Meat grinder problems...advice please

dwayneb · Nov 20, 2011

I bought the cabelas 1 hp meat grinder this year. I love the grinder but have a question. When i grind my burger the first time and then use my mixing bowl and mix the burger with fat i then run it all through the grinder again and into poly bags. The problem im having is the grinder being very slow and not wanting to grind the mixture through again without a ton of pressure using the meat push rod. Is there some lubricant or product that speeds this up and prevents the grinder throat from building up mass amount of fat etc...

thanks in advance

completesportsman · Nov 20, 2011

I haven't done any grinding in a while but we used to spray everything with some non-stick cooking spray like Pam.

dwayneb · Nov 20, 2011

that makes sense, i was going to try that today but thought i would post the question in case someone had a better idea. Thanks for the quick reply...

richardjb · Nov 20, 2011

I have the same unit. I solved the problem by buying the mixer attachment. I only grind once. Good luck.

bulls1 · Nov 20, 2011

You should have gotten three different plates that go in front of the knife. One with small holes, one with holes just a little larger, and one with three very large openings. Use the one with three large openings and it should pull it through like a house a fire.

DRAFTSTUD · Nov 21, 2011

Take a break and put the meat in the freezer to harded up and use the 3 openning plate. John

BeanMan · Nov 21, 2011

My 1 HP only came with two plates, it sounds like I need one of the three hole plates for when I grind with some fat in (which I have yet to do after four seasons of ownership).

tailchasers · Nov 21, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Nov-21-11 AT 12:27PM (MST)[p]You should have taken some of that fine advise handed out by our local Sports Guide authurity and checked out that finer grinder from the Sportsmens Guide...

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling
up anyway."

dwayneb · Nov 21, 2011

I already went through the crap involved with sportsman guide ban saw and grinder combo ....what a purchase of garbage....my cabelas grinder will grind a Honda...

dleonard3 · Nov 22, 2011

I like to grind wild game meat with bacon ends & pieces. I course grind them together using a 3/8" plate - three parts meat, and one part bacon. You should keep the meat & bacon very cold (ice crystals starting to form) for best results. Then I mix it up good and put it back in the freezer to firm it up again. When it's starting to freeze again, I run it through the grinder again using the 3/16" plate. I have one of those attachments on my LEM grinder that extrudes the meat out in 1/2" thick, 4" wide strips on wax paper rolls. Then I cut them into square patties (like Wendys), freeze them individually, then package them in ziploc bags in stacks of 6. That way I can pull out as many as I need and re-seal the bag and throw the rest back into the freezer.

Idahoron · Nov 22, 2011

I have owned this grinder for several years. I have ground up many deer, elk, and cattle. The first grind goes fast because you have tissue that is connected. It literally drags it's self through the grinder. The second grind the tissue is broken and now it can't drag it's self through so you have to push. The one big thing you need to do is tighten that nut on the grinder plate. When you think it is tight do it some more. Hella tighten it.
I have never frozen the meat the second time through. I just run it. I bought a 1400 pound cow once. I ground it twice and it didn't take me a week to do. I did it in one morning.
Just tighten the nut extremely tight and go for it. I have heard that the LEM big bite auger is a good upgrade but I haven't tried it my self.
Lastly, I don't add fat to my meat to go into the grinder. If I want to add some fat I just add sausage into the meat as it is cooking or I use high fat hamburger. I never add fat before I grind the second time. I regulate the amount of beef of pork at the skillet. Ron