Kitchenaid Grinder help / tips

[sailinghudson25]

I've been struggling to get this grinder to work well over the years.  The guts of the machine get clogged with sinew often.  I like to chop up the lower leg section that is filled with sinew.  How do you guys deal with it?  Seems trimming all the sinew takes forever.  Maybe an easier way to trim.  I noticed kitchenaid grinder plates come in bigger than 1/4" holes.  Would a bigger hole help.  They also sell cast blades that seem harder to get sinew wrapped up and plugged.  The blade I have is thick sheet metal with double sided blase section bent out.

 

Also, the last time I used it, it started to melt the telfon washer.  I can not find a replacement anywhere, I'm thinking some don't have it.  My guess mine is about 5 years old.  The metal washer face of the auger drive also spins on the shaft.  I do not remember that it does that.  I am wondering if I cooked the plastic on the auger face too.

 

I go through about 4 or 5 deer a year.  We do alot of roasts.  Not much the jerky type here.  I'd like to see maybe 10lbs of grind from each deer.  Mostly for meatballs.

[Gencountyzeek]

Ive been using ours for probably 10 years. No melting washers. Try using meat that is almost frozen, should grind easier than warm meat with all the tendons ur trying to grind. I do 2-4 deer a year in ours.

[Robhuntandfish]

15 minutes ago, Gencountyzeek said:

Ive been using ours for probably 10 years. No melting washers. Try using meat that is almost frozen, should grind easier than warm meat with all the tendons ur trying to grind. I do 2-4 deer a year in ours.

Ditto here.  Have the kitchen aid grinder sausage maker attachments and they work great.  Half frozen meat does help.  But if it was working and doesn't now, Sounds like something is wrong.

[mowin]

I used my grinder attachment for 15 min before it overheated my lightly used 2 yr old KA pro and ruined it. 

[G-Man]

Partly frozen meat is key. Personally a good dedicated grinder is pretty inexpensive( same.cost as cutting a deer up commercially)And you will have it the rest of your life. 1/4 or 1/3 hp is all you need as a homeowner. 

[52 farmer]

I picked up a cuber about 25 yrs ago,Basically run almost all meat for hamburger and sausage thru the cuber first, then thru the grinder, works great.

[chas0218]

On 3/17/2018 at 7:20 PM, sailinghudson25 said:

I've been struggling to get this grinder to work well over the years.  The guts of the machine get clogged with sinew often.  I like to chop up the lower leg section that is filled with sinew.  How do you guys deal with it?  Seems trimming all the sinew takes forever.  Maybe an easier way to trim.  I noticed kitchenaid grinder plates come in bigger than 1/4" holes.  Would a bigger hole help.  They also sell cast blades that seem harder to get sinew wrapped up and plugged.  The blade I have is thick sheet metal with double sided blase section bent out.

 

Also, the last time I used it, it started to melt the telfon washer.  I can not find a replacement anywhere, I'm thinking some don't have it.  My guess mine is about 5 years old.  The metal washer face of the auger drive also spins on the shaft.  I do not remember that it does that.  I am wondering if I cooked the plastic on the auger face too.

 

I go through about 4 or 5 deer a year.  We do alot of roasts.  Not much the jerky type here.  I'd like to see maybe 10lbs of grind from each deer.  Mostly for meatballs.

I have 3 questions, how tight are you cranking down on that nut? It should be snug. How sharp are your grinding knives? How flat are the grinding plates? If you have grooves in the grinding plates they are shot get plates and knives. For what you are asking of that kitchen aid I'm surprised it does as well as it does.

[chas0218]

2 hours ago, G-Man said:

Partly frozen meat is key. Personally a good dedicated grinder is pretty inexpensive( same.cost as cutting a deer up commercially)And you will have it the rest of your life. 1/4 or 1/3 hp is all you need as a homeowner. 

Pretty sure it would break the kitchen aid if it was partially frozen. Not sure about the OP grinder but a lot of the attachments have plastic augers.

Edited March 26, 2018 by chas0218

[G-Man]

For the price you pay for the kitchen aid this would do your grinding for your lifetime.. better deals can be found inthe bargain cave as well https://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Heavy-Duty-Grinder/1387520.uts?productVariantId=3266836&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=03520677&rid=20&ds_rl=1252079&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtOLVBRCZARIsADPLtJ3Zcgdzf25CSko26mnMo4UpnX0LbdU0GVAt0zCiqhknZSGeS2xw7XwaAv0qEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[dbHunterNY]

i still get some build up with a hobart. fit of blades to plate matter as it'll keep the blades sharper longer. this is where cheaper ones suffer. i'd buy new ones for it and first compare to have an idea then give them a try.  i'd think i wouldn't want that stuff coming out anyway if was enough to bind things up. sounds like plastic parts and lots of little things working against you. i agree with others partially frozen will help, as in frosty and still able to get through easily enough with a sharp knife.

[Robhuntandfish]

Dunno but my kitchen aid is awesome. Had it 3 years.  At least 3 deer a year between me and a buddy. I do stop for a minute if I feel it getting hot.  But have had zero issues. Can grind up all the meat set aside for burger etc in about 15 minutes. Takes longer to clean up than to grind. Hope mine lasts ok.  

[moog5050]

Not intended to be a joke, but are you sure you aren't running the blade backwards?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I have never seen a Kitchenaid or one of the cheap grinders handle the lower leg sections well that the OP is talking about. My horse and a quarter grinder does but he plate will still clog as they become a smeared film across the plate. Best advice I can give is either keep them whole and use a slow cooker method like a crockpot and make pulled venison, or pick up a pressure canner. Canning that cut will isolate the tendons and they pick right out when the can id opened for use.