Do you only grind your own wild game?

[Boarmaster]

We process and make all of our own sausage and don’t buy anything commercially made. Like others I used a LEM .5HP #8 for quite awhile and it’s a great machine but earlier this spring I bought a LEM 1HP #22 dual grind and that’s a huge improvement. We still pull out the #8 for small quick jobs but if I were to recommend one grinder I’d buy the LEM 22 dual grind. The dual grind is a time saver. You can sign up for notifications and wait for the deals. My #22 was a refurbished at a big discount. Those don’t last long so if you get a notification and you want it you better buy it quick. I’ve bought most all of my LEM stuff as refurbished. It’s all basically new. Probably new returns they inspect, clean and re-sell. I use a stuffer and haven’t tried stuffing directly from the #22.

Buy the foot pedal! Especially if you are doing the processing by yourself. If you use a foot pedal in a small machine make sure you clear all of the meat out of the grinder before stopping. If you don’t sometimes the machine will stall and won’t restart. If it stalls you have to stop and pull the auger to clean it out. Big time waste there.

I used the Kitchen Aid when starting out many years ago but like others I didn’t want to ruin it and bought a dedicated grinder. Much better and faster way to go.

I started with LEM and have stuck with them. I always waited for good sale for a new piece of equipment.
I have a 22 myself . Really happy with it. Great performing piece. I never stuffed with it other than 1 lb meat bags. It does that very well.

 

[butcherboy]

Yep, I grind all my own meat. I have also been using a commercial processor for over 30 years. Meat always comes out fantastic and I always know it’s mine and that it’s well taken care of and clean.

Forgot to say that the commercial processor I use looks back at me in the mirror every morning before work.

 

[brancher147]

Always grind my own meat. Usually do 4 or 5 deer every year and a bear every other year or so. Also have done ground jerky and have been doing summer sausage the last couple years. Definitely worth it.

 

[Snowwolfe]

We make our own Italian and breakfast sausage from pork butts. Before we moved back to Alaska would find them on sale for $.99 a pound and stock up. They have a perfect lean to fat ratio (70/30) which results in superb sausage. I make up breakfast sausage in 20 pound batches and freeze in 1 pound bags. It is better tasting and has less fat than any commercial brand and everyone who eats it compliments us on the taste. Best part is you can tweak it as you go, maybe add a touch more heat, or sweet, less fennel, more garlic or black pepper, etc

 

[Boarmaster]

We make our own Italian and breakfast sausage from pork butts. Before we moved back to Alaska would find them on sale for $.99 a pound and stock up. They have a perfect lean to fat ratio (70/30) which results in superb sausage. I make up breakfast sausage in 20 pound batches and freeze in 1 pound bags. It is better tasting and has less fat than any commercial brand and everyone who eats it compliments us on the taste. Best part is you can tweak it as you go, maybe add a touch more heat, or sweet, less fennel, more garlic or black pepper, etc

Pork butts are the way to go for pork sausage.

 

[Wyo_hntr]

I bought a .5hp lem grinder. I think it was 340 from home depot. It paid for itself in the first season. I can run through 80lbs of burger pretty quick.

Peace of mind, knowing exactly what went in to my food (or didn't) is worth it to me.

I need to get a sausage stuffer next.

 

[cusecat04]

Definitely learn to process your own. It's really not that difficult once you get started.

I currently have a junky hand me down grinder from a guy at work. Works for small jobs but not something you want to bother with on larger jobs. Once that dies I will buy something larger to burn through bigger batches more easily.

How you like to cook really impacts how you take care of things and I like having that control during the butchering process.