For those owners who prepare their meals for their dogs, I have provided a review on our new meat grinder. I purchased the Weston Pro Series™ #32 Electric Meat Grinder (2 HP) 1500 watt unit. 

Features

• Permanently lubricated, 2 HP / 1500 watt air cooled motor (120 volt, 60 Hz) runs smooth for a lifetime of use
• Grinds 12-18 lbs per minute
• Offset head design (patent pending) promotes high speeds
• Precision engineered steel gears for quiet performance & rugged durability
• Five Year Limited Warranty
• Disassembles for easy cleanup
• Non-slip rubber feet for added stability
• Sturdy handle for carrying & transportation
• Reverse function on #22 & #32 models
• Tray guard on #22 & #32 models helps keep your hands safe
• #22 & #32 warrantied for grinding raw pet food - See warranty section for further details.

Includes:

• Auger Grabbing Stomper for simple disassembly and cleanup
• Built-In Knife Sharpener for sharpening your favorite butcher knife
• Tray-Nested Accessory Tray for storing your plates, knife, stomper and sausage stuffing kit
• Tray Dust Cover
• Tray Safety Guard
• Stainless steel grinding knife
• Two stainless steel grinding plates: Coarse (7mm) and Medium (4.5mm)
• Sausage Stuffing Kit:
  • Set of three funnels: 20mm, 30mm and 40mm
  • 10mm Snack Stick funnel & high-speed auger
  • Stuffing star/spacer

To date, I am a fan as this machine makes very quick work of raw beef meat grinding 12-18 pounds per minute! Amazingly fast but the best feature and one of the reasons why I invested in this machine is that it can grind small animal bones such as chicken or rabbit. In fact, the 5-year warranty states:

Weston Pro Series Electric Meat Grinders (#22 and #32) are capable of grinding smaller, softer animal bones such as rabbit, whole chickens* or chicken quarters, and other birds, due to both the power and all metal construction of the units. Avoid grinding large, dense animal bones as they are very difficult to process (i.e., bones one would find in large game, pigs, or cows).

When we travel we bring our Irish Wolfhound's meals with us. We were just preparing for an out-of-state dog show and before buying this unit, I had to purchase ground beef. Depending on the season, the price per pound could run from $2.39 to nearly $5.00 per pound. I actually checked the price of meat at our chain grocery store and at this time of the year, a family-pack of 80/20 ground beef was approximately $4.97 a pound. Thankfully, I am no longer held hostage having to buy ground beef. Instead, I purchased Chuck Roast that was on sale for $2.79 pound and ground my own hamburger meat. I ground 14 pounds of chuck roast in less than one minute. A simple switch to the finer grinding plate and back through the large, ground 14 pounds of meat went and out it came just like the product we buy in the butcher meat department. Frankly, it was marvelous having saved approximately $41.00 not having to buy pre-ground beef. Wow!

BTW, I also make my own chicken meatballs as we bring a variety of meatballs for traveling to feed the wolfhounds on the road. This is one of the reasons why I bought this 2 hp, 1500 watt meat grinder. I purchase either chicken drumsticks or chicken wings and the machine grinds the boned-in chicken in seconds. There is no need nor do I recommend passing the chicken meat through the finer grinder plate a second time as chicken meat is wet and sticky, just like ground turkey. I add oregano, wheat germ, fresh eggs and chopped garlic, roll them up and freeze and away we go.

Tips & Considerations on this particular Weston Supply Pro-Series unit.

First, it is a hefty unit and I do not consider it portable. We have it in one location and do not move it. Next, make certain that you purchase Food Grade Silicone spray to lubricate the working parts. I only use Weston brand spray as it is:

    VOC compliant
    Protective anti-rust film
    Heat-stable
    Odorless / tasteless
    Sanitary
    Non-Toxic
    Ozone friendly

As for considerations, assembling the unit for each use must be done carefully. You cannot overtighten the knife nor the nut that holds the auger, knife and grinder plate in place. If you make a mistake and insert the knife backwards (which is not that uncommon and I believe happens more often than not) then the result is the machine's motor can and will seize up as there is no room for error within the design. Also, if you overtighten the nut placing too much stress on the knife and grinder plate then the motor will seize up as well and you will be left with an expensive, heavy, paper-weight.