Diy meat processing suggestions

[jerm8352]

My father and I are trying our best to feed our families exclusively with meat and fish we catch and shoot. With that being said, I am looking for some suggestions for what brands of meat grinder, vacuum sealer, and smoker we should look into purchasing. We catch a lot of fish and will be hunting antelope, deer, and elk every year. I do not want to purchase very expensive commercial stuff but I do not want cheap junk either. Any help or tips would be great. We want to smoke the fish and some meat and make our iwn sausages and what not. I like not being dependent on others and doing thins myself. Thanks for the help!

 

[Bulldog0156]

You're going to want to invest in the commercial grade stuff if you want something efficient that holds up. Non-commercial grade stuff is going to burn up and takes forever to get anything done.

I'd prioritize what you need first so you don't have to drop a pile of cash all at once. If it were me, the meat grinder would be #1 on the list.

 

[Gunner46]

Why not just make a smoker? They are not that complicated and you can make it pretty much what ever size you want.

 

[TheShootist.41]

I would look into Weston products. They are well made, east to use and last. They have both commercial and home use product lines. You might pay a little more but the quality is there.

 

[sbhooper]

We have used Cabelas grinders (Weston) for years with no problems. They are good stuff and parts can be ordered. We use the Food Saver vac sealers and get along real well with them. The one we use is around $70 at Wal Mart. We also have a Cabelas sausage stuffer that has worked perfectly for a number of years and a Cabelas meat mixer that attaches to the grinder head. We also use a Waring Pro meat slicer.

The one thing that we have found over the years is that cheap stuff is not worth it if you are going to use it a lot.

 

[Dave N]

I bought the smallest commercial grinder Cabela's has. I think it's 1/2 HP and I do all of my own deer every year. I can knock out 30 pounds of burger in about 5-6 minutes. You don't have to buy a Cabela's brand grinder, I used points to help pay for mine, but at LEAST get one that rates it's power in HP not watts. Unless you are doing several critters all at once there is no need to have a huge grinder. Even then, the 1/2 HP one I have could do more than I would want to process all at once!

I just bought a Weston vacuum sealer for $149.99 delivered. So far so good. Westons have a fan on the pump motor to help with prolonged sealing sessions. Others may have a fan, I just went by name brand and price besides having the fan. Bags can be found cheaper on EBay. Lots of guys say rolls are cheapest and you can cut the bags to whatever size you want. I guess that would be true for lots of fish that you have a long filet off of, or if you want to freeze whole backstraps or something. I have managed to get about everything I needed to bag into precut pint or quart bags so far. Gallons will be used for bigger roasts or multiple chicken quarters if needed. I picked up 100 quart bags delivered for something like $13.

Smokers can be built out of lumber, METAL refrigerators, steel drums, fuel tanks, etc... It all depends on what you want as far as size and function. If you have lots of wood available that is your cheapest fuel option. If not, gas is about the only other choice. Wood means tending the fire watching the temperature while gas is almost a light it and leave it.

Check EBay for grinders and sealers. Sometimes good used ones are available. I preferred having new, so I looked on EBay as well as doing a Google search for the specific model unit I was looking at and used the shopping link for the cheapest prices.

 

[RobG]

You can put off the cost of the grinder for a few years by having that done at the butcher.

 

[elkantlers]

I process all my own game. I have a small electric grinder that is plent enough for me. If you think about it you really aren't going to do huge volumes of meat so a small model should do just fine. I also bottle alot of meat. My family prefers this to ground game meat and you can use it in the same recipies. I would love one of the new smokers that feed the chips and have all the bells and whistles but for the price I just can't bring myself to buy one. If money is an issue just build something to cold smoke your meat and then just finish the cooking process in the oven. I do this with summer sausage and it works great.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

A 3/4 HP #22 Grinder from LEM or Academy will hold up fine and will support many different attachments, that is what you are shooting for. I have had mine for years, dozens of deer. I have the Grinder, the cuber (Tenderizer) that attaches to it. A quality set of knives, a ceramic steel plus a scale for sausage and packaging along with the Paper Roller and tape. There you have everything. John

 

[jryoung]

I have been very happy with the Weston and LEM products I own.

One thing to consider is in a given session how much will you be processing? How much annually? From here you can back into the capacity that you need. One of the best things I did was purchase a second vacuum sealer. It was an expensive purchase but, sealing was our bottleneck and was constantly holding us up.

A big processing session can be tiring especially for fish where often it is done after a full day of fishing. Certainly you don't want to buy too much capacity, but factor in your time savings by creating efficiency in certain areas.

 

[ccc23454]

when I bought my grinder I went with cabelas as its warranty was 5 years and the LEM was 2 if I remember right plus cabelas always makes things right if you have a problem. go big! if you think you need the 3/4 get the 1hp, costs up front but will last and make easy work of you grinding and sausage making. strongly suggest the foot pedal control also for any grinder. as far as smoker make one for your purpose, you will be happier in the end. I use a cabelas branded vacuum sealer and it works good and always buy boxes of bag rolls when they go on sale.

 

[genesis273]

I also am very pleased with my LEM 3/4hp grinder size #12. I run around 20 deer per year through the thing and it doesn`t slow down, and will take it about as fast as you can feed it, and I`ve been doing this for my family for 20+ years. I once had a cheap grinder and it was the worst investment I`ve made. It took forever to grind one pound, much less an entire deer. DO NOT try to save and skimp on a grinder! Buy the very best that you can afford. It`ll be well worth many years of use!

The initial cost may cost you, but like anything, once you have everything you need, it`ll all be worth it, and very rewarding.

Now here`s the part that most will think I`m crazy! Going back to saving a little money. For as long as I can remember, I save all of those 16oz (ie.sour cream) containers. Those things hold exactly 1 lbs. I have well over 100 of those things and those are the first thing I fill when putting up burger. They stack easy and don`t cost anything, much less the cost of constant purchases of freezer paper.
I also have a regular LEM crank style cuber.
One bit of advice, once you finish processing meat, whether through a grinder or cuber, immediately clean your equipment. That meat will stick like glue and you`ll go through heck trying to clean it. I use a stiff brush for the cuber for the initial cleaning before washing.

 

[Corax]

I use a hand grinder and wrap the meat in freezer paper. Spending over $100 to save half an hour once or twice a year does not seem like good economics to me. I own a tilia food-saver but find that I can wrap and seal faster than the machine, and it lasts just as long. Plus freezer wrap is a whole lot cheaper than the foodsaver bags. I do recommend a tape dispenser for the freezer tape, and a dispenser for the freezer wrap.

 

[roadhunter]

If you already have a kitchenaid mixer they make one that fits.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KitchenAid-...pliances_US&hash=item3ce77552e1#ht_890wt_1034

 

[Gerald Martin]

You can put off the cost of the grinder for a few years by having that done at the butcher.

or you can pay for a grinder with the money it would cost to grind several deer and elk. My butcher was charging $.50 a pound for grinding when I decided it was much cheaper in the long run to get a 1 hp. Cabelas grinder.

 

[jerm8352]

Thank you all for the help. I am looking at the cabelas grinder because of the warranty. Thanks!

 

[sbhooper]

or you can pay for a grinder with the money it would cost to grind several deer and elk. My butcher was charging $.50 a pound for grinding when I decided it was much cheaper in the long run to get a 1 hp. Cabelas grinder.

Another reason not to go to a processor, is that you are not sure what you will get back. They are not going to just make a small batch of sausage etc., so they will include meat from several animals. We learned this the hard way years ago.

I have killed so many animals over the years that it did not take long to pay for all of my processing equipment.

 

[buckykm1]

I use the Cabela's 1 HP Grinder, I have had it for about 14 years now, it works great.
And I use Cabela's commercial vacuum sealer, I have had it over 10 yrs., it is awesome.
I believe that Weston makes the vacuum sealer for Cabela's ?, it is cheaper to buy it from Weston.

Kevin

 

[mdunc8]

I bought my wife a KitchenAid mixer a few years ago that just happen to come with a rebate for a free grinder attachment. I've been extremely happy with it.

 

[1_pointer]

I bought my wife a KitchenAid mixer a few years ago that just happen to come with a rebate for a free grinder attachment. I've been extremely happy with it.

Use the same thing at our house! Best wedding present "she" got!