GlassyClass on fri 19 oct 01
Been reading web pages on Pugger Mills, and am wondering if they are
basically a large version of a old style crank meat grinder. I got possible
access (used purchase/give away) to one of those that is no longer being
used to grind meat. It is a large version, hopper inlet is about 4x4 inches.
It has the stainless steel screens for making the various pastes of sausage
and stuff.
I know that it would not de-air.
Got a fragment of a memory of grinding hamburger with someone, and how the
coarse meat turned into a smooth heavy clay like material.
Anybody got any thoughts on this, or if it might be something that could
work ?
Retail Puggers from what I have seen run from about a thousand to more that
5 thousand.
Bud
Bruce Girrell on fri 19 oct 01
> Been reading web pages on Pugger Mills, and am wondering if they are
> basically a large version of a old style crank meat grinder.
...
> Anybody got any thoughts on this, or if it might be something that could
> work ?
Yes, a pugmill is a big, motorized cousin of Grandmother's meat grinder. As
I went through the same process that you are currently experiencing, I tried
the same approach. I got the largest model meat grinder available from
Lehman's (a mail-order company that caters to the Amish and others who wish
to be free of the encumbrances of modern "conveniences"). I found that the
meat grinder can be used on a _very_ limited basis for the same purpose as a
pugmill or extruder.
There are two problems: The first is a safety issue and is what really made
me decide that the meat grinder approach was not worth it. It was very
difficult for me to feed clay into the machine. The feed hopper is not
designed for use with any kind of device to push the clay into the auger.
Fingers are certainly not suitable. So I would have to make about one turn
of the screw, stop, push the clay into the auger, and turn again. Very, very
slow operation.
The second issue is simply volume. It takes a lot of work to crank any
significant amount of clay through the machine.
So... _could_ it work? Yes. Will you want to do it that way? I doubt it.
Eventually, we bit the bullet and shelled out the bucks for a Peter Pugger
VPM-30, a deairing mixer/pugger combo. It handles about 40 lbs per load,
which would be small for many operations, but is well suited to the size of
operation that Lynne and I have. By buying a combo machine we paid much less
than if we would have bought a mixer and pugmill separately. As with all
engineering designs, some compromises have to be made when a machine is
designed to do multiple tasks, but the P.P. folks have done very well and we
have never regretted our purchase.
Bruce "need to go play with my P.P." Girrell
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