Which meat grinder do you recommend?

[sararudh]

I want to grind beef and chicken. I have a kitchen aid stand mixer. Does anyone recommend the attachment that grinds meat? Or another product? Thanks.

[Bubbamike]

What ever you buy remember keep the meat cold and the grinder cold and you'll have less problems.

[steve h.]

My wife bought a Waring Pro. It's a dedicated and sturdy machine that can deal with anything we throw at (into) it. It's a pleasure to use. I think it ran about $200.

[Zeldog]

It depends mainly on how much meat you plan to grind for each batch and how often you plan to grind meat. The only advantage of the KA attachment is you don't need to buy a new machine that takes up storage space. That can be important, but the KA grinds very slowly compared to even the cheapest stand alone electric grinders (one of which I use) that cost about the same as the KA if you can find them on sale (regular price is around $150). If you plan to grind no more than a couple of pounds at a time the KA should do the job, but if you want to do lots of 4 or 5 pound batches, get a stand alone. You can get a basic electric grinder from northerntool.com.

Some folks prefer a hand powered grinder. Been there and done that and it's a big pain. Not recommended unless you want to save a few pennies on your electric bill.

[scubadoo97]

I have the Tasin TS-108, similar to the one from Northerntool.com. I paid just a little more for it than the KA attachement. It does take up some space and that is where the KA attachment really shines. I like the big hopper tray and the powerful motor that can grind hard objects without complaint. I like to use mine for making prepared horseradish. Grinds through raw horseradish and beets quickly and cleanly.

[vanillagorilla]

The KitchenAid attachment works great for me. I rarely grind more than 5lbs or so at a time. If I was going to do big jobs more often, I might move to a dedicated product.

I would not recommend the sausage stuffer attachment though.

[The Professor]

Just curious...What kind of problem did you have with the KA sausage attachment? I've been using one for nearly 20 years with no problems whatsoever (doing 5 and 10 lb batches of sausage).

[vanillagorilla]

For really course, relatively dry sausages; I find that it works ok. It's a little slow, but I can do a few pounds of sausage without too much issue. However if the sausage is a wetter sausage or an emulsified sausage, I just seem to make a big mess and can't get the links stuffed before things get to warm.

[Paulustrious]

I make emulsified sausages using the KA attachment. Depending if its a single or double pass sausage I chill the meat bits / grounds in the freezer until almost frozen before 'sausaging'. I also freeze the attachment itself.

[vanillagorilla]

I can get the sausage made ok, it's the stuffing that turns out to be a problem. It can be done, but if everything is not set up perfect, and/or you are a little slow, you can really run into issues

[fmed]

I have a KA sausage attachment. I don't recommend it. Meat tends to "back up" into the attachment. A few years ago, I had to get it serviced because meat got into the housing at the attachment point. The repairman told me that I "should have put a piece of cardboard or plastic to prevent that." Eh? They really should have just designed it properly.

I bought a dedicated Waring sausage maker/grinder and I haven't had any problems since. It actually cost less than the KA attachment.

[Zeldog]

Yep, I had the same experience as Vanillagorilla. Once I was able to face the fact that I was addicted to making sausages I bought a stuffer (the vertical type, 5-lb capacity). Many recipes call for post-grinding steps like adding additonal ingredients, stirring in cold water or other liquids or just smearing the meat a bit after grinding but prior to stuffing. The extra step does make a difference, and you can't do it if you grind and stuff all at once. The stuffing step goes more smoothly as well, since you are hand-cranking and can adjust the speed or stop quickly if necessary. Yes, yet another item to take up cabinet space, but it has a pretty small footprint. And you do need to clamp or bolt it down and that can be a pain, but like I said -- I'm addicted.

[scubadoo97]

A lot of people have the KA attachement and love it. I used one for a long time then went on to buy a dedicated grinder. My new grinder is more powerful and can grind meat much faster but the KA was fine for smaller jobs. The KA is also easy to clean.