newbieseeking info

[le gallois]

hi to all,
I have been living in France for 5 years and after substantial research think I can make a good supplimentary income providing the expat community with bangers and bacon. Almost everyone I talk to says they miss a proper banger or a bacon sandwich.
Initially I intend to produce 2 or 3 different sausages, smoked and unsmoked back bacon and perhaps some black pudding all to order and also to promote at local markets. I currently have orders from 26 clients who are waiting patiently for me to get going!
I live in a Chateau 40 minutes from Bordeaux which is primarily a holiday rental business (we are fully booked for the summer before you ask!). The historical owners of the Chateau were producers of Foie Gras and sausages to the infrastructure is already here (kitchens, cold room,cutting tables, etc) however the equipment for production is missing. Hence I am looking for a good grinder, stuffer and packageing gear.
My question is on a limited budget should I buy quality second hand or cheaper new equipment? I estimate to be producing about 30lb a week to start with but this could expand considerably and quickly once the news gets round! I would also appreciate any advice on pitfalls from people who have tried similar ventures?

[aris]

Get yourself a nice 8kg Reber stuffer from this website - it's a good start, and will last you a long time (it is a quality piece of kit). If you find you are expanding rapidly, then buy yourself something bigger, or perhaps pneumatic, but keep the reber as a backup, or for smaller batches.

As for the Grinder - i don't have experience with the Reber grinders sold on this site, but others seem to like them. Again, not a huge capital outlay, and if you find you need to expand, you can buy bigger later.

[Oddley]

A couple of quite big items you will need is a really good slicer. Don't scrimp on this or you will be giving yourself a headache.

Also a good quality commercial vacuum packer. The reber vacuum packer is good but wouldn't stand up to a commercial environment.

The Reber pro grinder is good and could stand the pace. The only thing that I have to say against it, is it is not packed very well so prone to damage during transit.

[le gallois]

Thanks for your imput.....first time ive gor a message board reply the same day as my question! Ive had stuff shipped here before and learned my lesson about packaging....I now ask for extra protection even if its an extra cost. Do you think the pro kit advertised here would be robust enough to take my workload?

[Oddley]

Hi le gallois

Have a look at the image below. I am not here to sell Franco's stuff. I have said what I thought in the above thread. So you will have to make up your own mind.