Sausage Stuffer

[lund17]

Reading the other threads about sausage making, I thought I would put this out there and see what brand of sausage stuffer you guys are using. Horizontal or vertical?

I have been using the stuffer attachment on my meat grinder and it works but I am not happy with the consistency of the meat once its in the sausage. I have been thinking about getting a dedicated stuffer. I have done some research but reviews are all over the place for the low end stuffer's and well the high end is pricey.

[buckbrush]

I would go with vertical style.

A few people I know with the smaller cabela's models like them and I was going to go with one of those for my new one but noticed they don't get the best reviews. Some guys swear by them though.

I picked up a LEM today and haven't even taken it out of the box yet. It was on sale so i figured I will give it a try.

[sns2]

Cabelas 30lb vertical

[calgarychef]

If you want to stuff in the grinder do this.

Grind coarse (3/4 inch) mix by hand with your additives and the water etc. Then refrigerate or partially freeze until it’s bloody cold, regrind to the final size and stuff it as it comes out if the grinder. If you’re curing the meat, grind 3/4, mix with spices and cure and leave in the fridge a couple days to allow cure to penetrate then final grind and stuff at the same time.

Not as good as a stuffer but it’ll help.

[Burrowing Owl]

LEM in this household. Make sure you have at least a 10lb minimum. Otherwise it's too many stops and starts.

[Soulcousin]

I am new to the game this year too. I bought the 5 pound vertical stuffer (might still be on sale for about 120 bux iirc) from Cabelas. I've only used it once but it went great. I guess I could see how some guys might want a higher volume capacity but right now I dont mind making smaller batches while I figure out what the household likes.

[PartTimeHunter]

After a couple of years using the grinder to stuff we bought a 15 lbs. vertical stuffer. Great addition! I always had trouble with the grinder pushing it out too fast so being able to control the speed of production greatly helped. Don't recall the brand but bought it at Halford's, I've bought a lot of our sausage and meat processing supplies there.

[silver]

I have followed these threads a bit, the one piece of advice that stuck with me was get the one with metal gears.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

The first time I made sausages omega50 loaned me his sausage stuffer. For the next round I went to princess auto (they had them on sale), but I ended up taking it back because the gear box was buggered... only the high speed gear would work. Then I bought one from CTR. I ended up getting the 20lb from CTR, it was a bit more money than the 11lb from PA, but it has turned out to be a good decision. As I have made more sausage, it seems that a normal batch is 40-50 lbs. 20lbs is a small batch. We seem to be making sausage 2 or 3 times a year, so the investment in equipment seems to be money well spent.

Last year I used the family to test a bunch of new recipes. I did 5 or 6 5lb batches and had a comment sheet that it was mandatory they fill out (and it had to be more descriptive than "good" or "like"). For me a 5lb batch just isn't worth the effort of cleaning the stuffer between batches, so I just did them as patties.

ARG

[eagleflyfisher]

15lb vertical, wore out the 5lb w cheap gears after a few years.
Can't remember the name but was one of those pricey Italian made jobs.

[gtr]

Depends on the size of batches you make. If you often do fifty pound batches get a big one. Lots of fellows do small batches of different varieties and flavours, so the small ones work well for them.

[ardionty]

I would go with any LEM Vertical sausage stuffer. My father in law is making excelent sausages from one of these.. I am not sure which he has.

[ghostguy6]

Since your in Ft. Sask I would make the journey to Halford's Hide. The ones they sell are all metal and had the best price around when I bought mine last year. Cabela's and LEM seem to be hit or miss when it comes to quality. The PA ones are junk. I cant comment on CTR's quality but they were more expensive than Halford's.

[Piker]

There are good ones out there but get one with steel gears as the plastic ones do not last long.

[tacomama]

I have the 5lb Kitchener stuffer from Princess Auto. The gears on that one are plastic and they just started slipping on the weekend, this is after about 4 years of owning it and maybe 200lbs of sausage made with it.
Looking back, I should have bought one with metal gears, but PA does sell replacement gears for mine for $10, so I ordered those and should be good for a few more years.

It all depends what your plans are with it and what you're willing to spend.

My preference is a vertical stuffer, would buy one with metal gears for sure and would go with a 10/11lb unit next time.

[AndrewM]

I have a Dakotah water stuffer which I have rigged up with always closed water valve so I can control with a foot petal. Works awesome and I can easily do it by myself.

[nube]

I use my grinder and grind with a plate that has real big holes in it. Then After I mix in my mixer and let sit for a day I put through my grinder with a mixing plate and it seems to work real well. If I use a plate with smaller holes I find like you that I do not like the texture

[tallieho]

Vertical.I have been using my 20lb TRE Spade,for over 20yrs.Never had a problem.It was exspensive back then 725.00,now i think CTR sells quality ones for 1/2 the price..You get what you pay for.Junk is still junk[PA].i HAVE MADE THOUSANDS OF LBS WITH THE STUFFER

[nube]

Do you guys all get electric ones or manual? Have thought about getting one myself a few times but what I have been doing works ok for me

[jcrayford]

Have a 20 pound Cabelas vertical with the separate motor as well. Can run it manually or with the motor. Can't run the motor while doing snack sticks though; not strong enough. Motor is completely adjustable for speed of output.

20 pounds is a good size. One load will produce enough smokie sized sausages to keep 4 of us hopping.

J.

[Maghunter]

Trespade is the only one for me. Tried others nothing compares to it. Buy once cry once.

[Beeman3]

Not happy to hear the reviews of the Pricess Auto 11 lb stuffer. I just got mine this fall and so far so good. 25 lb of sausage, bagged 80 lbs of elk burger, made 32 1/3 pound Hamburger patties. Worked great.

[ganderblaster]

I bought a 20 lb Cabela’s stuffer when they went on sale. Only have made 30 lbs of kabonosy snack sticks but I was impressed.

[ardionty]

Definitely use vertical. I wouldn't go under 10 lb. I have a 5lb one and it's unsufficient.

[aviador]

I’ve had a PA 11lb for a couple of years now. Metal gears. Was $149 and they had free delivery for the month...
I love it. Works great.

[omega50]

Based on what the OP is using now and the low price point, I might grab one of these at London Drugs.
https://www.londondrugs.com/london-d.../L8675621.html
Small, Cheap and Chinese
I like the look and size and it could live permanently on the counter as Counter Art and a conversation starter.

[full_throttle]

DON'T buy the Princess Auto 11lb vertical. I bought one in November, initially looks great, put first batch in stuffer and the slow gear would not work at all. Returned it for another thinking just bad luck....NOPE. First off i noticed in unpacking the drum on the second stuffer was considerably lighter in weight than the first one, no big deal, maybe that better. Checked the gears, yup both work, lifted the plunger up to remove the drum and clean and the plunger quickly reversed and fell to the bottom of the base. For some reason the plunger will not stay in the raised position, by this time I knew I was taking it back, but I had 15lbs of pepperoni to make, I give it a go and its a mess, the seal would not hold, meat pushing by everywhere..you know the rest of the story.

Lesson learned, don't buy princess auto junk.


So....who's got a better recommendation for me? I want a vertical stuffer that will hold around 10lbs and it must be able to stuff smaller casings with ease. (I have read that some single gear stuffers will not work that well when stuffing 19mm casings)

[Beeman3]

Again I am worried about problems with the PA stuffer. Mine has been working great so far. Full Throttle google WALTONS INC. Everything the home processor needs and commercial as well. They sent me a email a few days ago and all there stuffers were on sale. Going off memory I believe their 11 lb stuffer was $149 U.S. So about $200 canadian plus shipping. Customer service is also top notch at Waltons.

[2big4u]

I have a Kitchener from PA (5lb) for small runs, plastic gears work fine, just go slow and constant pressure, The stuffing tubes are short for my liking but its not a deal breaker.

I have a 30lb from CTR with double gears, all gears are cast iron and I have stripped these and had to replace them. THe longer nozzle for the tubes is nice.

Both units need to be clamped to the work surface or they walk all over the place.

[full_throttle]

Originally Posted by Beeman3

Again I am worried about problems with the PA stuffer. Mine has been working great so far. Full Throttle google WALTONS INC. Everything the home processor needs and commercial as well. They sent me a email a few days ago and all there stuffers were on sale. Going off memory I believe their 11 lb stuffer was $149 U.S. So about $200 canadian plus shipping. Customer service is also top notch at Waltons.

Thanks for the info. The Waltons looks just like the PA stuffer, but I guess most of them do. I think that for the sake of having to return that I would like to buy locally.


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