Ok, so I come from a butcher family, ran a meat shop, managed a meat Dept, etc, have used commercial Hobarts most of my life, and I can’t find a grinder I like that’s not $ plus.
I have tried the large cabelas, the LEM, didnt like either. Unless the meat was almost frozen, they just don’t grind really well.
Has anyone tired the Meat Your Maker? I’m interested in that brand, but would like to hear if anyone has tried it.
I was at dads grinding a couple moose with a table top Hobart 1/2 HP, and that thing flat grinds twice as fast as any of the 1hp I’ve tried and at any temp. I’ve looked all over for the oldies, but they are hard it come by.
Any input on the Meat Your Maker would be really helpful, thank you
.I am also trying to speed up my grinding. I have a #8 or #12 (cant recall) and have been considering the #22 dual grind style from LEM.
Do they save time and accomplish what they say? Can you gain efficiency by using that dual grind technology, or is it a gimmick? If the dual grind isn't what its cracked up to be....im going to be looking at the #32 or #42 size grinders I think. My wife and son bought me the electric powered stuffer and that thing is awesome! Getting ready to make a batch of brauts with the leftover meat.
Regarding the Meat brand equipment....all their equipment is on sale right now...25% off. The #32 1.5 horse grinder is marked down to $525.00 on sale. Not only that....their 50 pound tilt mixer is compatible with the 1.5 horse grinder (if Im reading this correctly) and is on sale for $263. That's a pretty good deal because you can have the grinder AND mixer for about $800 bucks. I cant afford to upgrade at the moment.....but if I had the $$$ it seems like a pretty good deal to get both if your doing large amounts of meat and sausage work. Looking forward to hearing what people think about that MEAT! brand and hear what yalls experience has been so far.
I currently have an LEM #22 with dual grind, I butcher everything myself from sheep to beef and everything in between. It's a dang good grinder I ground 100 pounds of beef with it last December well under 10 minutes and the meat was not almost frozen. The thing that took the longest was running the grinder and filling the bags at the same time. With that being said if you are used to Hobarts nothing will beat them they are truly commercial grade. The others are not just different levels of consumer grade grinders. The lem has 600 or more pounds through it and it will suit my needs fine.
This is the style my old man has, it’s not a full commercial one.
Here’s been my experience:
Cabelas-taken it back twice, constantly leaves a nasty black contaminated meat area from the grinder head, not sure the cause. Tried food grade oil on everything, still leaves a black residue that looks like metal wear, not sure
LEM Mighty bite: grind once, worked great, turn around and grind 2nd time right after the first, have to push so hard with the plunger to get it to go through it’s crazy. If I lay it out in cookie sheets and freeze it, works great. I’m not interested in freezing it.
These both work, and they get the job done but it’s like a gas vs diesel towing. I don’t want to just get it done, I want it fast and not as mushed up so I can enjoy the texture of a medium rare burger and not have it squishy haha. I don’t know if it’s the angle of the old augers, the blade/plate design, but something just doesn’t match up with the now ones, not sure.
The old ones weigh a TON! I once sat dads in the trunk of his old Lincoln hahaha, it almost stayed there permanently! So buying one and shipping is a pain, would need crated.
I'm in the same spot, so I appreciate this thread.
I went down somewhat of a rabbit hole a few years ago and have learned a few things to share. I have an previous model of the Cabela's #8 - these are still made by/for Weston as the "Butcher series". What I found when I was researching the same slow grind issue is that the grinder I have (Cabela's) has cast straight flutes and the Weston twin has the typical spiral partially machined flutes like an old style grinder. People who bought a Weston spiral fluted head and put it on a Cabela's saw better performance (Weston did not want to sell these parts direct due to contracts with Cabela's at the time, so along with the price tag it was hard to get one to try). I have used old grinders that have machined spiral flutes that do better on the second pass.
Anyway, my take home for all these to grind fast with a second grind you need tighter tolerances than the current machines are made with - that is why people all say that the old grinders do better with second grinds. HP has increased and the grinders plow through meat when there is something to grab like long strips and chunks and you don't need the tight tolerances in that case, but they fail with preground meat - that is why it needs to be frozen to get the auger to bite on something.
I have since found I don't care much about a second grind, so it isn't much of an issue, but I would like something bigger than a #8. I spend a little bit too much time feeding the grinder, so I'm looking for a #22, I think. I'm more than happy with one pass through a fine plate. With the older grinder I used a lot you needed a pass through on a coarse plate to get it broken down for the fine pass otherwise it would jam up, you don't seem to need that anymore as HP has increased and you can just run it through once.
Ok, so I come from a butcher family, ran a meat shop, managed a meat Dept, etc, have used commercial Hobarts most of my life, and I can’t find a grinder I like that’s not $ plus.
I have tried the large cabelas, the LEM, didnt like either. Unless the meat was almost frozen, they just don’t grind really well.
Has anyone tired the Meat Your Maker? I’m interested in that brand, but would like to hear if anyone has tried it.
I was at dads grinding a couple moose with a table top Hobart 1/2 HP, and that thing flat grinds twice as fast as any of the 1hp I’ve tried and at any temp. I’ve looked all over for the oldies, but they are hard it come by.
Any input on the Meat Your Maker would be really helpful, thank you
I’ve used the smallest LEM for 10 years to process 3-5 deer per year with no problems. Just take it a bit slow.
I don't have anything to really add but had a question. I have an LEM grinder but not sure of the size at the moment. It's size is measured in watts and not HP. So it's in the smaller size.
Anyway, I can't leave any silverskin on my burger meat or it will clog up the grinder plate. I like the fact that my burger meat is super clean but it takes more time making sure all silver skin is removed (almost impossible actually). I've bought new blades but didn't seem to help. Actually, my wife's kitchenaide mixer with grinder attachment seems to work best. I just don't want to overwork and burn up her mixer.
Does my LEM just not have enough oommph?
I have a #22 from cableas and I can not count how may deer and elk I've run through it. The trick to doing to grinds is to first do the finer plate, then the course plate second..... an old time butcher told me that.
I'm a novice with a cheap grinder but I've always done two grinds, with the course plate first and fine plate second. I just did a batch last night and I think I can see how it would work better to do the fine grind first when it has a bigger chunk to grab and pull through. Mine always does well with the course grind and struggles with the fine grind as there isn't as much to pull through. It helps to semi freeze the meat but I get tired of waiting between grinds.
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