LEM meat grinder

 
I did a lot of searching last year for a meat grinder. The LEM, Cabella's and some of the others are private labeled machines of another manufacturer.

Last year I bought a new KA 620 Professional and the meat grinder attachment. I ground, at different times 10 pounds of meat. I stuffed, using the KA stuffing tubes, 3 pounds into brats and ended up burning out the 610. I called KA techs and asked what was the deal and was told the duty cycle of the KA attachment port is about is 7 to 10 minutes and not to let the head get hot.

When I ground the KA heat was extremely hot. I then put the meat in the fridge to cool down and then stuffed.

After grinding the meat went to 54°, then as I said I cooled, and then I stuffed and the meat got to 63° and the KA stiffing takes a huge amount of time and really needs two people to accomplish the task.

In my grinding I did not partially freeze the meat nor did I pre-cool the grinding attachment which some of the form members said should be done.

With that said, there are forum members that have used and continue to use the KA grinder to grind their meat and have great success. Thirdeye has some pictures of the KA grinding on his Playing with Fire and Smoke site. Several other forum members have posted KA grinds.

I ended up purchasing a Cabella 'professional' home unit - I couldn't afford their upper line of grinders (If I would have had the money I would have purchased the upper line).

Harbor Freight has just has just recently began selling a meat grinder which looks a lot like the professional unit I have. I think the price is around $60 when not on sale.

I believe Grizzly stuffers also have a meat grinder, much the same as LEM and Cabellas and there several others.

The KA grinder has a course grind plate and a small grind plate. The small is much the same as my medium plate. I use the fine plate and grinding. The other day I did partially freeze the meat and got the grind head as cold as the freezer could get it. Grinding was about 1/2 the time and much easier than when the grinding head is room temperature and the meat is refrigerator temperature. When I finished the grind the meat was below 40°.

I also purchased a 5# vertical stuffer which is a dream to have. Sometimes I wish I had got a larger capacity.

I would suggest getting a grinder other than KA and a stuffer. Sure makes life much easier.

Below was the result of some Summer Sausage (fantastic - better than Hickory Farm) Cabella grinder and vertical stuffer. I ended up tossing the 15# batch I did with the KA grinder and stuffer. The grinding side of the KA would probably have been OK but the stuffing side with the 3# logs took way too long and was in the food danger zone for way too much time.



I should probably add I am no way accomplished in sausage making, rather a newbee. But the sausage, brauts sure taste fantastic.

My 2¢
Kent

Ben: I have a LEM, and absolutely love it! We did 33+ pounds of summer sausage in about 3 hours, ground, and stuffed. The grinding and stuffing with the LEM is very efficient. I highly recommend it.
FWIW, I had the KA grinder attachment, used it once, and gave it away. Wayyyy too much trouble for what it accomplishes, IMO. Wish you the best!

Ben: It works great as a stuffer, though admittedly, a second pair of hands makes things go incredibly faster. One person putting the ground meat in the auger, and the other person working the casing. It can certainly be done alone, but the second person is invaluable time wise. They truly are grinding machines! Hope you hear back, sounds like a great deal.

Ben: It should come with a coarse, a fine, and a blank for stuffing (plus I think 3 (?) different sized tubes for stuffing). I have not found a need for any additional plates. Summer sausage for example, I do a coarse grind, then fine grind. Regular sausage, I like to put it through twice on coarse, etc. I've been more than pleased with the results. (The plates and hole sizes can't even be compared to the KA. Like an apple and an orange.)

You're right, my grinder is no harder to clean than the KA, just a whole lot bigger. Then there is getting the big guy out and setting it up then putting it all away, the beast must weigh 80 lbs. The KA is on the counter and all I have to do is get the attachment from the pantry. Much easier if I just want to grind a couple burgers. Can't blame you for getting rid of yours though, I'd do the same if it fried my mixer. -RP

I don't know how much the LEM is on sale for, but all the LEM's I've seen have a plastic auger. The plates are metal, but the auger wasn't, and I was afraid that too much pressure would cause the end to round off. That's my $.02 on the LEM. After tons of research, I ended up buying a Northern Tool #12 grinder, and it works fantastic. It grinds 175 lbs/hr (and after using it, that is conservative), and comes with a reverse switch. I ground up 5 deer last winter, and have no complaints. It's on sale for $99 right now.

GG and Randy,when I stuff the Summer Sausage I use my jar funnel.It comes with a canning tool kit.The whole kit is less than 5 bucks and the jar funnel is worth more than that if you only use it for stuffing.That thing works GREAT.





The funnel is just rite to fit the summer sausage casings.

I have the kitchen aid attachment, the biggest drawback of it is it's made of plastic. On mine the grinder attachment housing eventually cracked. I've since replaced it with the Cuisinart stand mixer and grinder attachment. It's not plastic and it's been working wonderfully.

 
That is the same as Cabella's 'Pro' model at $199. It is a good unit and works well.

Kent