Looking to get set up to make our own sausage.
I have been down the grinder and stand-alone stuffer rabbit hole for a week.
Any brands recommended? Or to stay away from?

Nothing too heavy duty. A few deer once a year and maybe a hog now and again for some breakfast sausage.

For that kind of use, I would go with both the LEM grinder & stuffer. I recommend going with a 1 HP or greater grinder. Stuffer size is up to you, but the bigger the better. I have a 7 lb stuffer I use for small batches, and 15 lb for larger.

I have a #12 LEM that I put probably 1000-1500 lbs of various meats through in a year. I feel like it will last me forever at that kind of usage. I have a 5 lb vertical stuffer and wouldn't mind a bigger one. This is worlds better than trying to stuff with a grinder, but a larger stuffer would be handy.

What is a 7 pound stuffer going to get you? Don't set him up for disappointment.

The waltons, inc 11lb stuffer is real nice and smooth.

The LEM’s seem to be great quality.
I have never tried to stuff sausage with a grinder and don’t plan too.
What else can you do with the stuffer besides links? Buck sticks and summer sausage as well?

Absolutely, along with many other things. You can stuff anything in any sized casing, for whatever purpose.

Agreed.

I only bought the 7 lb stuffer because I was working overseas. I got tired of the food, and VERY few people made sausage there. When you found it, it was expensive. NOBODY smoked sausage, or any food for that matter. Was unheard of.

I bought what could be imported into that country and got after it. #10 manual grinder & a little stuffer were the chosen tools. Made different sausages, cooked them up, and shared a lot with the locals. Was a HUGE hit LOL.

Anyway, I kept the 7 pounder and the little grinder and use for making little test batches of different sausages. Once I'm happy with a recipe, the big grinder & stuffer comes out. Could get by just fine with only the 15#.

For a grinder, I would not go smaller than a #12. I have a #22 and really like it. The experience I had with the smaller grinders was they tended to make the meat mushy.

For a stuffer, as stated above, the 11 lb. stuffer from Walton's is a great stuffer, especially if you are planning on doing snack sticks. I recently bought this stuffer and I wish I would have gotten one a long time ago. I made 25 lbs. of snack sticks in no time at all, pushing the meat through the small 12 mm tube. The Walton's stuffer is very good quality and about $200 cheaper than the LEM 10 lb. 2 speed stuffer. Walton's has a good selection of grinders as well. They shipped my stuffer really fast, as well. Below is the stuffer that I bought.

Walton's 11 lb Stuffer

Was expecting something different in this thread.

My suggestion is always to go bigger than you think you'll need on both...
Bite the bullet and get a stuffer with an electric motor vs hand crank. Worth every penny. Plus, it allows the process to be a one man show.
Biggest secondary use for my own stuffer is filling meat bags after the grind using the biggest tube.

Worth every penny is right

Bought this one a couple months ago. Did the grind pile from 11 does mixing in cold beef fat and it worked flawlessly. $200 was a reasonable price to me for the occasional use it is going to get.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/lem-8-mighty-bite-grinder#repChildCatid=1251768

Driedmeat, what do you recommend for an electric one then? I agree on having the ability to have a 1-man operation compared to 2.

We have a 30 pound hand crank stuffer from cabelas and a 10 pound +/- antique cast iron one. The cabelas stuffer doesnt have any of the nostalgia, but it night and day a better performer. Stuffing with a hand crank grinder is still a one man show for us.

The way i justify the cost of our processing equipment is looking at what it would cost to get the 10+ deer a year we shoot processed. In less than 1 year the big items are covered.

I stuff ground meat into bags for hamburger meat. We do approx 80 lbs of ground venison in addition to the sausage every year.

Get a LEM vertical stuffer of the largest size that you can afford. I wish I would have gone bigger.

Agree with all on the LEM products. Don't forget the mixer. It's a game changer.

I would look for an old Enterprise sausage stuffer, Expensive, but cast iron, older actually antique equipment, but repair parts are available. Mine is a 4 quart, more than I have ever needed, but you only have to use the capacity you need. The electric grinder is nice, but we have a #32 hand crank, it has done 1000's of pounds over the years. One person can easily grind faster even if 2 people are trimming and cutting the meat. Even at todays antique prices the total cost of the 2 would be about $350 to $400. Mine cost less than a $100 40 years ago.

1. don't forget the foot pedal for the stuffer
2. freeze all the auger, blades, housing etc before using
3. 1/2 frozen meat processes best

That’s good to know! 👍

I have a 30lb LEM (4 years old now). Has a foot pedal for easy on/off as you fill. Automatically stops when it gets to the bottom to keep from damaging the plunger. Variable speed dial so you have control over the amount that is coming out.

Had a Cabelas commercial 30lb before that but it died after about 10 years of use and the parts were no longer available.

My LEM #8 works great. Definitely get the mixer if you have the funds for it. I need to get one myself along with a stuffer.

Yup, good grinder. I have done about eight deer a year for the past ten years with mine.