Meat Grinders

[Chainsaw13]

I'll second the LEM line. I have their lowest #8, rated at 800 watts I believe. Does the job for me, but I'm doing less than 10lb batches. If you plan to do larger batches, you'll need to step up in power. Weston is another good brand to look at. And don't forget Cabelas. IIRC, those are just rebranded Weston's (or LEM).

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw13

If you plan to do larger batches, you'll need to step up in power. Weston is another good brand to look at. And don't forget Cabelas. IIRC, those are just rebranded Weston's (or LEM).

Precisely. When I spoke with the service department at LEM before buying a machine, I wanted to talk to the people that fix them and have them dissembled. The $100 ish countertop models with the plastic bodies have plastic gears and the cooling isn't the best. The biggest problem they run into is people grinding too large a batch or over feeding the machine too quickly. They overheat the machines and kill them.

That's why I went with the big bite. I wasn't going to do 20 lb batches all the time, but I wanted the ability to with the metal gears, a real cased motor, and different design auger that can be fed much faster. To me it was worth the extra $250. It was a lesson learned from my Vitamix - never thought I'd spend $400 on blender but once I did and used it, I've never regretted it and wondered why I didn't buy one sooner.