Yesterday I did 40lbs of sage sausage to use some for my Thanksgiving stuffing, and to put alot away in the freezer. I have done decent size batches of meat for kielbasa and sausage before, but getting tired of mixing it by hand. Any of you use a meat mixer? And what brand and your opinions. Thanks.
Each year we get together with some friends and butcher about 10 pigs. There's about 50 lb of sausage per pig. We have a commercial mixer that handles 15 lb. Not sure of the brand. Mixing and stuffing sausage requires a lot of and taste testing , but it's worth it. Try CL or MP
Being a meat cutter, I bought a grinder for myself. The brand is LEM, The machine is called BIG BITE. It's a #8, 0.35hp, with two plates and blades, and different sized sausage cones included. I bought it at Bass Pro Shops a few years age for I think around $250. All stainless steel. It might seem pricey, but you get what you pay for, just like any other tool you might buy. I recommend it.
I think the OP was asking about recommendations about a mixer, not a grinder. I had been looking at mixers myself and most everyone I talked to said they just do it by hand, they claimed it mixes better and doesn't turn to mush like it can in a mixer. But I'm sure opinions very. If you're doing a LOT of mixing, I'm sure a mixer is the way to go.
I have a small one that is maybe a 20 lb size , I would have to double check the size. It works fine for what I do. Haven't made a batch of sausage in a while but certainly due for a batch. It was one that LEM sells. I bought the mixer , grinder and stuffer as a package deal from them a few years back. All work just fine for my needs.
I have 2 mixers, both are Westons. The wife got the first one for me for a Christmas gift. When I went to put it together and use it the first time, the brass piece that the crank handle attaches to didn’t have a flat machined into it so the handle would fit. No problem I thought, I’m a handy guy, I’ll take it to the bench grinder and make it work. The wife wouldn’t let me and got terribly upset that she tried so hard to get me a great gift and it wasn’t usable. So she called Eldon’s to see if they could send a new part or return it. They apparently told her that they couldn’t ( even more upset wife now ) I told her it was ok I can fix it and that it was a wonderfully thoughtful gift. That didn’t really help her feel better. It’s been long enough now that I don’t remember how it all went down, but a short time later (a week maybe) UPS delivered another one. The 2nd one is bigger (40#) the first one is a 20#. So now I have 2. I don’t use either of them very often (unless the wife is around when I’m “making meat”). They are a pain to wash up, and I think I can mix it by hand better. I actually prefer to add all my seasoning to the chunks of meat in a tub before I grind it and let the grinder do most of the mixing. I really thought they would be just the ticket before I had one, now I’m not all that impressed with them. I still use one on occasion just because I have 2 of them, and also because she tried so hard to get me a great gift. But I could get by just fine without one. just my experience, your mileage may vary
Interesting... been reading this. Then I made 2 - 6 lb batches of summer sausage today by hand like I was taught from Dad. I just wonder how well these unit "mix" the ingredients... Cause it seem I end up making 4 or 5 rounds of this a year. But I'd definitely want a motorized version capable of doing 12-14 lb batches...
50 pounds per pig?!? Holy cow, you all must be grinding up a lot of the shoulder meat into sausage as well to get that much. We generally get about 10-12 pounds per pig.
We just dump the meat chunks into a big tray, hand mix seasoning in and then run through the grinder.
I am leaning more towards not getting one yet. To spend upwards of 300 bucks on the the bigger one, is not really in my budget. Might as well keep getting an arm workout when I am not doing firewood. I usually do about 120 to 160 pounds of different sausage and kielbasa a year, so like 3 or 4 times a year. I heard they are a pain to wash also. Thanks for your input.
I started making sausage this year. Actually, meat sticks like pepperoni just to eat. My batches are only 4 lbs or less so far using ground meat. Yes, you need to mix the meat/seasonings/cure very very thoroughly to avoid having hot spots in the finished sausage but also you need to mix it until the meat gets kind of stringy or sticky when the proteins change so you end up doing a lot of hand mixing. I can only imagine how difficult this must be with a 20 lb stuff. Look at it like a kitchenaid stand mixer. You can make cookies with a bowl and spoon but I sure don't. A baker can make 30 loaves of bread at a time with a spoon. But life is way easier and the product better with a mixer. That said, for small loads, and with all the extra cleaning required, I do not want to mess with a meat mixer.
Been making 100+ pounds of sausage a year for my whole life. Never had any issues mixing the seasoning by hand and then double grinding the meat. Haven’t done meat sticks though. To each their own but it just seems like a gadget that costs money and is just another thing to wash when it’s all done