Bowl Cutter/buffalo chopper

[IVERYAN]

Hi everyone- I was recently able to buy a Hobart buffalo chopper at a very reasonable price and am wondering if anyone else on this board uses one. My main questions are about making hot dogs and other sausages using the process of emulsification. There is some information on-line about emulsifying meat with a buffalo chopper, but 1st hand advice is always better.
Thanks

[Chef]

IVERYAN If you found a Hobart buffalo chopper at a good price, great find. I have used one for emulsification, it is great. Just keep running the bowl until you get that puddy consistancy, you will be fine. It will be very apparent when you have processed enough. experiment, in this case, it’s hard to over process.

[Pivodog]

lucky guy, I’ve been wanting one for years! I’ve watched an expert use one in a meat processing class that I attended. He basically had a pitcher of crushed ice while he chopped and monitored the temperature constantly. He used the ice for keeping the batter cool and for emulsification. Good Luck!

[Healthy Glutton]

Sausage emulsion follows a standard procedure for good results. In the buffalo chopper / bowl chopper / meat cutter add the ground lean meats first before the ground back fat (since this is already too fine). Add the salt mix (depending whether smoking or not). Then the spice mix. Then crushed ice. Last is the phosphate. Note that the meat should be cold (10-12 degrees C) during the process. You may add some crushed ice earlier (after adding the salt) if necessary. If you are using additives to improve texture or flavor, add at the same time as the spices. End points when to add an ingredient or the ideal emulsion is reached should be observed. It would be advantageous to see an actual demonstration or have someone knowledgeable show you. Otherwise, trial and error (don’t forget to write down the variables) is the best teacher. Also, do not process less than half the capacity of the chopper.

[lkrfletcher]

This sounds like a great find.

[pr0wlunwoof]

We chopped 60 pork butts for a BBQ fund raiser. I went home and started researching how to not do that again. I found the Hobart buffalo chopper was the best solution. I have seen them come up for auction on a few sites, but alas I have forgone trying to buy one. I guess I need to revis the idea and research all the other things you can do with it.

[Healthy Glutton]

pr0wlunwoof you got a good find. The buffalo chopper that you have is already for small commercial meat processing. It only takes a few minutes per load and that machine can run several loads even just for half a day. While it is primarily used for emulsified sausages, it is also good for chicken nuggets and the like. Enjoy exploring other products. Keep it oiled when not in use using food grade oil and it will serve you well.
,

[IVERYAN]

Thanks for all of your responses. I haven’t got a chance to use it yet, and am looking forward to it. It sounds like a very versatile tool.
For those of you looking to buy one, I would think this would be as good as time as any with the restaurant business being pretty tough right now.

[Chef]

IVERYAN I’ve been looking into used restaurant equipment thinking used equipment should be at it lowest. Odd enough, it is at an all time high in terms of auctions. Everyone thinks they can beat the odds. I think prices should drop in a few months. While I am truly sorry about the small business owner, it is just like owners in 2009, we all thought if we waited long enough, it would work out. It appears that 60% of independents that closed will never reopen. Very sad indeed.

[rangel42]

Just I have a buffalo chopper 84145 I believe and after I cleaned looks very nice , this machine was storage in my aunt’s garage together with a bunch os attachments , the problem is that I have it now and I do not know how to use it. Cut vegetable so fast and if you don’t pay attention will make it pure , but is this the only job that this machine does?

[johnsbrewhouse]

rangel42 https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/2604/what-is-a-buffalo-chopper.html Here is a place to go to learn about your machine just put in webstraurantstore.com where the link is removed. It gives you a lot of good information about Buffalo choppers.

[processhead]

rangel42
A Hobart Buffalo Chopper is an commercial-sized food processor. Yours is a very nice machine.

Sausage makers like them to make fine textured emulsified sausages like wieners or bologna.

Sometimes the attachments are useful for sausage making too. Mine is an older version of what you have and has a #12 meat grinder attachment.

Maybe you can post some pictures of what attachments came with yours.

[IVERYAN]

rangel42 Bowl cutters can be used to make emulsified sausages like hot dogs, polish etc. There is a learning curve to using them correctly, but the possibilities are endless as they can extract protein from meat like nothing else.

[Deepwoodsbutcher]

IVERYAN check out Eckkhard The German Butcher on YouTube. Lots of emulsified sausage making videos using a chopper or food processor. He has some interesting old school techniques.

[Pivodog]

IVERYAN will do, thx!

[smokinbubba]

#1 tip, don’t overload the thing! It can make a ^ell of a mess! The first time I used mine I had meat oozing everywhere. Use ice to keep the meat super cold would be tip #2. I make my bambi dogs with mine. About 2 min per batch, makes things go quickly.

[Pivodog]

smokinbubba - been there and done that!

[IVERYAN]

Deepwoodsbutcher That guy is a rockstar. Lol. Some of his sausages look incredible.

[IVERYAN]

smokinbubba Mess? Never ran into that problem.

[samspade]

Looks like good emulsion.