Mincer. Advice wanted please

[Oddley]

Thanks Platypus for the info. So I think I will have to order a couple more screens then.

[Simon]

I used my Pro mincer from Franco at the weekend when I processed half a pig. It was superb: I minced 10kg of meat (a whole shoulder) in under 10 minutes. The mincer didnt even blink (although it is quite noisy). The Reber 5 was also superb. I would post a photo of the mincer in action but dont know how to.

Simon [/img]

[Stuffer]

Hi all

I purchased one of the above - I think its 1400w (I got this one on ebay for �30 - http://www.wheesh.com/acatalog/dka144.htm) - however don't seem to be having great results - gets blocked and a give a paste as the output - most of which I ended up scooping out from the wrong side !!! Has anyone managed to get decent results or have any tips....... - Meat was chilled before I put it through.

If anyone has a photo of how their meat should look when it comes out and can post it that may be useful for me.

This is the one I have. Looking at the spec it is only 450w - but to be honest, I wouldn't buy another moulinex - it is not a serious machine.

<IMG SRC=http://www.electricshopping.com/img/hv3adrb.jpg>

Thanks

[Oddley]

Welcome to the forum Stuffer.

The usual reason for chilled meat to come out of a mincer in a paste is, because the mincer screen is warped or the mincer blade is dull or both.

The remedy is, to have the blade sharpened and blade flattened by a local engineering firm, or if you have a flat sharpening stone do it yourself.

[Paul Kribs]

Stuffer, I agree with Oddley. The probability is that you mincer blade and plate is not sharp. I do mine on a flat diamond stone and it really does make all the difference. I would say that the price an engineering firm would charge you, would pretty much cover the cost of a diamond stone, and would be more than you paid for the appliance, but you will get years of use from it... I find mine indispensable. It sharpens chisels, plane blades and knives as well. The one I use is from Diamite. I have bought cheaper diamond sharpeners from 'screwfix' but these are not very good.

If you do attempt to sharpen the blade and plate, always keep good even pressure on the centre, making sure it is flat at all times. A way to find out if they are flat or not is to coat the cutting surfaces with indelible ink felt tip and give it a few rubs up and down the stone.. I personally wouldn't try to sharpen this kind of thing on an ordinary stone, which has a tendancy to wear unevenly. Also, do both sides of the plate, then it doesn't matter what way round you use it.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Oddley]

I have been thinking about this. Would a cheaper way to sharpen these things be, to have a piece of glass and use a piece of emery paper on top. As I understand it glass is made very flat these days.

Another thought. Would an old mirror put on a reasonably flat surface with emery paper on top do. A mirror has to be flat or there would be distortion in the reflection.

As a youth working in a garage we had a specially made flat piece of metal that emery paper would be put on top of to take down close fitting automatic gearbox parts. These had to be very accurate.

What do you think.

[Paul Kribs]

Oddley

I have used the glass and carborundum paper method to flatten the sole plates on planes, and it works quite well. I don't know if it would work so well on the harder steel used in cutting blades and plates, but it would certainly do no harm to try. I would advise using thick glass laid onto a flat rubber mat, making sure there are no foriegn objects under the glass. You have to exert a fair bit of pressure and you don't want any accidents with the glass shattering.

Regards Paul Kribs