# Meat grinder process ?



## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Hi - 
I picked up an Oster 996 meat grinder - with no manual. The unit has the two star blades and the two different "hole" blades. 

Having never ground meat before...Does one do a succession of grinding through the blades to get to the finished product, or just pick the one size you want the finished product to be and use that blade?


I know, I know, it's such a basic question...


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I have a lot of Oster products, but never heard of a model 996 meat grinder. However, I'm sure they all work pretty much the same. Here's a link to a PDF manual for model 4726. It has some recipes too. Hope this helps! 

http://www.householdappliance.com/downloads/4726_food_grinder.pdf


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I like the coarse disk and run it through twice. Are the 2 blades the same?....James


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

The star blades are 2 different sizes and the hole blades are two different sizes.

Callie - Thank you for the link to the 4726 manual. That will be a huge help.

James - you run the meat through twice with the one disk?


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Callie - Thanks for the link. The 4726 looks pretty similar. The one I have is from either 1973 or 1983 (the date code on the store sticker), and was $49.99 new, I gave $5 for it!

James - you run the meat twice through the same disk? The round hole disk, not the star blades, correct?

I want to make italian sausage for pizza - I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com that had 4.5 stars...


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/italian-style-sausage/detail.aspx


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

You're welcome! If that manual isn't close enough, you might be able to look at Weston grinders and find one that looks similar and then look for that 
manual. They're a lot easier to find, Oster quit making theirs many years ago, so manuals are more rare.

Yum, that sounds good. My favorite pizza is Italian sausage, black olives, mushrooms, and extra cheese. Okay, now I'm hungry, lol! I like Italian sausage, but don't really like licorice, so if it has too much anise in it that's all I can taste. I may try that and start out with a little less and then add if I need to. Did you see the sausage recipes in the manual? There's one for Italian sausage, but it calls for eight pounds of meat. I wouldn't want to start off that big in case I didn't like it, but the recipe sounds good, would just have to cut it down.

I think James was asking about the blades because most grinders only have one, but then have two or three disks of different sizes and varieties. He probably runs it through the blade first and then the coarse disk twice to get a good blend. But if you started with small chunks like stew meat, then you might not even need the blades, just the coarse or fine disk. 

I'm still learning this myself, and I'm dying to use my sausage stuffing tubes for sausage, wieners (NOT make from beaks and uh...hind parts, lol) and ring bologna and, and...


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## Tommyice (Dec 5, 2010)

I use the grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid. It has one blade, cross shaped with 4 "spokes" and the course disc. The discs are about 1.75" The course disc has 14 openings, the finer one has 20 openings.

I usually only do one pass through the course blade. Mostly I use mine for turning left over corned beef into hash, making sausage. I've used the finer one once to make some emergency ground beef.


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Lisabug suggested I use fennel instead of anise, so I'll try that. The recipe in the manual looks good, too, and I suppose can be cut back. I do have a pork butt in the freezer...$1.49/# 

It sounds like the star blade is used in conjunction with the round disk, I suppose it chops to length before forcing through the holes. I also found out from Lisabug that I am missing two critical washers that go at the back end of the auger. Strangely enough, the Oster kitchen center I bought a month ago (with a meat grinder) is also missing those 2 washers. Off to Goodmans.com to see about washers!


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hmm, I'm not sure what washers she's talking about. I have a Kitchen Center (as well as a couple of extras for parts, lol) and have known people who had them and the stand-alone meat grinders, and none have ever had washers. These pictures on eBay show all the parts I've ever seen associated with them. 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...+grinder+attachment&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Could she maybe elaborate more on that? I don't see any posts by her, so you must have been talking PM. If she doesn't want to post on the board, she could PM me. I'm very curious now, wonder if someone just added some washers to hers for some reason and wonder if I'm missing something good, lol! 

I also have a Puree N Ricer attachment, which is built on the same premise as the meat grinder and attaches the same way, and it doesn't have any washers either. Here's a picture of it. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OSTER-KITCHEN-CENTER-POWER-PUREE-N-RICER-MILL-STRAINER-/270800995232

Inquiring minds want to know, lol!


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Callie - the link you provided does not mention washers on page 3, but on page 20 is a diagram showing where the washers go. Lisabug says the washers are to prevent friction/wear on the plastic. :shrug:


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Well, lord love a duck! lol My KC was bought brand new and didn't come with washers that I recall. I guess it's possible that I lost them, but not likely, I'm kind of OCD about things like that.  

It made me curious though, so I went and checked the couple I have for parts and the extra parts that are similar like the pasta and puree attachments, and none of them have any washers. Then I called a friend and she said hers doesn't have any either, and it was also bought new back in the 80s. How weird, lol. 

I've talked to a guy in the past who's an expert on these and repairs them. I'll e-mail him and see if I can get any info. This will make me crazy until I find out what the deal is, lol, but thanks...I think!?!


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## LisaBug (Oct 13, 2002)

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving.

My Oster KC was purchased new in the late 8O's as a gift. There were two washers included with the grinder plates and knife, to be put at the shaft end of the auger according to the directions. My newer KA has an attached metal plate instead of washers and our knock-off stand alone grinder also has a washer setup at the rear of the auger although it's permanently attached. 

Perhaps the washers were only included for a short time and found to not be needed? Perplexing........

LisaBug


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hi Lisa and thanks for chiming in!  Yes, like I said very perplexing, and it will make me crazy until I get a definitive answer, lol. 

I did e-mail the guy last night, but it sometimes takes a week or two to get an answer and with it being the holidays it may be even longer, but hopefully he'll be able to clear it up. I asked him if they should all have them and, if so, if there's a particular kind or type I should buy. I'll post back if and when I hear from him. I haven't written in about a year and a half, so hope he's still responding.

I'm glad you told Chix and she shared the information. I'm all for doing whatever will make these things last as long as possible. Happy Thanksgiving!


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Waiting to hear what you find out. If he says yes, washers, can you get the specs...inside diameter, outside diameter, thickness?


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I did ask him to be specific about the washers, if we need, them, lol. Again, it usually takes him a couple of weeks to respond, and with the holidays it may take longer, but I will definitely let you know.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hey Chix and Lisa, I got a reply to that e-mail already! Here's what he said:

"_In all of the grinders that we have seen, none of them have ever had the 
washers. Feel free to continue using your grinder the way it is. Please 
start to use some caution, though, as most of the parts are now obsolete. We are 
only able to get replacement cutters and combs/discs._"

He's been supplying parts and repairing Oster machines for over 20 years. So I guess it's okay without them, but it's still going to make me crazy, lol. I may just go to Lowe's and see if I can find some washers to fit and see what difference it makes in how it works. I do have a couple of back-up parts, in case I ruin this one.


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Thanks, Callie! I'd like to add the washers, too, just have to remember to pack up the head & discs when I go to town.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

Hey Chix! There's a meat grinder on eBay right now that shows a picture of the washers. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Oster-Heavy...all_Kitchen_Appliances_US&hash=item1e68156b7b

I don't know if it will make any difference, but I printed it out and am going to take it with me when I go to Lowe's. Thought you might be interested. Either way, here's living proof that at least some of them had it besides just Lisa's, lol!  

It's just so weird that some did and some didn't, thought I knew pretty much everything there was to know about the vintage Oster stuff. Guess this showed me, lol!


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## wingrider78 (Dec 27, 2011)

Hello, I have a secondhand oster grinder model 4726 that is missing the two washers. I have used this machine for a couple of years so far. I mainly grind venison mixed with beef or pork. The first season I used it, I ground three deer mixed with beef/pork, upwards of 100lbs of meat went through the grinder, and I had zero problems. This year, I can't get anything to go through without clogging it up. I first tried deer/beef and it wouldn't go through. Did some reading and found out that I likely needed to sharpen the blades. Before I sharpened them, I figured I'd try something that wasn't as hard to grind and the silverskin on the venison...so I did some pretty lean pork and that clogged up several times just grinding 5lbs of pork.

I just sharpened the blade and plates (both plates, both sides) using a wet/dry sanding method on glass surface using 400 then 600 grit sandpaper and things seemed very sharp to me. So I went right work on another deer, I got clogged up on the coarse disc after about 3lbs went through.

To me it seems like the blade and disc aren't tight enough together. When I tighten the clamp ring down, I get it as tight as I can, but I can still turn the end of the drive shaft by hand. I wouldn't think I should be able to do that if things were tight enough. The outside edge of the disc that should protrude from the grinder body before turning on the clamp ring, only pokes out a little sliver. I remember it sticking out almost all the way last year thinking that it was barely in there until I turned the ring down. 

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone, has anyone run into this issue before? Do I need to use washers?


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