A question of Grinders?

[tdickens58]

About three quarters of the time in the past I have taken my deer to a local butchers for processing. The rest of the time I do them myself in rough fashion.

This year, I would like to cut down on the cost (gas prices, new baby and all), so I would like to process all my deer.

The question is, should I invest in an electric grinder? I have a hand grinder that I use frequently, but thought I could justify the cost, since I will be saving the cost of the butcher.

Any input is appreciated.

2Chucks post was great! It got me thinking about all this.

[snoodslapper]

We love just having steaks, roasts, chunks for stews and ground venison. We've done the sausage and sticks and things like that, but we'd rather eat it like beef is eaten by most folks, so I do it at home. A home grinder was the best investment I made, and it didn't really cost me too much. I bought a Nesco of some sort from one of the local farm supply stores for around $75. It is the same one Bass Pro sells for a $100 called the Open Country grinder. If you get one, if it has a plastic screw in it, take it back or call Nesco for the metal parts kit. Some people had problems with them breaking and Nesco provides the kits for free. Mine came with all the metal parts.

It probably won't last forever, but it seems to do fine so far and I'm actually fairly impressed with it. It does about 2-3 lbs per minute. It is way easier than the old hand-crank one I used when doing many, many pounds. If I was just doing a few pounds, the hand-crank would be fine. When it gives out, I'll go buy a really nice one like a L.E.M.

[jamaltwy]

invest in the following grinder, hamburger attachment for the grinder @$60, dehydrator, vac sealer, lugs (meat tubs), and a good set of knives, this will help with time consuming, plus speed up your processing, it will take a couple of years to recoup your investment but think of all the steaks and jerky , and hamburger you can make yourselves!!! last i looked deer processing was $80 - $140 / deer elk , caribou, moose was much more

[royden]

Too me processing is a lot of work the trimming of the burger before grinding takes me the most time ... but the flavor is worth it. I have tried butcher processed a couple of times and that was enough.

My vote for stuff needed would be in this order: (check out Michlitch or ... I can't remember the other mail order place starts with a L I think.

Meat tubs - (2) at least
Knives - paring knife, and a semi -fillet knife but slightly stiffer.
Meat cutting boards (plywood will work)
rubber mat of some sort for underfoot (a lot less tiring )
grinder (can generally get a butcher shop to grind for you if need be)
tape dispenser and paper dispenser

the grinder can be a hand crank powered by an electric dryer motor via a 1/2" v-belt and a 12" pulley on the grinder. a half horse would easily run a small hand crank grinder. We have a #32 grinder (big 4" grinding plates) that is run by a 3/4 hp elec motor with a gear reduction in the pulley system. That way there is less side pull on the grinder (less wear and tear) and there is no pulley sticking up above the mouth of the grinder (safety first!). I probably have $300 into our set-up with a forward/reverse switch for if it gets stuck, the gear reduction/ chain drive, grinder, motor, cover plates, etc. If I had to do it agian I would probably save my pennies and get a good quality heavy duty grinder. Of course most won't keep up - ours will grind 10-15#'s per minute if I can feed it that fast!!! 8-10/ min is more reasonable - it still eats an elks burger in 10-20 minutes.

[oldgun]

I do all my own processing except the grinding local butcher will grind all the burger from a deer for under ten $. I have a grinder but with clean up, it is easier to have them do it.

[azslim]

I used a counter top grinder for years and it did fine. Would do 9 to 12 lb batches at a time so the grinder didn't get too hot.

And once you have a grinder you can start making your own sausage. I highly recommend "Bruce Aidell's Complete Sausage Book", has a whole bunch of recipes in 2 to 5 lb batches. When you find one you really like you can crank out triple or quadruple batches.

[Greg Krause]

My wife and I got a kitchen aid mixer and the meat grinder attachment for a wedding present. The grinder works great and it easy to clean. The whole set up is way more expensive than a grinder but mixer gets used a lot by my wife and the grinder isn't very expensive. We have no problem grinding a whole deer as fast as we can load it. If you already have the mixer, it's a no brainer and if your wife likes to cook/bake it'll kill 2 birds with one stone!

[CopperHead]

Sorry to hijack the thread but congrats on getting married Greg.

[Greg Krause]

Thanks. I'm gonna put up a post about all that I've been up to, as soon as I get a chance!

[BT]

Jen had something simular to that grinder you have I believe.
It works great but you really have to get that meat cleaned of any sinew before you start grinding.

Apr 22, 2013 15:38:40 GMT -5 Greg Krause said:

My wife and I got a kitchen aid mixer and the meat grinder attachment for a wedding present. The grinder works great and it easy to clean. The whole set up is way more expensive than a grinder but mixer gets used a lot by my wife and the grinder isn't very expensive. We have no problem grinding a whole deer as fast as we can load it. If you already have the mixer, it's a no brainer and if your wife likes to cook/bake it'll kill 2 birds with one stone!