I need a slicer and a grinder
 

I think the only two things left I want for my grilling and smoking hobby are a slicer and a grinder. I can't spend a lot of money on either of these and I have been looking around online and found these... Do any of you have any experience with either of these machines?

Amazon.com: EdgeCraft 610 Chef's Choice Premium Electric Food Slicer: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41V846S071L.@@AMEPARAM@@41V846S071L

Amazon.com: Deni 3500 800-Watt Professional Grade Meat Grinder: Home & Garden@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KBJYyXfwL.@@AMEPARAM@@41KBJYyXfwL

I hate to tell you, but there will be only 'one thing left to get' every other week, and being on this board doesn't help with everyone showing off their toys. I don't have experience with those, but I'm sure someoone on the board will though.

JM, I am with you. Today, I had the butcher grind some meat for me and I was just thinking....
The slicer would be a great addition but I can't give you any help on the specific one. I just want one...

No expert here but my suggestion is to check them out good. Buy the best you can even if that means saving up for awhile. You really want something HD that will last a long time. I always buy more than I need as to quality and expect it to last and do everything I could throw at it.

if it says Hobart its probably good, anything else, be cautious.

i have that slicer and it does the job on a small scale, know what you have and use it accordingly, but if you really want to get serious about a slicer you better plan on spending about $500 or more. new. you might get lucky used but i am finding they are few and far between. watch for restaurant auctions. best of luck.

That slicer has a bunch of good reviews on amazon.com and I watched a couple videos of it in action on YouTube so I might give it a try. What sparked my interests is when I was in Lowes today, I saw a Waring slicer and grinder that both looked good an each was $99. I came home and looked them up and the Waring slicer had a bunch of nightmare reviews about cleaning it. There weren't a lot of great reviews on the grinder either.

As for no end to the wishlist for the cooking hobby, I'm sure you are right. I just can't think of much else I would want at this point. Anything else would be a want rather than a need. I have spent a chunk of change in the last 45 days with the WSM, the One-Touch Gold, the BBQ Guru, a folding table for work outside, a 10x10 pop up canopy, a new carving knife and fork, a pizza stone and peel, cast iron grates for the kettle, a wireless remote temp probe, a wired pit/meat probe, custom lid handles by Marty Leach, a buttload of charcoal on sale, membership to this forum, and I have smoked over 50lbs of food just in the month of May. I know that's not much compared to many, but it is for me when I'm not feeding many people with my cooking (yet) :)

<= is having a good time anyway :)

So, you got the Cast Iron grates for the Kettle. How do you like those? I would like a set.

I can't speak poorly about anything I actually own, you know ;)

The cast iron grates are very nice. I bought them because I simply love cast iron grates. They take more maintenance than the regular grates if you wanna get a long life of use. I'll be taking mine out of the kettle after each use, brushing them down and oiling them just as I would a cast iron pan. They make excellent sear marks on steaks and burgers (which is why I bought them).

What these grates are NOT good for:

I don't think these grates will lend themselves exceptionally well to indirect cooking unless its gonna be a cook that doesn't require additional charcoal. I bought a set of the weber charcoal baskets (left that off my first list along with the Smokey Joe and Weber Chimney starter) and they are a LOT easier to use with the hinged grate that comes with the One-Touch. It's a little more difficult to lift these grates out of the way for charcoal maintenance so I'll be using both grates depending on what I'm gonna cook on the kettle.

I'm also gonna buy the cast iron grate for the Smokey Joe, because I'll always be doing direct heat cooking on that grill.

I've got this one.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...ct_36989_36989

I can tell you it kicks ass. No complaints and I've used it close to 30 times.

What's weird that it appears to be the same as this one, but the one on the link below is 30 bucks less. :confused:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...1267_200451267

If you think that one is the bomb, I might just give it a try. I actually have a Northern Tool here in my home town but I have never been in it.

It's great. I really can't comment on the one you posted, it might be better, but IDK. Mine works great and it too gets great reviews. Hopefully others chime in as well. :thumb:

I'm good with that. I don't mind spending a few extra bux to buy locally. It's good for the local economy. I hate that I had to mail order my WSM but I wasn't willing to make a 140 mile round trip to get one...

When I got my first smoker, I bought a $40 slicer and it burned out after its 4th or 5th pastrami... I really want a slicer, but will wait for a really good one next time

I have a Waring Pro FS150 and use it all the time for meat, cheese, tomatoes, bread and it works just great for home use. I have a Kitcheaid stand mixer and all the attachments for I can grind and stuff with that attachment.

Amazon.com: Waring Pro FS150 Food Slicer: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41C4V80ZNWL.@@AMEPARAM@@41C4V80ZNWL

for a grinder, depends on how much you are doing. I've had one of those little grinders and it sucked. I was also doing 100 pounds at a time.

If you are doing only a few pounds, consider the kitchen-aid blender with attachments. More versital tool. I have one and it does great if you are making a small amount of sausage or something. Works good for larger amounts, just slow.

I also have a cheaper slicer. It sucks to. Pretty much unusable.

bottom line, you get what you pay for.