by fatnhappy » Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:01 pm
Well I guess you asked at the right place. I bought the exact grinder you're asking about!
I picked up the #22 1HP SS grinder from weston supply, ($288 to the door BTW and it only took 2 days to get here) because my Kitchen aid grinder was woefully underpowered for large amounts of semi-frozen venison. That's with the big 525 watt 6 quart professional, I might add. It's manufactured by tre-spade and sold under the cabela's banner. Matter of fact, my refurb has "Cabela's" cast into the side of the SS grinder head.
Meat flies through the new machine. So far I've ground 150 lbs of venison and fat with it. The first 40 lbs was still frozen enough for me to feed solid cubes into it, and it flew through like #### through a goose. I added 10 lbs of fat that was frozen hard and it didn't even hiccup.
After that I got together with 2 coworkers, we annually make sausage together. We made and smoked 100 lbs of venison and all went well. I couldn't be happier with this grinders performance.
I would like to tender a bit of advice if you do decide to buy this grinder from weston. First, they offer the #22 with a choice of 3/4 or 1 HP motors. The 1 HP is only $10 more for a 30% improvement in power. Seems prudent to me to lay out 4% more money for 30% more power in what should be a once in a lifetime investment. Second, pick up a spare grinder plate in 1/8" if you want to make emulsified sausages. You won't incur any more cost for the shipping so it's wise to buy plates when you get the grinder. The grinder comes with 4mm and 10mm plates. The 10mm plate is too coarse for my personal preferences, excepting Kielbasa. The 4mm is about right for me.
Lastly, the refurb only carries a 30 warranty. It'll probably take either 3 or 4 days to make it to you from Cleveland. Plan your order on your expected use. If you receive a problem machine you want to find out while it's still under warranty. The best way is to put it into immediate production when you receive it.
I can't testify to the advantages of the 1.5 HP #32 grinder over the #22. A bit of conjecture would lead me to believe it's probably even more of a good thing. Having said that, I'd have no reservations grinding an elk or moose with my machine.