Grizzly Industrial 5# stuffer review, I am pleased.

Harry Nutczak

My order just arrived from grizzly Industrial late yesterday, I got myself a #32 manual grinder (tinned cast-iron) and their 5# capacity vertical stuffer for $125.00 shipped

I ran about 5 pounds of bison through the stuffer today to make some spicy smoked buffalo chubs and it did a wonderful job! I had less than a handful of meat leftover that did not get pushed into the casings, so I am very impressed with such a low-budget vertical stuffer. I winged It for the recipe, if they taste good after their smoke, I'll post my recipe. (tender quick was used)

It has an "Air Escape Valve" on the plunger, and a nice thick o-ring too, I had zero blow-by when stuffing. The stuffing horns are plastic and the ends are nice and smooth so they do not snag when loading the casings. The smallest stuffing tube is 1/2", so to make thin diameter snack sticks, plan on ordering a smaller tube from someplace else. (allied kenco, midwestern research, Etc Etc) the gears are nylon, but very heavy duty, the only way I see someone breaking these is if they run the plunger to the bottom and leaning forcefully on the crank to try and force it farther. They are replaceable, so if you do screw up, it can be fixed. It breaks down easy for cleaning, and I was able to stuff casing by myself without even bolting it to a table. It is stable while free-standing

The grinder, I got the "Bolt it to the table" model, and the quality seems a little less then I had hoped for, the bushing by the crank is plastic, The worm drive fits the plates a little loose too. I would not plan on motorizing this one without adding a bronze bushing and some sort of thrust bearing. Unless you have your own mini-lathe or are friends with someone that has one, spend a few bucks more and get a higher quality grinder. I'll know more tomorrow when I grind pork for brats and hot Italians for grilling on memorial day.
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JamesB · Posted: May 24 2009 Post subject:

Congrats on on the stuffer acquisition! I know I love the Northern Tool version I've got... Only thing I would change is if I had to buy it again, I would go with the 15lber!
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Harry Nutczak · Posted: May 26 2009 Post subject:

The stuffer has been great, The grinder on the other hand is pretty low quality!

I tried to use it for 5 pounds of pork and the blade is so dull it is unusable at this point.

I am currently honoing it across a whetstone to try and get an edge on it so I can get my brats done today. I suspect the disk could use a touch-up too.

Anyways, I have sharpened disks in the past my using 400 grit wet/dry paper on a thick pane of glass. Wet bth sides of the sandpaper so it sticks to the glass nicely, and then run the disk in a figure-8 across the sandpaper until the whole surface has a fresh shine on it, this will also show you if it is warped or not.

The buffalo chubs are in the stumps right now after an evening of hanging to dry them so they accept smoke readliy. I plan on smoking at 150 for 4 hours, and then 190 to take them up to 152 degrees internal.

before someone jumps on me about temps, these are cured chubs, so it does not matter!
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Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

morick · Posted: May 27 2009 Post subject:

Thanks for the evaluation on your stuffer, i hope to purchace one. Its a shame when you purchace something and its rendered unuseable from the getgo. Best of luck on your sausage making.

Oregonian2 · Posted: Jul 10 2009 Post subject: Grizzly stuffer

For those who read this thread doing their "homework" before buying something, I'll chime in to say that the Grizzly 5-lb vertical stuffer that I received recently from Grizzly Industrial also has worked superbly.

When using the stuffer, the force to turn the handle is very light, maybe a pound or two of force -- until one hits dead bottom where it "stops". When it does hit bottom, very little sausage material is left. Although originally concerned about having non-metal gears, the ease of turning the handle makes me think that there can't be that much pressure on the gears (if one stops at the bottom). So, it's TBD if it lasts a long time, but seems like it should be able to. Grizzly sells replacement parts and aren't too badly priced other than for the stainless steel main cylinder (which I can't image needing to replace).

The 'O' ring is one that I've washed in the upper section of our dishwasher without any problems so far (taken off of the plunger so the in-between can be cleaned). I've pretty much put all of the "loose" parts in the upper shelf and the stainless steel cylinder going in the bottom. So cleaning is easy with the dishwasher doing it. Smile

One thing I've semi-improvised is to put a light finger coating of petrol-gel on the outer surface o-ring when reassembling it. It's a NSF white grease made for things like O-rings in kitchen equipment and is rated for incidental contact with food. Not asked for in the instructions, but seemed like a good idea (restaurant supply house, Cash and Carry has it on the shelf for a bit over $5/tube). Some of the drive will get a touch from time to time as well.

partapache · Newbie Joined: 30 May 2009 Posts: 29 Location: Tucson, AZ

It's a little more money but I opted for the LEM products 5# stuffer simply because it has the metal gears. If you spend a day stuffing pepperoni or snack sticks through a 3/8 tube into 17mm collagen casings it's really not that hard to imagine how a person could strip a set of plastic gears. That kind of duty works a stuffer pretty hard.

stringbender128 · Posted: Jul 17 2009 Post subject:

This is something I hope to get into in the not so distant future.
I have some experience in the homemade sausage world, and your review is great knowlege. Cool

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Oregonian2 · Posted: Jul 20 2009 Post subject:

BBQonICE · Posted: Jul 27 2009 Post subject:

I have the Northern Tool 15pound...steel gears...very smooth. Only a teaspoon or so meat left in the bottom when your done. Easy to turn, use and clean...well almost.

Cleaning the rubber ring on the top is a bit of a pain. A toothbrush or sink brush works well and spray nozzle...

...for those who put it in the dishwasher...becareful....it does not like repeated heating and cooling cycles.

Great buy at only $180 I think shipped to my door.
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