BIg Fan of Sausage and usually add sausage to the smoker when I have Ribs or Chuckies on....
I have been tempted to throw my "Bad-Hat" into the ring and try making my own. Just not sure I would use a grinder enough to justify the cost....not really interested in "curing" and I don't hunt - so we are talking about fresh sausage and maybe sealing & freezing some
Questions for the Pit (who have grinders!!):
How often do you use it
How much sausage do you make in a month or year
Is a meat mixer required (hand crank 20lb vat) . or will a meat tub & mix by hand do the trick
I have been scanning "Meatgistics" & "Meat Your Maker" + others and still not on the fence....wish you could rent a grinder!
Do you have a KitchenAid mixer? If so, you could buy the grinder attachment on ebay, try it, and if ya don't like it, you could sell it on ebay. Or you could then get a nice mixer and then sell the KA grinder.
Agreed! Especially for someone on the fence who might not use it constantly. And jfmorris I hear this said a lot, and while I do agree since metal>plastic of course, but I have the plastic one (all there was at the time) maybe 5 or 6 yrs old and it's still going strong!
A countertop grinder like LEM does not cost much more than the metal KA attachment. Its a lot better for grinding, and uses standard sized plates and knives.
You don’t need a mixer, by hand in a meat lug is fine. More elbow grease and your hand get cold, but it works.
Grinder is necessary. Doing small amounts you can get by with a small grinder. You can use it to make burger as well.
Question is, are you good with sausage patties? If so, you don’t need a stuffer. Otherwise, you will need a small one.
My experience won’t be helpful. I raised hogs and did hundreds of pounds at a time, so I have a larger grinder than what you need. And a mixer and stuffer. I haven’t butchered in a few years so it is just collecting dust for now. You are welcome to come use it, but I’m guessing time and money traveling makes any grinder a bargain.
I was on the fence and decided against getting a setup. A friend makes his own sausages, so I went and worked with him a few times, and I realized was not a sausage maker. The main reason was the quantity you need to make at a time to justify the time, effort, and cost of the setup. Maybe if I hunted and need to process the wild game it might make sense for me, but otherwise no. If you know someone who does make their own you could help them a few times to see if it is something you want take up before shelling out the money.
This is me. I have the KA mixer, and have often considered the (metal!) grinder but I think I'd use it once or twice, be very glad I had the experience, and then probably never touch it again.
I have a dedicated LEM grinder. I wish I used it more, HOWEVER, I just grinded 16 pounds of meat yesterday and I’m really excited about getting going again. The sausage is so flavorful AND I get to control what goes in the sausage itself (quality of meat, flavors, etc.). I’ve used mine lots of times over the years and don’t regret it.
I hate the KA attachment so I can’t recommend it even for small amounts. I have a LEM countertop grinder I bought from Amazon for about $60. It is awesome. I make sausage a few times a year maybe 15-20 pounds annually but also burgers, so maybe 40-50 pounds of meat annually. A separate mixer is not needed but a stuffer be needed depending on how frequently you want to stuff sausage. I don’t stuff as my sausage doesn’t need to be stuffed so I have deferred on that stuffer for the time being.
I see it as critical if you want to grind your own custom burger mixes (50/50 bison/chuck but millions of variations are possible) and sausage (I make a Balkan sausage that is lamb and beef). You can’t do the sausage any other way and you will never go back to store-bought ground beef once you have ground your own burgers.
Like a lot of things we do on this channel (that "normal" people don't do or even understand), it isn't always about whether the math pencils out (rationalization is a powerful tool). It's a more a matter of enjoying the experience, being more in control of food outcome quality, and perceived security of knowing what's in your outcome from a quality of flavor/content perspective.
I'm in the camp similar to most above, a dedicated grinder over the smallish output of the KA type accessory. I used the KA for a number of years and it's fine for small batch/single meal uses, but once you use a larger, dedicated grinder you'll appreciate the differences that you didn't know you'd enjoy (and a foot pedal controller makes it even better). For serious cased sausage a stuffing machine is the same sort of "gee I never knew....." step up.
One way to mitigate the cost is to pay attention to the used/resale market. Figure out what size machine fits your needs and then start searching for it on FB Marketplace/Craigslist/whatever your preference. There are lots of people out there who bought on a whim, or have had life changes, who want to unload a no longer valued (and often lightly used) device at a fraction of new (typically half price or less).
Bob’s right. There are numerous opportunities to pick up used equipment at a bargain. I just inherited a commercial slicer and two commercial grinders. Dad bought them at an auction where a small grocery store was going out of business for almost nothing. I found I can get parts through a restaurant supply store. There’s also eBay. Now that sellers there want that very high seller rating I’ve been pleased with the things I’ve bought there.
I'm with the Meat Whisperer Uncle Bob, it's more about having control of your food products. I bought one of these grinders when I caught it on sale (like $100 bucks or so) and have already justified owning it by grinding my own beef. If you make burgers, meat loaf, meat balls, etc. you can do your own custom grinding. A lot better then buying grocery store mystery grind. Hell, I had 5 pounds of left over turkey from Thanksgiving and made some tasty turkey burgers. Ground it with 25% by volume bacon. Came out great and made good use of something no one was interested in finishing otherwise. I won't even get into sausages.
I say go for it, you can justify it any way you want
I’ve been running this same grinder for a couple years and love it. It comes with a sausage attachment, but I haven’t used it yet as I’ve only made patties or just ground sausage browned for breakfast burritos.
It’s paid for itself many times over - both in price and quality of ground meat.
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
I have a dedicated grinder. I don’t use it often but when I do, it’s perfect. Does the job quickly and efficiently. Pair that with the dedicated stuffer and it’s a fun time to make sausage or whatever - charcuterie with UMAI Dry Bags on sale right now .
I do have plans to make more sausage this month and will be glad to have it. Like others have said, if you are making a few links and that’s it, the KA attachment but if you are doing lbs of it, it’s nice to grind it in a few minutes.
How often do you use it - I have a small grinder like one that Troutman posted above. I use my grinder at least once a month. Generally grinding beef for hamburgers, meat loaf, chili, etc. I do not trust, nor buy ground beef in the store. Ground beef recall is not uncommon and I would suspect tainted beef is from processing meat on dirty grinders. My grinder is an essential tool and glad I have one.
How much sausage do you make in a month or year - Probably around 20-25 pounds a year.
Is a meat mixer required (hand crank 20lb vat) . or will a meat tub & mix by hand do the trick - No a meat mixer is not required and mixing by hand works fine. When I do make sausage, it would only be 5 lbs at a time.
If you plan on putting your sausage into casings, you will need a sausage stuffer. KA if you have one with a sausage stuffer attachment or buy one online. I think my sausage stuffer holds 2 lbs or 2.5 lbs ground meat.
If you just wanted to give it a go without spending a lot of dough you really don't need a dedicated meat grinder.
If you already have a food processor that will work if you keep the meat very cold and just "grind" small amounts at a time. If you don't have a food processor you can do it with just knife work.
I have a KA grinder (metal) and it's fine for small patches/light duty. I don't use it that much. I do use it for a Country Pate about once a year that's fantastic.
You don't need a dedicated mixer for small batches. Your hands will get very cold. Keep a bowl of warm water nearby to dunk your hands in and warm them up while you are working.
Stuffers? When you guys are talking about stuffers, are you talking about a separate device or those tubes that fit onto the end of a grinder? The former can be pricey; the latter cheap. I've seen both used professionally (I worked in 2 sausage kitchens and a butcher shop) and either will work. Imho, I don't think a dedicated stuffer is necessary for small batches.
I have both a dedicated grinder and stuffer (both by lem) and the KA attachment. If grinding 5lbs or less and is not going to be stuffed, I use the KA. Anything more and the LEM comes out. If your going to use the KA for large batches, keep a spare worm gear around, you will eventually need it. I use the heck out of my LEM stuff, but I do 200+ lbs a year through it. Currently I hand mix, bug will be getting a mixer soon. It is faster, just as thorough, and doesn't heat up the meat. A thorough mixing is crucial for a good bind in stuffed sausage or ant farcemeat.
I have dedicated LEM equipment. The “how often a month” question doesn’t apply here because when I do sausage or ground meats I may spend a whole day or 2 doing large batches for us, family and friends that will last months after packaging. Same with soups and stews. I wouldn’t trade any of the dedicated equipment even if I only processed twice a year. They make the process easier on me, are efficient, and I’m not worried about anything breaking down when I have 50 lbs of meat sitting in lugs waiting to be processed.(I keep spare parts if that ever happens but so far haven’t needed any.) And, I know what is in my products, how they were handled, and who handled them. It is peace of mind.
A meat mixer is not necessary but can make life easier for large batch mixing. I have one and sometimes I use it, sometimes not - its an extra thing to clean. If you want sausage in casings then a stuffer is a must.
As far as grinders, if you are intending to make small batches or infrequent use then a hand crank model might be what you need; or the KitchenAid attachment (metal!). LEM has some good electric grinders as does Meat! and The Sausage Maker. With a grinder you can save $$ by making your own ground beef in addition to sausage.
I have an antique Hobart 1/2 horsepower #12 grinder - it weighs 100 lbs and I've run 75lbs of meat through it in 12 minutes - way more grinder than you need but if you find an old one for a good price it will last your lifetime. Mine cost me $350 plus $150 shipping so $500. I use it frequently, not just for sausage. I have not bought ground beef since I acquired the grinder and I help out friends who hunt with processing and grinding in return for some of the meat - I always have venison in the freezer.
For good tips on starting the sausage making process check out 2 Guys & A Cooler's youtube channel. Season 1 of their Celebrate Sausage series has several bonus videos explaining the process - these videos really helped me out a lot:
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