Saturday, October 19, 2013

Nesco FG-400PR Professional 380-Watt Cast-Aluminum Food Grinder



Close, but not quite
My first impression on getting this unit was that it was a good quality machine. A nice step up from the stand mixer attachment. I started noticing a couple of short falls when I used it for the first time. The food pusher can be a bit tricky to keep from pulling the lid off if the meat gets a bit sticky in the grinder.

The smallest sausage stuffer tube is too large for breakfast links or other small sausages. I also found out (after quite a bit of difficulty in contacting the manufacturer) that this is not a standard size grinder. It is very close to a standard #8 grinder, but not quite, so you can't purchase additional sausage stuffing tubes, grinder plates, or replacement blades when the originals wear down.

Bottom line is that the unit seems solid and adequate for a basic grinder if you don't expect to use it much, or have a need/desire to purchase additional attachments. If you plan to do much grinding or sausage making, however, I would go for one of...

keep looking
I have been doing part time meat processor for over 25 years and I have to say this is probably the loudest grinder I have ever been around, get some ear plugs if you decide to buy this. Also, the gear are plastic, if you break them you can not buy replacement part!!!! The cost to have a $15-$20 (per customer sevice) part repaired would end up costing more than a new machine because you have to ship it back to NESCO, but they will not sell the part seperate. Please take my advise and spend a little more for a grinder that has metal gears and is represented by better customer service. I feel like such a rookie for having been deceived into thinking this was a good machine.

Nesco FG-400PR Meat Grinder
Not happy, 3 of the four plastic drive gears broke while grinding fat. Could easily fix it myself, but Nesco won't ship replacement parts.....Was quoted $60 for parts and $40 for shipping both ways if I sent it in to them. Didn't even last through a small moose.

Click to Editorial Reviews

No comments:

Post a Comment