Is .5 HP Grinder enough?

[SaskHunter]

I have 3/4 Carnivore Cabela's grinder and it's plenty for me.

I've done probably a couple dozen animals through it with no issues, from antelope to moose. The foot pedal is definitely a must, makes operating the grinder alone a breeze.

 

[HSi-ESi]

Great opinions through the thread already. I do currently have a 0.5 HP grinder and a kitchen aide attachment. It's on my list to upgrade to a larger grinder. I typically do 4-5 deer and a couple of elk per year. One year I did a moose, elk and buffalo. So it works OK, but I am usually wanting something bigger.

Agreed on getting a larger stuffer than 5 lbs. After I grind, I'll run the meat through the stuffer into the plastic 1lb bags and seal with a hog clamp. The meat lasts a long, long time using this method. The stuffer really removes extra air from the meat and cuts down on the freezer burn.

I'm currently working on a walk-in cooler. Maybe after I get that fixed up I'll look at beefing up the grinder.

 

[npaden]

I had a 1/2 HP and it did fine. It wasn't perfect but did the job it was intended for. I used different tricks like semi-freezing the meat and things like that but overall felt good about it.

Then it broke and I had to get a new grinder right away and Cabelas had the Carnivore ones on sale and I got a 3/4 Hp one. It is a night and day difference. I would have to babysit the 1/2 Hp one and it was the bottleneck in the processing time. On an elk we would be literally grinding for hours and that's probably what contributed to it breaking.

The 3/4 Hp Carnivore just eats it up. Never gets stuck and I save a bunch of time not having to cut the scraps up to go through it. We are talking 7" and 8" long and 1.5" to 2" wide chunks going through. What used to take an hour now takes 10 or 15 minutes. Grinding is no longer the bottleneck in the process for sure.

So a 1/2 Hp will work, but a 3/4 Hp will be much better. I'm sure the 1 Hp ones would be even better but I think it isn't going to be the huge difference that there seems to be between the 1/2 and 3/4 Hp versions.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

.5 lem 8# here. Great for grinding. I stuff summer sausage with it as well. Haven't tried snack sticks, I think it would struggle with that.

 

[brymoore]

.5 HP would be ok for a deer. If you’re going to do elk or multiple deer, try 1hp.

 

[jrabq]

I've had a cabelas 3/4 hp for about 25 years, it's been great. I split the cost with 2 other guys and we share it, dozens of elk and other critters gone through it, plenty big enough. The cutting blade broke one time, and i think we replaced the cutting disks once. No first hand knowledge of 1/2 hp.

 

[MS 9x56]

It’s usually 2-3 deer and an elk.

Go with the 1.5 in that case. Be done by supper time.

 

[Boarmaster]

I did the 1/2HP for a long time. Works just fine and as others mentioned it could be slow but it's 1000x better than those dinky walmart ones or the kitchenaid attachments. I think if it's just a single animal then you'll do just fine especially if you have your ducks in a row. You can be cooling/freezing chunks while you process a bit and swap out.

IF, you start getting things like moose or multiple elk then do yourself a favor and get a 1.5HP or bigger and if you do sausage for the love of god get a sausage stuffer. IME, grinders make the texture off when stuffing vs a dedicated stuffer...and if buying a stuffer go big right away because a 5lb stuffer is misery.

I will attest to the 5 lb stuffer being misery. It is the equivalent of the kitchen aid attachment grinder. I cheaped out when I bought mine. Less than a year later
I had the 15lb and wish I had the 30.

 

[buckbull]

I have a 5 lb Stuffer hand crank stuffer. I should of bit the bullet and got a bigger electric model with foot pedal.

 

[Bigjay73]

I thaw meat and grind as needed, may not make a difference, but it seems fresher to me that way. I freeze 2lb bags of meat I can use for grind, stew or jerky and do what I need to once thawed. I use only a kitchen aid, and have done 20lb batches with it before with no problem.

 

[ignorethefringes]

Man, that 1hp double grind at $175 off is mighty tempting. . .