selection of everything you'll need for home processing.

I have a mixer that I want to sell, if you're interested. It's a 40lb hand crank.
Brand new this summer.
Used it one time. It's good for making sausage, mixing pork trim etc.

The only reason I'm selling it I need a motorized mixer for larger amounts of sausage/bratwurst.

if interested email me at [email protected] I don't check here that much.

Also for home processing DVD's try either LEM Products or my buddy up in the UP of Michigan www.best-venison.com Dave Firnett tell Dave I sent you... He's probably one of the most unique game processors I've ever seen.

His deer are all boneless and ready for the oven. Great guy as well..

Bart Shortall
Denton, Maryland
Tuckahoe Whitetail Cuts

 

[jwg1976]

I do everything with my wifes Kitchen Aid mixer with the grinding attachment. It works great.

 

[spoco57]

Another KitchenAid user here. I bought the grinding attachment for my wife's mixer and it does a great job (for many years now). A lot cheaper than purchasing a new electric grinder IF you have the mixer already, and a lot easier than a hand crank job.

 

[Chupacabra]

I like a hand crank

I also do between 3 and 6 deer a year, but it's not like you're butchering them all at once. It's really not that much work if the blades are kept sharp. I'm cheap, but I also like the simplicity. Not much to break. That, and the safety factor.

 

[raypla]

Last year I bought a Cabela's 1/2 hp commercial grinder, it is sweet. Sillver skin is no match, fill up the hopper push the plunger down and ty to bog it down, it just doesen't happen.

Its made for Cabela's and is a very good product. Plus they are made in 1/2, 1, 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 hp configurations. I have used other grinders were when you push the plunger down you can nearly stop the damn thing.

Here I'll even provide a link http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ...parentType=index&indexId=cat280028&hasJS=true

 

[HNTNWHTTAIL4LF]

I have the cabelas 1hp grinder. Stainless steel. Easy to clean and man you better watch your fingers cause it likes to eat!! This will be my 3rd year with it. Love it i wouldnt trade it for nothing in the world. Very glad i bought it.. It will not bog down on anything either. It has a #22 neck on it and you can put some good sized chunks in it..

Hope this helps..

 

[kfin]

Thanks for the advice and opinions. I looked at the LEM ones last night and kind of liked the 1/3 hp. I am sure that both the LEM and the Cabelas ones are good, but the LEM seemed to be a little less money.

Still thinking of hand cranking -- having never done it, I am not sure just how much work it is or isn't. You are right, it isn't like I will shoot all six deer today and have all of that meat to grind at one time......

Are the hand crank meat mixers that hard to churn? Never thought about getting one of those. I had always looked at the ones that attach to the grinder.

Thanks,
Keith

 

[neokhunter]

Kitchenaid. Been around forever. Bulletproof. Parts easy to order if you lose something. Grinds and mixes. Gets to stay in the kitchen. My wife and I both love that thing.

 

[Chupacabra]

It isn't that much work

Everybody likes to do things their own way, but if it was hard, I would have gone electric by now. I bought a hand-crank grinder as a stopgap measure when I first started butchering and soon realized there was no good reason to upgrade to electric.

 

[kfin]

Being totally new to this and not having done much research on the sausage making....Will the same stuffing tubes fit on both an electric one and a hand crank one?

 

[HNTNWHTTAIL4LF]

I'm sure they would.
But it depends on the size of the front tube neck. Where your blade,and plate are held in place.
I dont use mine for stuffing though. I have an old enterprise sausage stuffer that i use for that. I used to do the hand crank and it sucked.To me it is worth it to buck up and get a good electric meat grinder and be done quicker.

 

[Midlife Crisis]

I processed 5 deer last year and 5 the year before. I use a hand crank grinder (a #10: rated at 2-3 lbs per minute) and it only takes me about 20 minutes to grind a deer. I end up with about 1/3 of the meat ground up, 1/3 in steaks, backstraps, kabob meat, and stew meat, and 1/3 in roasts. I clamp the grinder to a large cutting board on the edge of my kitchen counter, turn on the TV and grind away. I weigh it into 2 lb packages, wrap in Saran Wrap and then stuff into a freezer ZipLok bag. Matter of fact, it will be venison burgers for dinner tonight!:tongue:

I go to a local grocery where they GIVE me beef fat from filet mignon trimmings. I slice that up and feed in some venison and some fat at the same time so it is ground up together - just eyeballing the mix for about 15% fat. Putting that ground mix through the grinder for a second time makes for a pretty good ground mix. Sometimes I don't add any fat - I use this meat for chili.

This is not tough on my arms or anything - although a lesser man might be sore for a day or two.:wink: Three years ago I put too much sinew from muscles through the grinder and had to clean it out before I could finish the job. Now I just trim that out before grinding - an electric moves that out of the way automatically, or keeps it in the finished product. I just could not see paying all that money for an electric when this works just fine. Good luck on your decision.

 

[siucowboy]

Buy an old manual grinder and if you don't like hand cranking, buy a pulley, find a 1/2 hp electric motor and hook the thing up...

I've got mine on a hinged board that allows me to easily take the belt on or off and have it wired into a light switch on the board...

I can grind a deer (everything but the backstraps and inside loins) twice (2 passes to get it mixed good) inside of 10 minutes flat..

Works just as good as cabelas or LEM grinders...almost too good, watch your fingers for god's sake...there's a reason I mounted the on off switch next to wear I stand when I drop in cubes of meat...

 

[robertb]

We process several beef and deer every year. We use one of the grinders from Cabelas and have the mixer to attach to it. It works great making the sausage with that mixer. It does a very thorough job.

Buy an old manual grinder and if you don't like hand cranking, buy a pulley, find a 1/2 hp electric motor and hook the thing up...

I've got mine on a hinged board that allows me to easily take the belt on or off and have it wired into a light switch on the board...

My father-in-law did this and it does work good. Watch those fingers tho... now his middle finger is shorter than his pinky. Want some of that burger?ukey:

 

[RangerAngler]

I process 4-8 deer per year. For making burger we use a hand grinder. Put the venison in 50-50 with hamburger, or pork and crank it through. It does a good job of mixing. As far as brats, kilbasa, and sausage we take those to a meat processor in the area. It's not that expensive and your guarenteed a good product. Making sausage is putsy work doing it yourself.

 

[lkmn]

mid-western research

I purchased the Tory 3/4 h.p. grinder from theses guys about 4 years ago and have yet to be disappointed. I went in on the grinder with my dad and brother and on an average year we grind about 500 lbs of meat.

We spend one whole day every year making nothing but brats, breakfast sausage & salami. Granted it was about a $600 investment but if we were to have that done every year we would have spent that much in one year.

We have ground several elk and a couple of bison at a time and yet to bog her down.

Check them out @ midwesternresearch.com

 

[ARCHERYSNOB]

Cabelas has nice grinders and easy payment plan.