Hello. I'm glad you're feeding your dogs are all diet. I've been feeding my dogs and cats a raw diet for 15 years now. i've bought commercial, and done DIY, and a combination of both. for a few years I would grind it myself but I haven't done that in quite a while. but I have a couple suggestions. But remember, free advice is worth what you pay for it so take it with a grain of salt but it does come from experience. First, you are right. The meat needs to be very cold. Not necessarily frozen but very cold. And it works best if you have a couple people, everything prepared in advance, and do a very quick assembly line. if the meat starts to get too warm take a break and put it back in the freezer for a little bit. Necks are going to be very difficult for a machine because there is a great deal of cartilage, ligaments tendons etc. in there that's actually harder than the bone to deal with you can make it run better by chopping the turkey necks in the smaller pieces and grinding regular muscle meat along with the turkey necks. The legs worked well because there was more muscle and less bone compared to necks. And yes, use the plate with the biggest holes. you can run it through again with a plate with smaller holes but I'm not sure you actually need to. Your small dog should easily be able to handle the size of the bones that came out with the big grind. he will still have to chew but it will be good for his teeth and he won't have an issue with digesting it. I have a big dog and a small dog and they basically eat the same thing. except I don't grind anymore. I chop off a part of the turkey neck and give that to the small dog and keep the big piece for the big dog. and I feed chicken feet to the dogs. By the way, don't try to run a chicken foot through a grinder, it really really doesn't work out well :-) even if you add muscle meat to the grind it just doesn't work well. Feed those as a treat. And if you decide to feed raw meaty bones without grinding them go for it. Chicken backs, chicken legs, chicken wings chicken necks, turkey wings, turkey necks. I would not feed turkey backs or turkey legs though or turkey thighs because they are too thick unless you have a great Dane or maybe a mastiff. duck feet, duck wings, and duck necks are also good. Anyway, that's my suggestions. Look forward to seeing more of your videos.
the problem with the westen is they changed the neck design on the 22 and 32 a couple years ago.... you now have to chop the meat into smaller pieces to fit.. makes no sense to have do that. so although you have up to a 2hp motor, you spend more time to prep the meat to get through the narrow feed tube..
I personally own the LEM 22 and have the step switch that helps a lot. I have grinded turkey necks, wings, chicken backs, feet and all types of fowls whole, including duck heads. It’s a workhorse if the environment is right. All my grinding has been done with the bird frozen. It’s more brittle that way and easier for the machine to tear apart. If it does jam - I just use the step switch to power through it by clicking it on and off. Each steps gives the auger a little torque to power thru the bones.
We've been doing Raw dog food for a year now for our 85 lb. GSD and our 65 lb. Staffordshire Terrier (STD). We make up 210-250 lbs at a time and use FoodSaver bags for freezing our product. We use 2 FoodSaver machines to do this. We're going to upgrade our #12 LEM to a #32 soon so I don't have to chop the chicken hind quarters to fit in the throat anymore. We buy about 150 pounds of chicken hind quarters on average, 10 pounds ground beef and also mixed amounts of veggies, eggs and organ meat.
Great info! Is the grinder in the video what you've been using so far for your dogs? Do you have any tips for first time users? It seems like they has so much trouble. Also should the meat be frozen?
You said “that’s another story” about why you have to grind the raw food. Can you share why? Did your pup have an issue with digesting or choking or something?
Your grinder will fill up with bone and cartilage pretty fast if you use drumsticks. It backs up inside and anything coming out will start to get hot. then you have to disassemble everything and clean it to start over again. The only way around this is to use one of the plates that is not quite as fine. Just the next coarser one, not like the sausage plate. The downside to that is that you will get some small bone fragments in the grind - the up-side is that things will move more smoothly for a longer period of time. I have the number 32 LEM and even at that huge size it still backs up with the finest plate. The finest plate is the safest for the Boston terrier. These are not meant to do bone.
Wow! watched your video and am surprised a LEM wouldn't come with instructions on how to use. My wife and I have been using a Cabela 1/2 hp. and have been using it for about 4 to 5 years but we found out from the guide that you should chop up you bird before grinding, it makes it grind so much easier and the Cabella has reverse if it decides to jam. we enjoy using the cabella 1/2 horse it is perfect for our needs
Phew, I had the same experience with the LEM 32. I don't know how they how they have that many great reviews. I suspect, they used to be better and don't make them the same. :(. Did you end up finding a different grinder?
I am a chef. I have worked in kitchens that do their own ground. even with massive grinding attachments for Hobart mixers we get jams. and that's without bones
I just ground 40 lbs. chicken wings in my dual grind LEM #12. I only had one ham and that was from bone getting into first plate. I also ground up 10 lbs beef and 6 lbs of gizzards at same time. Our dog love sit. I think it is all the way you did it. I use 1/2" plate which give the food some texture our 34 lb mauler loves.
Wow. So miserable grinding with so many jams. I bought the Weston Pro Series 1.5hp #22 and I've use it twice since last month. Each use - I've had 1x jam incident. Happens when I put in an extra big piece and such a pain just to unclog all the parts. I too have difficulty removing that grinder plate from the front. I find it easier to just disassemble everything from the base of the gear head by unscrewing the locking knob. I have to remember to cut my pieces just the right size that fits the feed chute. Hopefully it doesn't jam again in the next round of raw food prep.
I got the Weston #12, 1HP and have now ground over 100 pounds of chicken leg quarters and thighs, bone in and skin on, without a single jam. I use the grind plate with the larger holes. Also, frozen meat grinds much more easily.
We have that lem grinder, we only use the big die, the dogs have been fine for around 7yrs now. We have never tried to grind Turkey neck but it will grind anything chicken we can fit in. We did try Turkey legs once but it struggled with those, and yeah the no reverse is a bummer when it jams but we've learned what not to do to jam it. I can say after more than seven yrs, 3.5 lbs a day for our 3 dogs... holy heck I just did the math, about 9,000lbs of meat. Only thing that wore out a bit was the replaceable nub that screwed into fron of auger that went through the die for support. Zero issues otherwise, been loud and heavy as heck but dead a$$ reliable. Good luck with whatever you end up with, no reverse is a pain, we didn't think about that either until we had to deal with it, now we just work around it but wish we had it.
I am a natural rearing boxer and Boston terrier breeder in Texas and bought the LEM 1.5 HP for big grinds. All went well til we tried turkey necks. They twirled around the auger and stopped everything. What a nightmare. I also wish it had a reverse. Thanks for the tip on using the step action with the foot pedal below. Has anyone found a way to safely grind turkey necks without the jams? They are very difficult to cut even with a LEM supplied cleaver. Tears up the cutting boards. Maybe with the Weston 2hp?
Turkey legs are definitely a challenge. Turkey legs besides thick bones, have numerous "tendon bones" near the narrow end of the leg. Chicken is easier. You may just need a meat cleaver and to hack the turkey into chunks. I saw someone get chicken bones through a $60 Gourmia with no problem, but they definitely used a meat cleaver to hack up the necks and legs first.
Wow! This is cool 😎 I happen to know Gina is a Charge Nurse with a Masters in nursing. She also lives a healthy lifestyle. She wants her her animals to be healthy also and is willing to share her knowledge with others. A nurse at heart.
Raw food is the best. Grinding it for big dogs doesn't make sense. Leg quarters, necks and drumsticks a dog will devour it. Stool too hard, microwave yams to soften stool.
cant stand this kind of consumer. over loads a machine / tool and declares it a fail. If you learn how to use things as they are intended, you wouldn't need to buy the most expensive unit available. But when you are inherently wealthy you can afford to call gold bronze. hope I never see these people again
