Cool, turning warm later.\u00a0\u00a0 Part sun, and humid.\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 If I guessed right.\u00a0\u00a0 But that was what the day turned into yesterday, so I’ve got at least a 50\/50 chance of being right.\u00a0 Weird to go out in low 80s temps after the cold.\u00a0 Houston.<\/p>\n
Spent the day catching up on stuff, not doing plumbing.\u00a0 I did cut my hair, shave, and trim my beard. \u00a0 Cleaned up around the house too.<\/p>\n
Ended up selling an ebay item,\u00a0 so now I have to find it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It’s somewhere.\u00a0 Not where the other listed ebay items are, unfortunately.\u00a0\u00a0 While looking for it, I went through about half of one storage unit.\u00a0 Found stuff to bring home, sorted some bins, and found the bigger grinder I picked up earlier in the year.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s a vintage Enterprise “tinned” number 22 meat chopper.\u00a0\u00a0 It is manual, and bolts to a table.\u00a0 I’ve got a couple of smaller Universal grinders, but they clamp to a table and tend to squirm around too much.<\/p>\n
I spent a while boiling the grinder and parts, then scraping and cleaning.\u00a0\u00a0 It came up pretty nice, considering it’s about 100 years old.\u00a0 The plates are razor sharp still.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, it was missing the blade.\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately, grinders were sold by size, #12, #22, #32, #8, etc. for a long time. There are brand new parts available, plates and knives.\u00a0\u00a0 So I bought the cheapest one on amazon, to see how it works.\u00a0\u00a0 I don’t use the grinder very often, and a replacement blade that looks like the original was $37 instead of $13.\u00a0 Even the cheap blade should outlast me, but if it doesn’t, we’re either living like it was 1890, or I can order another.\u00a0 If push came to shove, I could make one from steel plate.<\/p>\n
A manual grinder\/chopper\/sausage stuffer is a good backup tool, and a useful kitchen accessory.\u00a0 If you are harvesting wild game, you already know that.\u00a0 If you think you might in the future, or that you might process it yourself instead of paying a shop to do it, get you a grinder…\u00a0 They are widely available in estates, and online.\u00a0 Make sure it’s not worn out and comes with the blade and a variety of plates.\u00a0\u00a0 I see smaller ones still in the box relatively often.<\/p>\n
Why my sudden interest in getting my grinder working?\u00a0 I want to make some of my family recipe sausage for the holidays.\u00a0 Pork butts were on sale, and allspice was back in stock, so with a working grinder, I’m good to go.\u00a0 Just need to get some sausage casings.\u00a0\u00a0 My local HEB used to carry them, but doesn’t have any.\u00a0 There is a sausage supply house near my secondary location, and I’ll be headed by there later.\u00a0 They keep in the fridge for a long time, and are pretty cheap, so I’m not worried about the cost, just the availability.<\/p>\n
Of course, anything I do today will be after<\/em> my semi-annual trip to the dentist to get my fangs cleaned.\u00a0\u00a0 Whole family is going this morning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That will probably occupy us most of the morning.\u00a0 Dental care is important.\u00a0\u00a0 People died from dental problems.\u00a0 Don’t be a people.<\/p>\n Get out there and find some stuff to stack.\u00a0\u00a0 This week, try to get everything you’d need to process wild game- or at least familiarize yourself with what is involved.\u00a0\u00a0 Knives, saw, grinder, lift, trays, pans, cutting boards… and watch a video or two.\u00a0\u00a0 You might not every need the familiarity, but the tools aren’t expensive, fit in a smallish box, and might feed your family.<\/p>\n Stack it up.<\/p>\n nick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cool, turning warm later.\u00a0\u00a0 Part sun, and humid.\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 If I guessed right.\u00a0\u00a0 But that was what the day turned into yesterday, so I’ve got at least a 50\/50 chance of being right.\u00a0 Weird to go out in low 80s temps after the cold.\u00a0 Houston.<\/p>\n Spent the day catching up on stuff, not doing plumbing.\u00a0 I did cut my hair, shave, and trim my beard. \u00a0 Cleaned up around the house too.<\/p>\n Ended up selling an ebay item,\u00a0<\/p>\n