Homemade Sausage Making

I'm looking to purchase a stand alone stuffer. Which is better? The vertical type or elbow type? Are they easier to use than grinder attachment?

Ok, so I quit being lazy and searched the posts for stuffers and realized the dislike of horn stuffers, haha! Does anybody have a recommendation for a 5 lb vertical stuffer for a beginner?

Rtasma,

I use a little stuffer from Northern Tool- http://www.northerntool.com/-just search the site for sausage stuffer and they will pop right up. I have the 5 lb. vertical and it has done a great job for me for a lot less than most other 5 lb. stuffers. It is essentially the same as the Lem- http://www.lemproducts.com/category/sausage-stuffers -- stuffer and the parts are interchangeable. You might watch Ebay, they have some good buys once in awhile. Grizzly Tools has the same for a bit less than Northern--http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-lb-Sa ... ical/H6252 .

Welcome to the site-

Pat

Thanks Pat! So your plastic gears have held up?

I haven't had a problem with the plastic gears-if you wanted metal I think you could buy the Grizzly Stuffer and get replacement (metal) gears from Lem and still spend less than you would on other stuffers (including the Lem stuffer). It looks like these are all the same except the gears and all refer to Lem for parts.

Pat

LEM or the Grizzly 5lb model.
minimum investment, great return. Both units will do the job quite well.

Kevin

I have the LEM 5 lb. stuffer with metal gears and like it. Got a good price because it came in a damaged box. If I were to buy again, I'd go with the Grizzly now that I find out the only difference is the nylon gears and a lower price. Some very good stuffers have nylon gears. From what I've read on forums, the point is not to abuse the stuffer and the nyon will be fine. I think the only way to abuse a stuffer would be to put really stiff mince in it, a small tube, and then crank like a maniac. That and cranking really hard when the plunger hits bottom, to squeeze the last nubbin of meat out. Stuffers are pretty idiot proof.

Jeff

Ratsma,

I opted for the LEM 5 lb. vertical unit. Yes, you can get one a little cheaper, but I bought it for two reasons........one, it has metal gears. Yeah you v
Can get by with plastic, but for how long? Number two, the LEM model comes with metal stuffing tubes which in my opinion will cut down on possible burrs and are also probably a little more sanitary.

It was $149 from their website......


Whatever you do, don't by the elbow unit.

Good luck,
Ed

Thanks everyone! I've found a LEM unit on amazon for $143. Think I'm gonna go with it!

there has been quite a bit of discussion about stuffers and the gearing and the broken gearing as a result for trying to squeeze out the last link. When I was a kid we had a hand cranked grinder and we ground only as much as we would need for a particular recipe. That made it necessary to not leave any in the grinder so we always ran some dry bread through to chase out the last of the meat.
The same method could be accomplished using cooked rice as the last of the fill in the stuffer. The last link or two would be a mix of sausage and rice but that is also a good combination.

cat797 wrote:Ratsma,

Yeah you v
Can get by with plastic, but for how long? Number two, the LEM model comes with metal stuffing tubes which in my opinion will cut down on possible burrs and are also probably a little more sanitary.

Good luck,
Ed

About 5 years so far, and I make a LOT of sausage.

Even with metal gears you want your meat to flow well inside of the stuffer, and as ssorllih, said, don't try and squeeze the bottom out of the stuffer. Just like in your grinder, use some other edible medium to remove the remainder of the meat. Bread in a grinder, cooked rice in the stuffer.

The plastic tubes that come with the other stuffers are food safe and shouldn't have burrs unless you're putting them in the dishwasher in the hot zone, or you mistreat them. I have some plastic tubes that are still like they came from the factory. However, I have a few metal tubes that have been dinged when dropped or mishandled when stored.

As for sanitary, everything is washed and sanitized prior to use, right?

Charlie

Cabonaia wrote:...If I were to buy again, I'd go with the Grizzly now that I find out the only difference is the nylon gears and a lower price. Some very good stuffers have nylon gears. From what I've read on forums, the point is not to abuse the stuffer and the nyon will be fine. ...cranking really hard when the plunger hits bottom, to squeeze the last nubbin of meat out...

Thanks, Jeff. Based on your expert testimony, I just ordered a Grizzly. Now we'll test the "idiot proof" part. WooHoo! (...rummaging sounds.) Now, where's that nubbin-sized measuring thingie? (rummage, rummage...) It's in here somewhere... Might just upgrade to Ross's 1.5-kg-sized nubbins.

But seriously, folks- - that's good advice about nylon gears, or ANY machinery for that matter- - don't force 'em. Why, look what happened when CW went overboard with his wagon-mounted snow making equipment (see other thread).

I agree I have the 5 lb stuffer with nylon gears and have not had a problem

el Ducko wrote:Thanks, Jeff. Based on your expert testimony, I just ordered a Grizzly.

I love giving advice and hate it when people accept it!

But yeah, that's the thing with any equipment. There is a feel you get for stuff - when you need to stop tightening a bolt or winding a crank. The feel of the resistance changes from "making progress" to "almost stripping something" to "too late! why did I listen to that clown Jeff and buy the nylon gears?????"

Ah, Saturday morning! "Car Talk" and "Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me!" are on the radio, Beloved Spouse is off somewhere spending money, and I have a half-kilo of "merguez" Moroccan lamb sausage in the refrigerator, ready to stuff. On a lark, I had thawed out overnight a 1-kilo pack of 80/20 ground pork butt to play with, and also thawed a 4-pound block of pre-marinated beef skirt steak (that's "fajitas," son!) produced by local Texas grocery chain HEB. Our friends couldn't make it, so... that's a lotta beef for one duck to devour at one or two sittings. (Why, not even Chuckwagon...)

Oh, yeah ...and there's that brand new Grizzly 5-lb sausage stuffer sitting there, its polished high-chrome-stainless hide gleaming, beckoning, calling my name.

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

I now wish I hadn't wasted my time (and money) on a horn stuffer. This baby is really easy to use! I clamped it to the countertop and started in. My fears about huge left-over heels were baseless- - 100 grams left in the stuffer tube and another 50 grams in the beveled bottom of the can. These were easily recovered by unscrewing the stuffer tube and shoving its contents into the casing with a cylindrical spoon handle (make sure you find the right size ahead of time), then removing the material in the bottom of the can by hand and shoving it into the stuffer tube (it easily fits), followed by another shove with the spoon handle. The result: little waste to speak of.

So... I stuffed all the merguez, then switched over to ground-up fajita meat cut with ground-up bacon, then seasoned that other kilo of pork for andouille and stuffed it too. It's easy to tell when you're about to bottom out. Nylon gear stripping is not really a worry- - you can easily tell if you're about to overdo it. They've thought of everything, it seems- - the little vent thingie on top of the piston lets out excess trapped air. ...really nice.

I should have bought this thing a long time ago. Today was a Saturday afternoon well spent. ...wish I had my smoker equipment here, so I could do the andouille justice. (I cheated and used some liquid smoke). I'll season the links overnight in the refrigerator (let 'em dry a bit), then vacuum package them for freezing.

That vacuum packing thingie is a joy, too. ...forgot to write about it. Maybe I'll write a novel instead, about a heroic duck who faces an uncertain reality, armed only with vacuum-packed sausages and a long list of sausage making threats. ...uh, recipes. Yeah. ...and some sex and violence, so it can fit in on today's television programming. ...starring Brat Arm-Pitt as that daredevil duck, and the female dance pros of "Dancing With the Stars" as the ingenues. Watch for it. WooHoo!