Adventures in Raw Feeding Part 2 - Grinders
/So what you feed depends on your grinder. Let me tell you, there are 10,000 options out there. When picking a grinder, consider the following:
- Number of Dogs to Feed
- Bone In or Bone Out?
- How much do you want to spend
Number of Dogs to Feed
This is a big one. If you have to make enough food for 3 dogs, think 2-3% of their body weight, that is a long of food. Especially if you make a couple weeks worth or even a month. My dogs weigh: 38, 40, and 55 pounds. This means that with all of them combined I'll need at least 2.6 pounds a day (78 pounds a month.) That is a lot of food to grind, especially if your grinder only does 1 pound a minute....and you have to chop everything before it goes into the grinder.....get what I mean?
Bone In or Bone Out?
If you are grinding bones with your muscle meat and organs you'll have several things to think about. The biggest factor is whether the grinder can handle raw bones. Even simple low end grinders can mangle bones, but this isn't without some frustration, annoyance, and eventual burn out of the grinder. There are grinders on the market that are warrantied for use in ground bone/muscle meat and designed with raw food in mind.
How much do you want to spend?
Grinders can cost as much or as little as you want them to. However, I've found that there are some happy mediums you can look at.
For example, if you choose to supplement with bone meal rather than grinding bone you can get a small beginner grinder on sale for about $50 at the local sportsman stores. This wouldn't handle bones, or win speed awards, but it would get you started with some options. The model I found was the CHARD #5 at a local sportsman store and it was on sale. Grand Total: $40. While you are there grab a couple big meat trays too ($10 a piece).
The next step would be to get a 450+ watt grinder that could handle bones. You will still need to do some prep. And you certainly can't just shove a whole chicken quarter down it and hope for the best. You could also find these at the local sportsmans store or order online. A good example is the WaringPro 885 models or STX internaltional 3000. Both range from about $99 to $160 in price and could handle some bone in grinding.
The dream grinder for me is the Weston #32. This is a 1.5 HP grinder that is warrantied for grinding up rabbit, turkey, and chicken meats with the bone in. Grand cost? $700. And the other factor (and I'll get into this in my next post), is that bone in grinding will save you some cash every month. There is a huge difference in price per pound when bones are included :) So overall I think what you save by grinding bone in would help you pay for that whopping $700 commercial grinder.