Northern Industrial #12 Electric Meat Grinder
|
Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
(Click here)
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Northern Industrial #12 Electric Meat Grinder
Customer Review: Identical to the Tasin - both are good
Summary: 4 Stars
My husband and I have been using electric grinders to make our cats' food since 1998 (used hand grinders prior to that). We have both the Tasin and this NT grinder.
I received the Tasin as a gift but needed another one b/c we were in the process of a cross-country move and we each needed a grinder as he had 2 of our cats, and I had the other 2 w/ me. I am so glad I checked amazon first before shelling out 2x as much for another Tasin. Reason being - they are practically if not actually, one and the same.
The wattage is the only thing that on paper is slightly higher on the Tasin, but it's the wattage *during* grinding that is the important factor. And the grinding speed seems the same to me. We use the reverse button a lot on both grinders; it's a handy feature our old Villaware grinder did not have.
If I had to do it over, which one would I buy? - NT b/c a) It's more readily available i.e from amazon than from some unknown person on the internet, and b) I'd rather pay less, so the winner again is NT from Amazon. FWIW, I paid $129 for my NT purchased from amazon (what can I say, I was in a rush and couldn't wait for a price decrease), but at the time Tasin cost way more than I see it selling for now ($150-200) so it was still a better deal.
At the price the NT's selling for nowadays ($90-100) on amazon, it's a no-brainer. My husband and I grind around 25lbs of meat at a time. It takes us about 1.5 hrs from set-up time till loading up the dishwasher. This grinder actually seems to do better w/ bones than just meat. I'd suggest alternating supplements and meat, as well as alternate veggies (if you use any) and meat when feeding through the grinder chute. Thaw the veggies a little first as I have found it makes it easier to grind, but meat is easier to grind when it's semi-frozen.
We typically grind whole chicken fryers and whole rabbits for our cats. Only recently did we try turkey. I was skeptical about the turkey but hubby cut the longer heavier bones (e.g. leg) length-wise and grinding was a breeze. We were able to grind almost an entire 14lb turkey. Very cool.
When in doubt, mash bones up first, and you'll have no problems. So far, I'm happy w/ both the Tasin and NT grinders. I've had both for about 3 yrs now.
The only complaint I have w/ both grinders is that after the very first wash, the metal turned into a dark ugly color. Also the small parts such as the grinding plate tend to rust more easily than my old Villaware, so that's the reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5. Seems to me quality issues pop up for most appliances these days:(
Oh another thing - don't be fooled by the bigger-seeming intake chutes on this grinder (and the Tasin) than say the older Villaware b/c you'll still need to chop up the meat into smallish pieces to fit 'em into the chute. There's no getting around that unless you buy a huge $2,000 restaurant-style grinder that weighs a ton.
Hope this review helps:)
Customer Review: Good, but not great
Summary: 4 Stars
I posted this on the Northern Tool website where I originally purchased the grinder, but I thought it may help someone out here, as well.
First of all, this thing will really grind up some meat fast. I purchased this only a couple of months ago, but have used it to grind venison, chuck roast, pork and chicken. That has worked flawlessly.
Just remember to coat the grinding plates with vegetable oil when you are done, because they will rust very quickly if you do not. You can wash a grinding plate, leave it wet on the sink and thirty minutes later it will be developing rust - seriously.
Now, as far as a sausage stuffer, the machine leaves a bit to be desired. The manual is confusing and the machine doesn't really come with the parts to make this an easy job.
Here is the issue - the auger, or feed screw as it is technically called (Part #8 in the manual), needs to have a grinding plate (Parts #10-14) inserted in order to be supported. Without the grinding plate the auger lays on the bottom of the tube where the sausage comes out, which is called the head (Part #7) so you get metal rubbing on metal without a grinding plate.
Therefore, you have to have a grinding plate, which really slows down the amount of sausage that comes out. What many sausage machines use is a spacer, which is like a grinding plate, but only has two large gaps rather than a bunch of small holes for the sausage to squeeze through. The spacer supports the auger, but allows the sausage to freely move out of the head and through the sausage tubes and into your sausage casings.
This machine doesn't come with a spacer. However, it does come with what is called a Kubbe Attachment (Part #13). This is meant to be used for Kubbe as you might have guessed, but unless you plan on making this Middle Eastern pastry like thing, you won't need it. With a little home engineering you can use it as a spacer.
Now, I am not recommening you do the following, because this will probably void your warranty and I don't want to be the one to make that happen. But, if you take an angle grinder or small saw you can cut the "nipple" off of the Kubbe Attachment and voila, you have a spacer. I tried this last night and made about 30 lbs of sausage much quicker than what we did previously with the grinding plates.
Customer Review: A must for homemade pet food.
Summary: 5 Stars
I had not used a meat grinder before. I purchased this one after reading a lot of on-line reviews and then helping a friend use her grinder (same model) to process meat for dog food. This is so much faster than chopping meat by hand and there is no waste, plus I don't have to throw out the bones and then go back and supplement the meat with bone meal. Much better for my dogs and my budget. I can process two weeks of dog food in well under two hours, and that is from gathering supplies and equipment through grinding, packing and complete kitchen clean-up. I spend much more time on clean-up and on packaging the daily portions than I do on the actual grinding. This grinder has shown no problems with my preferred mix which includes whole fryers, skin off, with bones and organs. I did try a double-grind (first the coarse plate then the fine plate) the first time and quickly discovered that this was a lot of unnecessary work. Since then I just put on the medium plate and push everything through that. My dogs are toy breeds and the medium grind is fine, even for my tiny Toy Poodle. They are unable to eat the BARF Diet staple chicken necks, but they are thriving on the ground blend.
I have not seen the metal of my grinder discolor as other mention. As soon as I unpacked the grinder, I washed the machine oil off the grinding pieces in hot water with Dawn and promptly coated the blade and plates in vegetable oil. After use, I clean and dry all pieces as soon as I'm done, coat the blade and plates in more vegetable oil and store them in a lidded plastic bowl. Do be careful when washing and drying even the chute, as the machining for the screw-on cap is very sharp and can cut you. Keep a piece of plastic wrap over the control buttons when you are grinding and you'll avoid getting drippings down into the motor. Be sure you have tray or bowl that fits easily under the grinder chute. All these things will make for easy clean-up and maintenance, which cuts way down on the work involved.
Customer Review: Works well
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the first time I've used a meat grinder so all I can say is that it seems to do what it's supposed to do, so I'm pleased so far. I have a few things to mention:
1) (This point deleted, see the comments below).
2) Probably no one's as dumb as I am, but the first time I used this grinder I put the blade in backward. It can be installed in two ways, but of course you want the flat side outward so it will be against the plate. The result of installing it backwards was that it seemed to work for a couple pounds of meat, then the plate got jammed with stringy stuff and I had to stop and clean it. The second batch (with the blade installed correctly) using the same kind of meat (chicken thighs with skin removed) went through with no problems. So if you're having trouble with the grinding going too slowly, maybe you've made the same mistake I did.
3) Someone mentions in another review that the finish on some parts turned dull after one wash. I had a meat slicer that did the same thing, it happens if you soak the parts in water for an extended period of time, or if you use bleach or some types of sanitizers. If you can't wash the parts right after using, don't soak them (but do yourself a favor and rinse them off before stuff dries on them).
4) Someone mentioned that they needed to use a plate when making sausage to support the auger - I think that's what the plastic disk is for - it's in a compartment on top of the machine. But maybe this was added in a later model.
5) As others have mentioned, some parts (the plates especially) will rust if you don't dry them immediately after they get wet (from rinsing or washing them). If you dry them and coat them with a little cooking oil they shouldn't rust. Even if they do, it's really only a cosmetic problem - rust isn't toxic and it shouldn't affect how the grinder works (unless maybe if you let the blade get too rusty).
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 5 Stars
We've had this Northern Industrial meat grinder for about 6 months and have used it several times. It well made, powerful and easy to use. Some other comments about the noise had us concerned before we purchased it. However, we find it to be powerful and the gear reduction system does have a little noise, but not unexpected or unacceptable. More importantly, we can grind several pounds of meat in about a minute or two, so it isn't on very long.
The unit comes with several attachments and we purchased a spare blade for a few dollars in case we need it some day when the unit is no longer in production. It is very easy to assemble and to clean and put away.
In some ways this unit is overkill for our purposes, but we get the feeling it will last a lifetime. It is larger than the cheaper units at the big box stores, and some of them may have been adequate. However, for us it is likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime purchase so we spent a few extra dollars to get something that would last. Overall it is a good value!
The only part that could tend to rust would be the plate with the holes and we clean it well, dry it, and then spray it with a little Pam before putting the unit away. One caution that they provide but is worth repeating is that the blade retaining ring does not need to be tightened very much- just snug. Too tight can cause excessive wear of the blade.
We also partially freeze the meat before grinding- based on past experience- haven't tried not doing that with this grinder, yet.