Meat Grinder

If you have a Kitchen-Aid mixer, get the attachment.  I love mine.

Grif,

Look for an Italian pommodori machine with a grinder attachment. They come with stuffing attachments as well. I'll go look at mine and find a link

nolaegghead said:

If you have a Kitchen-Aid mixer, get the attachment.  I love mine.

+1

I've been looking at the same thing lately.  I found a grinder set up with a ton of attachments from "Mercantile Station"  http://mercantilestation2.com/#ecwid:category=1019056&mode=category&offset=0&sort=normal

The reviews are really good and the kit that comes with it for sausage (including stuffing tubes/beaner plates) is pretty compelling for the price tag.

From everything I've read - a proper stuffer is very important and for me I'm leaning toward just buying the stuffer and getting fresh ground pork from a butcher until I'm sure I will do enough charcuterie to justify the grinder.

My father in law has a giant commercial grinder. I'm tempted to bust it out and get it cleaned up for this hunting season. He also has a smoker that I can stand inside and not touch any of the walls from the middle.

I like ours.

nolaegghead said:

@VI - you sure don't screw around when it comes to your gear.

Nola,

I'll only do small batches of 5 pounds or so of beef, and that's mostly top sirloin, round, maybe some chuck.  The cutter blade does get wrapped up with connective tissue, but I've never had to stop and clear it out mid-batch.  If I were into sausage making, I'd probably upgrade to something more heavy duty like VI's grinder.  But for what I'm doing and given our kitchen is already packed to the gills with gear, it serves me well for the time being.  It's easy to clean and I usually throw it in the dishwasher to sterilize after use, and it only cost about $50 (obviously not counting the cost of the mixer).