I bought this back in August it was $160 then today it is $150. Hope link is allowed, if not either remove or leave me know and i will remove it)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077BS2SL3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I have a 1HP Cabelas grinder with a #22 head also have one of their stuffers holds about 15 pounds I think. Both big bulky and not having anywhere to set them up and leave them, they are not user friendly if I only want to do a few pounds of what ever. So I asked on here about grinders and the STX grinders got good mention, but I really wanted a SS grinder with a # 8 or 10 head and not aluminum. I found this one and it took me a while to decide to buy it as I was looking for used one of some sorts that fit my needs. I finally decided to buy this. Fired it up today for the first time.
We like breakfast sausages, and who doesn't, we were at an outdoor cooking type store and they had many different seasonings and mixes. She found a breakfast sausage mix with out sage as she isn't a fan. The following week a local store had a buy one get one pork butt deal, not the greatest deal but for what I wanted to do it was good enough, found 2 pieces about 5 pound each.Had another spice mix in the cupboard and i added some black pepper and garlic to it for one piece. The breakfast sausage made 25 pounds I weighed the pack and needed 56 grams per 5 pound of meat. I had six 1 pound packs and 18 4" pieces or sausage when done. Plus maybe a third of a pound that I fried to try. It was very good, I will be looking for a 6mm plate also as the 4.5 seemed finer than i liked.
I washed and dried the grinder then put it in the freezer over night. Cut up my 2 pieces of meat and seasoned separately and bagged and in the freezer for about 30 minutes. I ground the breakfast mix through the 4.5mm plate and the other one through the 8mm plate. The first 5 pound took slightly over 3 minutes to grind the other one was about 2 minutes. I also bought a stuffing plate when I ordered the grinder. I found some 21mm collagen casings (processed) and decided to try out the stuffing aspect of the machine. No impressed with that part, but then using the small case was probably the cause. I would think it would do well with 32mm cases or larger diameter fibrous cases.
Clean up was not to bad as I cleaned before things had a chance to dry up. If you buy one of these buy a nice set of brushes as the inside is only maybe 2 to 2.5 inches and you can't reach in there with your fingers and such to clean it, fortunately I had brushes. The SS was nice to clean and the inside looks to be coated with something, although it is not as smooth as you would want from a cleaning standpoint.
Pros : Reasonably priced, SS #8 Head, Compact design (foot print isn't much larger than a piece of paper) The stuffing tubes and extra plate store in the pusher , easy to move weighs maybe 15 pound, 2 speeds plus reverse.
Cons for me: The pusher is horrible, I will be looking for a different one next time at the butcher supply store, it is just awkward to hold. Wish the motor housing was SS also, it is either rough surfaced aluminum or aluminized steel. The tray is kind of thin and seems cheaply made but it is SS. Probably not the best grinder to stuff small snack stick size casing with, larger diameter casings would probably work well. ( I did not add any water or anything to the meat mix and for sticks they are usually emulsified more so it may work in that regard for smaller casings).
I would recommend this to anyone wanting a smaller grinder, still may suggest a separate stuffer if you are really wanting to make larger amounts of cased meats. If you want to stuff I suggest buying a stuffing plate as what comes with it is plastic. One may also want to pick up a 6mm plate for a nice medium grind.
All in all for the first use I am happy with my purchase, it is not something that will be used frequently but who knows I may use it more now that I have seen how well it works. I may go back and read through those hamburger blends that were talked about on here.
