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Sausage grinder problems

Jbowie

Jbowie

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I have a Kitchener 12 meat grinder. Every time I use it I swear will be the last. The unit will come loose during grinding and has to be reassembled , cleaning meat off blade and knife. I have tried cooling meat to a frozen state and other temperatures to no avail. I recently made a sausage requiring brisket and pork butt. both meats caused problems. Both meats were cubed to one inch or less. I sharpened the knife and blades using a diamond knife sharpener. It seems the unit is having trouble with fat, sinew, etc.
Do I need a different sharpener, new blades, or new LEM?
 
I think you need to clean your meat better. That seems to be the only thing that ever gives me trouble. I usually clean well, but last time I was in a hurry, I would have been better off taking a few extra minutes to do it right as opposed to taking the blades off and cleaning a grinder 3 or 4 times.
 
In addition to sharpening your knife edges, you have to resurface your grinding plate, they wear together. The edges of the holes in the plate are also cutting edges and need to be sharp and any grooves in the plate surface need to be removed. Get some sandpaper starting at about 320 (depends how much material you need to remove) 400 and finish with 600. Wet sanding works best. Put the sandpaper on a flat surface and move the plate back and forth. Sharpen your knife blades this way as well. :thumb:
 
Are you saying the locking collar is coming loose by turning counter clockwise during grinding? I think the auger turns clockwise while grinding, so there is no logical way for it to undo the collar. Sinew and gristle always grab on to some part of the cutter/blade so that is pry not an issue. Does the grinder vibrate so badly that it could be vibrating the collar loose? Maybe running in reverse? Threads for locking collar shot?
That's all I got.
Ed
 
Yes I do keep the auger and all parts in freezer.
The grinder does not vibrate or shake. I would have to verify the rotation of the auger but it is definitely not in reverse. I have used this machine for 6 or 7 years and had this problem always. The collar literally unscrews very rapidly about halfway off before I can hit the stop button.
I made a sausage yesterday using 3 # brisket lean, 1 pound of brisket fat and 2 pounds of pork butt. I had to clean and restart three times on the lean brisket, no problem on fat and pork.
 
Not familiar with your make / model grinder, but if I'm grinding for a fine texture; I first grind through a coarse plate first, re-chill, and then use the fine plate to get the desired grind.
 
I dont have the same set up. But the first time I used my grinder...I had the blade in backwards. Not even sure if you can do that on yours. Just throwing that out.
 
Auger, knife blade sharp side to grinder plate? Does your grinder plate move in rotation or is it completely still? Any chance you could post a video of this happening?
Ed
 
I am thinking maybe auger is backwards. Something is backwards to cause it to come undone like that. The auger should be turning the opposite of the way the collar is screwed on.
 
Looks like the same one i used for many years i got from Northern Tool. And no, it is not the highest quality grinder on the market. I had my share of choice words for it from time to time although i dont think i had the issues you've had. I'll finally had enough and got a Weston Butcher series #12 meat grinder and it's so much better. Even a LEM would be world's better than your current one.
 
If you're looking to replace, I'd suggest looking at a couple different brands first. I just returned my 2nd LEM 22 and didn't try a 3rd.
 
Zak said:
Looks like the same one i used for many years i got from Northern Tool. And no, it is not the highest quality grinder on the market. I had my share of choice words for it from time to time although i dont think i had the issues you've had. I'll finally had enough and got a Weston Butcher series #12 meat grinder and it's so much better. Even a LEM would be world's better than your current one.
Click to expand...


The Weston is a workhorse! I've used my Weston for almost 14 years with no problems at all. I've replaced the blade and some of the plates a couple times, but continues to work hard.
 
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