There are so many to chose from, just wondering what you guys use, and is a meat mixer needed?

I am looking to do hamburger and sausage.

I will be buying a LEM #8 in the next few weeks and getting the attachment for hamburgers, snack sticks, and jerky.  I am going to hold off on the mixer for now as the smallest is 25# capacity and from what I read you should be doing about 15# minimum in the mixer for it to work properly.

I have the meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid stand mixer. I also have the sausage stuffed attachment. They work ok however if you are going to do a lot of grinding and/or stuffing I think a dedicated grinder and stuffer would be better.

I also have pasta roller and noodle attachments and they work great.

I have a Cabela’s grinder that works well, it is not one of the professional series ones but it is fine for my needs.    My group of friends that get together to make sausage have decided that the mixer is not worth the hassle of the extra cleanup and we don’t use it.    The worst part of mixing by hand is your hands get cold, once we got a pair of insulated gauntlet gloves, nobody minds doing it anymore.   

Kitchen aid grinder/stuffer will work, but it is very, very slow.  I wouldn't be making sausage at all if that's all I had...not a good experience.  As for stuffing, a piston stuffer is the only way to fly.

I have LEM #8 grinder that I got from their refurb section and it works great.  I have to try to keep up with it, not the other way around, and it was a $99 grinder.  No problems at all grinding 20# of meat for sausage.  I think 20# may have taken 10 minutes...maybe.  They've got an $88 one in their refurb section now: http://www.lemproducts.com/category/refurbished-products  For the home gamer, that cheap one is fine.  If you plan on grinding more than 20# of meat at a time, you may want to look into one of the big bite grinders.  You'd be surprised how fast a #8 goes through meat.

I have a 25# meat mixer, it is nice.  10# minimum for it to work right.  Really good for those 20# batches.  I got a 5# stuffer from LEM on the same refurb site, looking back now I probably should have got the 15# model.  It's not hard to fill, but when doing 20# of sausage it would be nice to just fill twice instead of 4 times.

For hand mixing sausage, I use a pair of thin cotton gloves, then pull nitrile gloves over the top.  Cheap n' cheerful, and insulate great for cold or hot.

Thanks to all, the LEM looks like a good way to go.  I am liking the #12 big bite with the foot pedal

Thanks to all, the LEM looks like a good way to go.  I am liking the #12 big bite with the foot pedal

I'm getting the #8 big bite with foot pedal

I have a LEM #8 that I just recently purchased and the thing works great!  (The older #8's had 1/3 HP motors, the new ones have a 1/2 HP motor.)

Do you have a stuffer? If not I would buy one of those first.

I bought a 1HP cabelas I think it is a #22 SS grinder with foot pedal and some attachments. I used the old enterprise stuffer I had until I bought a new Cabelas 11 pound I believe it is with motor.

 I rarely use the grinder, as I have found my meat guy at the local shop or shops will grind for a few cents a pound maybe 20, I usually like to do 25 pound at a time for sausage, they will grind the pork butts I buy for 5 bucks. I can't mess around digging out, setting up and cleaning up my grinder for 5 bucks.

A mixer is nice, but some large plastic meat lugs work well, again easier to was that meat lug than to clean my mixer.

The Cabelas/Weston stuffer is great. I have no experience with anything else other than old enterprise stuffers that were older than I am .

I guess I just don't make big enough batches.  I used my Kitchenaid to grind 15lbs. of pork a couple of weeks ago and it took about 15 minutes. No, I would not make sausage if I had to pipe it through the Kitchenaid. So if you have one, you can get into grinding any meat for about a $60 grinder kit, a cheaper way to find out.  Would I like a LEM, very much so, and if you are going to make big batches (50lbs) many times a year, I would suggest something along that line.

100 pounds a year like me sausage and ground beef, Kitchenaid and Northern Tool 5lb stuffer works for my needs!

Kitchen aid grinder/stuffer will work, but it is very, very slow.  I wouldn't be making sausage at all if that's all I had...not a good experience.

anyone ever use the stuffer on the LEM grinder?

When Larry brought his down from Hanford to Pasadena, we did, thing worked great, he had the patty maker too, and that thing was sweet, along with the meat tenderizer!

I discovered the key to using a grinder as a stuffer when I was using an old hand crank grinder that I found in the basement when I was young. Take the knife off and use a stuffing plate. and the correct size horn.

If it is all you have, very good tip!

Kitchen aid grinder/stuffer will work, but it is very, very slow.  I wouldn't be making sausage at all if that's all I had...not a good experience. 

Everyone's opinion is going to differ - I have a kitchen aid grinder and stuffer and have had no issues with it.  Didn't find it slow to grind or stuff.  Maybe I don't know any better as it's the only tool I have but I have never used it and thought there must be something better out there.  It works just fine for me and my needs.