Venison Grider

[Steve-o]

Glenn, Boar, and/or anyone else who has an opinion or does such a thing, what kind of grinder do you use on your venison?

Do you have any problems grinding all the sinew of the lower shanks?  How do you deal with it? 

The guys at the butcher shop tell me their grinders chew thru all of it - so bring it in for processing! 

The countertop LEM model my wife got me from a FleetFarm Black Friday sale 20 years ago gets clogged up and bogged down when it gets fed too much connective tissue.
 

[glenn57]

i used my grinder i use for horseradish once, yea it got clogged up some in the screen  just had to keep cleaning it. i generally bring my trimmings in to have processed.

my brother however grinds ALOT of venison to make sausage. he uses a kitchenaid with the grinder attachment. there are 2 different type of attachments.....i have a plastic type one, he has a stainless one with a feed table ontop.........when we made that sausage it worked great....even running it through the second time. it did catch some stuff but ground it up pretty good. it sucked running it through the second time.....the meat had to be constantly pushed down into the auger vs the first time when the auger would basically self feed.

i had 2 use my kitchenaid grinder one to finish horseradish.....i was pretty impressed. 

[HD]

We got a industrial Hobart at the shop.... you could shove a bowling ball through that thing and it wouldn't care.

I have a smaller Hobart at home, and yup if you don't want to keep cleaning it... you gotta trim up your meat pretty good. Sometimes I can get away with running a bigger plate for the first grind and then go smaller for the second.

[Steve-o]

I don't remember how big my LEM unit is in terms of horsepower.  In general, I suppose more is better, but perhaps just in terms of being able to plow through more grinding faster.

I know the plates need to be flat.  I worked on those a big last year.  Are the knives supposed to be very sharp?  If they are, mine aren't, duller than a dull ax, they are.  I would think they would need to be at least a bit sharp to cut thru the sinew.

[mike89]

yes they need to sharp... 

[Jerkbiat]

I have a 1hp Cabelas grinder. It will chew right thru everything. I usually grind coarse than mix my sausage. Then grind thru a finer plate the next day. The 2nd grind I have to be careful not to put to big of globs of meat in or it will stick to the throat going down and plug. Once it gets to the auger it goes thru just fine. I have had it 11 or 12 years now. Been great.

[LPS]

I had a smaller grinder that worked.  Then I got a big one like JB's and it really works great!  It takes the meat right in instead of me pushing it through.    I used to have a foot pedal that was a LEM thing for $50.  Plug the grinder into it and then you can use your foot to start and stop it and that worked great!  BUT I borrowed it to a buddy and never saw it again.  He even forgot I borrowed it to him.  LOL

[Scenic]

I also have the 1 hp Cabela's grinder.  That thing is a beast.  If there is a lot of silver skin and such it will get wrapped up in it some. 

[deadeye]

Hey, this information is just what I was looking for. Thanks guys. I was concerned about whether these grinders would work or not. Seems like the 1HP from Cabela's is the real deal. It's not a big deal as I usually only process 2-3 deer each year and bring the trimmings in to have stuff made so it gets ground at that time.

[dutchboy]

A-Z Restaurant equipment in Princeton sells a 1 hp grinder. They also have new blades that fit a #12 head. Bring your old one with to see if it fits.

[Boar]

Well for one thing, i try not to run anything thru my grinder but pure meat, no sinew or or connective tissue. Some people think i waste alot of meat but i dont eat that crap on my beef pork or chinken either. It takes time but i clean my meat (lol) very thuro. Finnal product takes better too.
 I keep.my blades sharp by taking  a belt sander and puttin in a v8se upside down, and carfull allowing the blade to rest on the belt with very slight pressure. BE CAREFULL, yu dont want to loose skin on yur finger or send the blade thur the wall. Then i touch up and burrs. Or yu can can run the blades over a sanding block. I  also take aprt the flighting and remove build up, from time to time.  I only have 3/4 hrse or 1 hrs
 But if yur blades are sharp...
I also only feed chunks the size of a golf ball.

[glenn57]

Well for one thing, i try not to run anything thru my grinder but pure meat, no sinew or or connective tissue. Some people think i waste alot of meat but i dont eat that crap on my beef pork or chinken either. It takes time but i clean my meat (lol) very thuro. Finnal product takes better too.
 I keep.my blades sharp by taking  a belt sander and puttin in a v8se upside down, and carfull allowing the blade to rest on the belt with very slight pressure. BE CAREFULL, yu dont want to loose skin on yur finger or send the blade thur the wall. Then i touch up and burrs. Or yu can can run the blades over a sanding block. I  also take aprt the flighting and remove build up, from time to time.  I only have 3/4 hrse or 1 hrs
 But if yur blades are sharp...
I also only feed chunks the size of a golf ball.

i'm thinking shunks of skunk, porcupine and raccoon arent bigger then a golf ball anyway!!!!!! 

mornin bud!!!!!!!