A long-time customer favorite, our vertical stuffers are now even better. Features stronger gears and etched fill indicators in the plunger shaft so you can easily see how close to empty the canister is. You’ll appreciate the easy-to-insert, front-locking canister that stands up on its own. Dual-speed gears let you crank the stuffer down slowly and then switch to a higher gear to quickly crank it back up. Base and cylinder are made of heavy-duty stainless steel. Includes four stuffing tubes (10mm, 20mm, 30mm and 40mm) for stuffing snack sticks to summer sausages. Clutch-operated, electric motor sold separately. (Motor works with these new models only.) Imported. Available:
11-lb. Capacity. Dimensions: 23"H x 12"W x 10"D. Weight: 27 lbs.
20-lb. Capacity. Dimensions: 24.4"H x 17"W x 10"D. Weight: 37 lbs.
30-lb. Capacity. Dimensions: 30.5"H x 17"W x 10"D. Weight: 40 lbs.
Purchased the 20lb unit to make snack sticks and was VERY happy with it. moved the meat thru super easy and the canister standing on its own was a very welcome feature with hands covered in Meat!!!
I haven't tried to stuff any snack sticks yet, but works great for regular sausage. There is a lot of meat left in the tube and canaster when finished. This might be a waste doing snack sticks. I just pushed it in the regular sausage casing. I thought about it later and it might work to raise the plunger up and put a piece of duck tape over the air release and force the last bit out with air pressure. The seal looks like it might seal good enough for this to work, but haven't tried it yet. All in all, it is a great product. I got the 11lb black unit.
I have 20 lb commercial stuffer with electric motor used first time 100 lb meat found metal shavings from gears tin foil looking . Also motor keeps tripping gets warm very slow backing out of can. Also leaves 1 lb of meat in bottom of can. Alot of waste. DEFINATLY NOT COMMERCIAL GRADE
This is my first dedicated sausage stuffer. Having used an attachment on a meat grinder for years, I finally broke down and bought this 11-pound commercial grade vertical stuffer two months ago. After making just a few batches, I have to ask myself why I didn't get one sooner. Yeah, it's a fairly large expense for the quantity of sausage I typically stuff per year, but having the right tool for the job is definitely worth it.
In the last couple of months I've stuffed both large casings (brauts, polish, etc.) and small casings (breakfast links) with this stuffer. And, even by myself, I can easily stuff a batch quicker than it takes to prep the casings, or to clean up afterward. An extra hand helps when available, but it's not absolutely necessary. When working solo, I do clamp the unit to the counter to allow me to crank with one hand and work the casings with the other.
Functionally, the unit met all my expectations. It's easy to load, easy to crank, and easily and quickly presses the meat mix through the cone and sausage tube. It does what it's supposed to, and it does it well. And although a little cumbersome due to its size, it's even pretty easy to clean. But it would be nice if the unit came with a long, thin bottle brush for cleaning the sausage tube.
The one complaint I do have (and the sole reason for the 4-star rating) is that there is a lot of meat left in the unit when the plunger is all the way to the bottom of its stroke. While this may not be a big deal for someone making 50+ pound batches, the pound or so of unstuffed "waste" is 10% of a 10 pound batch. In my opinion, that much waste is unacceptable. (BTW, fried bratwurst patties are actually pretty darn good, fried polish sausage patties... not so much.)
I haven't had it long enough to speak to it's longevity. But at this point, I'm very happy with the design, ease of operation, and performance of this unit. I just need to figure out how to press the last pound of meat out of the unit, or at least more of it.