Meat grinder issues

[glen]

kksmokehouse That sucks, wish you the best, hope you find a solution

[kksmokehouse]

johnsbrewhouse are you saying you think the bearing is possibly not necessary and could just be replaced by a bronze or olite bronze bushing of the same inner and outer diameter/depth? I presume I’d then want to have that pressed in so it provides full support for the auger and allows it spin freely within?

[kksmokehouse]

twilliams just to confirm, this kind of set up (bearing located just behind the auger in the wet part of the grinder) is not common with grinders sold in the US? Even larger commercial models?

[twilliams]

kksmokehouse yes you are correct, mine has a hard plastic bushing.

[johnsbrewhouse]

kksmokehouse That would be right. You would just have to make sure to add a food grade lube to the shaft each time you assemble it. Most all US grinders use bushings rather than a bearing. They are probably using a bearing due to cost, That bearing probably fit s many applications and it’s only about $3 US retail. I can get them even cheaper as a company and probably even less in bulk.

[johnsbrewhouse]

twilliams My Weston has plastic bushing and washers as well

[kksmokehouse]

twilliams and johnsbrewhouse thank you both, really appreciate your help! Its a shame about this grinder because it actually does a really good, fast and efficient job. At the end of the day, I just need it to be more hygienic. I think whatever bearing is in there, good quality food safe or cheap standard (as I think it came with off the shelf), once you add hot water and detergents and give it a scrub, it’s going to start to flush the packed grease out pretty quick and rust. I will either look at getting a custom bronze bush, which seems pretty difficult here, or I will splash and import something (LEM/Walton) from the US. Cheers.

[johnsbrewhouse]

kksmokehouse Best of luck either way my friend. I would have thought you might have been able to find a small machine shop somewhere there. Of course Malaysia is fairly large but small and depends where you are located. Glad we could at least give you some help and ideas.

[processhead]

Would shipping the grinder head to a machine shop be cost prohibitive? Seems a shame to not get that grinder back in the game.

[howells]

I would soak that bearings and the unit in a commercial grade food safe sanitizer. It will penetrate into the housing and remove the bacteria buildup from liquids and make it safe to use again in terms of food safety. We often soak bearings like this and our FDA/USDA/STATE inspectors have approved this under our HACCP and Sanitation Plans.