Porkert Stuffer ??

[deb]

I have a Kenwood mincer attachment with sausage stuffer at the moment. I was thinking that at some time I would move on to a dedicated stuffer and just use the Kenwood for mincing. I'd like one of the Reber jobbies but with the ammount of sausages I envision making (we like sausages but not for every meal or every day) I don't think I could justify the expense, not even to myself. I was looking at the Porkert on Franco's main site and was thinking that maybe I would go for one of these. Any comments from those who have used this type would be most welcome.
I can't see a time when I will make huge batches of sausages, but you never know, is it capable of larger ammounts? Also I do not have very strong shoulders, and hubby has a bad back which means he can't be over vigerous, would it still be reasonably easy to use or does it need quite a bit of oomph?
Thanks.

[aris]

Buy a proper stuffer - get a Reber. You will not be disapointed in the long run.

[Oddley]

Deb do not buy a porkert stuffer.

I recently bought one I thought to do small amounts of stuffing. But you can't do a small amount as where the body tapers to the tube is where the plunger stops retaining about a pound of the mix in the body.

You also need Herculean strength on occasion to push the plunger down unless you are doing a sausage slurry.

My Porkert is now relegated to the back of a cupboard never to be used again.

If you can buy the Reber they are an excellent machine.

[Bob]

I have used a meat grinder to stuff casings and I do not like it. The auger emusifies the meat no matter how cold I have it.

I was thinking about a push or crank stuffer but they are too involved for making small amounts of sausage. I usually only make 1-2 lb at a time. They also require a countertop mount, which turns me off.

So I decided on a jerky gun to stuff sausage (and make jerky as well). I have no intention of buying any other kind of stuffer because this unit does everything I want and is easy to use, clean and store.

Here is the post I made the other day on another thread:

+++
I just bought the LEM Jerky Gun which can also be used to stuff sausage.

http://www.lemproducts.com/

I bought it from Allied Kenco here in Houston - it's only about 10 miles from my house.

http://www.alliedkenco.com/jerky.htm

You can also get a sausage stuffer tube from Allied Kenco (same page). I did not get the sausage tube because I had one from a #8 size grinder, which is the same size as the Jerky Gun.

The unit is professionally built. It holds 1 lb of meat and dispenses it in about a dozen easy strokes, especially if you wet the side of the meat roll when you put it in the meat tube. The meat tube is transparent so you can see how far you are.

You can buy extra meat tubes in case you want to stuff more than 1 lb at a time, or you can do what I do and refill the tube after taking if off momentarily.

The LEM Jerky Gun stuffer is a real bargain at $30. I had been using a Nesco jerky gun with a 1/2 lb capacity, but it is a kid's toy by comparison.

LEM also has a larger unit that looks like a caulking gun but it is more expensive and not worth the extra expense for my purposes since I usually only make a pound at a time.
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[Shaun]

deb
If I where you I would go for the reber. The porkert is ok for wet mixes like black pudding. but when you try stuffing sausage meat it is very hard work, and if you want to stuff sheep casings its nigh on impossible. I am around 18 stone and I even tried to sit on my porket to get the mix through and it held my weight. I have just purchased a reber 5k stuffer and it workes like a dream

[deb]

I would love to get the Reber. I read a thread on here which advised against getting the 3kg one so it would cost at least �130 plus postage to get one of the others. I don't have that kind of money for something that I wouldn't use too much, and as I said before I couldn't justify the expense to myself let alone hubby and daughter (She's a vegetarian so anything to do with meat is a waste of money in her oppinion). Also for the ammount of sausages I would make in one go it would certainly be overkill.
The Porkert is out of the question thanks to Oddley and Shaun's advice. I think the Jerky Gun could be the answer, only problem is getting one in the U.K.
Thanks for your comments, they were very useful and stopped me from buying something that wouldn't be upto the job.

[Parson Snows]

deb wrote

I think the Jerky Gun could be the answer, only problem is getting one in the U.K.

There are numerous companies in the UK that stock hand sausage stuffers. One is called King Chef Sausage Maker available for approx. 23 pounds sterling from

Wrightway Marketing Ltd (Ideal Home Mail Order)
Ideal Home House
Newark Road
Peterborough
PE1 5WG
Cambridgeshire
Tel: (01733 777310)

This includes

� standard sausage making machine
� collagen casings
� 2 plastic nozzles (small and large)
� sausage mixes
� instruction/recipe book

I used to have one of these and it worked quite well until it broke (the ratchet mechanism) some years ago.

I hope that this is of some use to you.

kind regards

Parson Snows
PS it really is for small amounts. (1 -2 kgs MAX)

[Shaun]

deb
I think the 3k would give you simular problem to the porkert stuffer. the 5&8k jobbies have 2 gears so it is alot easier to use. as i said before i used mine for the first time today, and boy it was easy to use. sometimes franco puts stuffers on ebay but to be honest they usually sell for more than you can buy them on this site
as for the jerk gun i'feel it would not hold enough meat to make even a small batch of sausage so would be quite time consuming having to refill all the time. stick to the kenwood until a reber comes your way

[Oddley]

I think the 3k would give you simular problem to the porkert stuffer. the 5&8k jobbies have 2 gears so it is alot easier to use.

Shaun I have the 3 kg stuffer and I have no problems with it at all. It's very easy to use. Like everything you have to learn to use these things. When I first used it as I had never used a stuffer before I found it sometimes difficult but now no probs.

[Bob]

There are numerous companies in the UK that stock hand sausage stuffers.

I called Allied Kenco and talked to one of the owners. She said they have stopped shipping outside the contiguous 48 states because freight costs are prohibitive. In the case of the LEM Jerky Gun, the cost of shipment would exceed the cost of the item. Then there's the matter of paying with an American credit card, blah, blah.

She recommended contacting LEM Products directly and see what they can do. Also she said you could get your regular local supplier to become an LEM dealer in Britain - LEM is actively looking for dealers according to their website.

I used to have one of these and it worked quite well until it broke (the ratchet mechanism) some years ago.

Did you have the LEM Jerky Gun or an imitation? The mechanism on mine looks quite substantial. I wet the outside of the meat roll before I insert it, so the meat will flow easier.

Another maker of a jerky gun claims that you must mix a little water with the meat or you will invalidate the warranty. It was for that reason I did not even consider that item.

While I was talking to the woman at Allied Kenco we discussed the LEM Jerky Gun and she said it has never caused any problems for the time they have been selling it.

PS it really is for small amounts. (1 -2 kgs MAX)

If you are making sausage in large quantities, you can justify a crank stuffer. The gun is for the occasional user, although I would still use the gun, only take my time at it.

You can get an extra meat tube for a nominal cost so you could make a production line out of it, with one person loading a meat tube while another person stuffs the casing.

[Bob]

as for the jerk gun i'feel it would not hold enough meat to make even a small batch of sausage so would be quite time consuming having to refill all the time.

It is very easy to fill the meat tube if you have your meat mix in a plastic bag from having "cured" it overnight in the refrigerator. Shape it such that you can cut thru the plastic in rows, thereby creating square pieces that you can wet and shove in the tube.

I use the poker from the meat grinder to ram the meat in tight. That entire procedure takes about as much time as charging a push or crank stuffer. Inserting the pusher on one end and the casing tube on the other is also very easy.

It all depends on how much and how often you make sausage. A jerky gun is not intended to compete with commercial equipment. But for the home user, the cost is so low that any inconvenience is offset.

And then there is the matter of mounting the commercial stuffer on the countertop, cleaning it and storing it. The jerky gun does not need any mounts, it cleans very easily and it can be stored in a drawer.

[Shaun]

Oddley
I quoted from a previous thred re soemones bad experience with a 3k finding it hard to crank using 21mm casings. I Myself having no experience of the machine so would not know. I feel it is true what your saying get to know your machine and get it to work for you, as appose to you working for it. but I could of done with your fat dancing bloke to help me when I was using my porkert though

[Shaun]

bob
you got me there mate . how many sausages do you think you can knock per tude of meat?

[Oddley]

Shaun you are right I did make the post saying that the 3 kg reber was sometimes hard to turn. I've learnt more since then but would still recommend if you have room to get the 5 kg upwards. But for deb who is going to use the Reber for small quantities I think maybe the 3 kg would be more suitable.

[Bob]

bob
how many sausages do you think you can knock per tube of meat?

Since the meat tube holds a bit over 1 lb of ground meat, I would have to ask you how many sausages you want per pound of meat.

I just finished making 2 lb of sausage using hog casings. I had to reload the meat tube one and one half times because I had just over 2 lb. of meat. I timed the whole thing from start to finish.

Time: ~10 minutes, including setup and cleanup.
Length: 6 feet of 3/4" diameter link.

Half the time consists in doing the same thing I would have to do with a commercial unit, namely, setting up, placing the casing on the stuffing tube and cleaning up. The actual stuffing process took less than 1 minute per meat tube.

Loading the meat tube is what takes time because you want to get as much air out as possible. Because the meat tube is transparent you can see where the air pockets are. I am still working on methods to load the meat tube to prevent the formation of air pockets.

If I had to do this for a living, I would get a commercial stuffer, like a crank type with minimum 5 lb. capacity. But for occasional use in the home, I believe a jerky gun is the best way to go.

Plus, I can use it to make ground beef jerky, which we consume more than sausage.