Hi All,

Been reading and reading and learning and yesterday started my first batch of brats and breakfast sausage. I but have something I didn’t expect.

I cut and ground 25lbs of pork bottom with the largest hole plate, 3/8" I think, in my new Weston #8, 575W grinder. It was SUPER easy and did not take long at all.

Added spices, lightly kneaded with no protein extraction, and started my 2nd grind with the ‘medium’ plate. It was really hard to push it through and it was a pink paste with no variation in the texture, a puree almost. I know it is going to be harder to push the 2nd grind but after 10min of really cranking down on the stomper, I barely had a single pound done.

I went back up to the larger plate, cooled the meat to almost frozen and firm, then proceeded to really mash on the stomper again to get it all through. It had a little more texture but much less than I expected and still took forever to do.

I now have the meat really cold again and trying to use the plastic wide open ‘plate’ with no blade for stuffing using a 3/8" tube for some breakfast sausage and again I am having to really crank down HARD on the stomper, all the way to the bottom which creates a hard pull out because of the suction, and am still barely getting anything out. All the vids I saw you pushed down what looks to be firm but the sausage comes out and still has texture. I’m making a tiny, pink muck sack and my arm is getting sore to get about an inch a minute.

It really feels like I am getting zero push from the auger and only getting ground meat out the end by pure force and pressure.

Any ideas, please?! I am desperate and I really, REALLY need to try and get this done or it may have to go in the freezer until late next week before I can even attempt it again because of my schedule.

Thanks!!!
Dave

Almost none, just enough to mix in the spices. For a 5lb batch should I add more?

Thanks!

Oh man! Geez I thought I saw to NOT add water, apparently I had it backwards! Thanks much! I am going delay my trip so I can try it tomorrow night.

Dave

Jonathon said in Pushing REALLLY hard and nothing! 25lbs waiting!:

alanburkholder Is correct you should add water BUT it also shouldn’t be impossible like it was without water. Couple other things to make stuffing easier, use really cold meat, when fat gets warm it gets sticky and will fight you when trying to stuff, don’t use too small a casing/stuffing tube and make sure everything is properly ground. It sounds to me like something (a hunk of fatty material is the usual culprit) gets stuck in your stuffing tube and won’t let anything get past it.

Is your medium plate a 3/16"?

Thanks Jonathon! I have it in the freezer now and am going to let it thaw a bit so it’s not frozen but not sticky either. I had it cold last night and it wasn’t sticky when I started but it warmed up pretty quickly.

Yeah I do believe it is a 3/16" plate for my medium and a 3/8" for my largest one.

I appreciate all the input and will update tonight when I hopefully have several successful ropes of brats!

Dave