Customer Reviews

Cuisinart SM-MG Meat-Grinder Attachment for Cuisinart Stand Mixer, White

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

People shouldn't give an item two stars just because of pricing compared to Kitchenaid. That's not helpful to anyone. I pulled the trigger on this attachment when Amazon had it for $107 shipped. Yes it's a little pricey, but compared to the Kitchenaid grinder for around $60, here's what I can see as the differences for $$ spent:

- It looks like the SM-MG tray appears to be a little larger than the
KA. (You can order a larger tray at add'l expense with the KA).
- The sausage making attachments are included with the Cuisi. (Again
these are not included, but can be ordered separately for the KA).
- The whole main body of the SM-MG Cuisi is cast aluminum or some other
metal, (whereas the KA body looks to be mostly plastic, and appears
smaller).
- The SM-MG attachment gives you three sizes of metal grinding wheels,
whereas the KA I believe gives you only two sizes.
- The SM-MG attachment, just like the Cuisi mixer itelf, has a three-
year warranty. (I believe the KA mixer, and I am assuming the
attachments, only have a one-year warranty).

I hope I have helped to compare apples to apples here. I know that I sound like a Cuisinart "fanboy," but after weighing all of the pros and cons before purchasing a stand mixer for the first time, (and valuing my dollars spent), I went with the Cuisinart, and I have not been disappointed. (Believe me, I really wanted to buy American here, and KA makes a fine product. If they would up their warranty to three years, I wouldn't hesitate to go with Kitchenaid).

You won't be grinding meat for any commercial applications with this unit. It is rather slow, but does the job. (Grinding 5 pounds of meat for sausage took awhile - a good while. I used the directions to put the mixer on speed "5". It was my first time using the attachment, so I didn't think of maybe cranking it up to "6" or so. I'll have to experiment with that. After all, the SM-MG attaches to the "slow" gear outlet).

I hope this review was at least somewhat helpful.

- Bill

This grinder is replacing a KA unit that, after 32 years of honest, reliable service, has developed so many cracks in its plastic components that it has lost the ability to remain sanitary.

The Cuisinart unit has a number of advantages: a reasonably large tray, multiple cutting blades, fairly simple mechanism for inserting it into the stand mixer, and a solid metal shaft and housing. It works well, neither faster nor slower than its predecessor. I'm unaccustomed to the fineness of the fine blade, and discovered that it's not alway advantageous to grind as finely as possible. For some purposes (making hot dogs or forced meat, for instance) it's perfect; for a less emulsified texture, it renders the meat too sticky. This is clearly a cook's issue, not a grinder issue.

Two design flaws stand in the way of my giving the grinder 5 stars:

- First, the metal housing is cast aluminum. It is great for avoiding the cracks I found in the plastic equivalent, but it's unwise to put it in the dishwasher (Cuisinart tells you specifically NOT to) because the causticity of dishwasher detergent pits the surfaces of the metal. I would prefer to be able to use a dishwasher to increase the chance of sanitary equipment, and wonder why it would not have been possible to make a dishwasher-safe alloy. Perhaps it would have been cost prohibitive. Purchaser beware: you've got to like using brushes in hot soapy water to keep this grinder clean. On the other hand, the tray component is plastic and easily removable, and it is dishwasher safe. That's the one component I would feel comfortable hand washing, so I can't win.

- Second, the plastic pusher is problematic on a couple of levels. First, it cleverly houses the sausage horns. To be a housing, however, it has to be hollow, and to have a removable cap. Both these characteristics make it less useful as a pusher -- it doesn't deliver as much force as I would like, and I've got to find something to do with the horns while I'm washing the pusher, leading to an improved chance of losing them. Second, it fits too snugly in the barrel of the grinder. If the meat is at all greasy, or you haven't chilled down both the meat and the grinder sufficiently before use, you get a strong suction effect in the barrel. I've found that the pusher is not pushing the meat down forcefully enough, and is sucking some of the remnants back up the barrel. I can solve this easily enough by creating a wooden or metal pusher; but at the price, I shouldn't have to

All in all, I feel this is a well-engineered and cleverly designed piece of equipment that did not go through an adequate amount of end user testing (or pay enough attention to user feedback if it was tested). It would have profited from practicality over cleverness in a few critical run-time use cases.

I used this to make homemade sausage, because we do not like sage in our sausage. I bought pork chops, because it was on sale for $0.99 a pound. The meat grinder was so fast, it ground up one porkchop, before I got the bone cut off the next one.

When I can buy my roast beef for $1.99 a lb, I buy several so that I can make my own ground beef. I grind very little fat with it and grind it twice per most instructions and my local bitcher. At $3.99 a lb for store bought ground beef I am $2.00 ahead of the game and with less fat.

For Christmas 2011, I purchased a Cusinart mixer for my wife. But...only after seeing on the attachments list a meat grinder. I am a hunter, hence the pen name Carnivore. I find that it works more then expected. After all, it is somewhat small in size, but not in stature. I have used the big grinders. They truly have their purpose. But, this meat grinder has never clogged up...or been a disappointment. I have made a ton of hamburger and all varities of sausage using this grinder. It works exceptionally well on wild game as well as beef. The bottom line is that I would heartily recommend it. What I have learned from this grinder is that it will do any job that I ask of it. After all, you can only make so much sausge in a day...

I am very happy with this meat grinder attachment. It makes my family's meals healthier since I am able to control the amount of fat and other stuff in ground meats. As of yet, I have only used it to grind beef but may try other meats one day. It is extremely easy to use.

One one occasion, the grinder became clogged with connective tissue, but that only happened once and since then I have cut the meat against the grain and the problem has not reoccurred.

I purchased the meat grinder attachment for my Cusinart mixer and have made several batches of sausage and excellent ground round with the grinder. These is one problem in attaching the grinder to the mixer: you must be test the grinder to be sure that it is properly attached to the mixer. The spade of the griner is inserted into the proper slot on the mixer. Other then that the attachment works fine.

have used it at least weekly for over a year now and it works great every time. easy to clean and easy to use

This unit is far superior to the Kitchen Aid unit that I had previously. I don't buy ground meat and prefer to grind my own fresh, for meat loaves etc. My first usage of the grinder was a combination of beef and pork. With the option of the three different grinding plates you can get the "just right" consistency for your recipe. No hesitation to recommend this grinder.

It works well. I cut meat into 1" slices and then cut the slices to 1-2" long this keeps it moving well. Don't try to go too fast. The grinder is slow, especially when it gets clogged up. You will need to open it up and clean it out some. Keep the meat very cold nearly freezing, and if the cutter gets hot take it and put it in the freezer for a couple minutes. This is not a commercial heavy duty grinder!!! Neither is the price! Don't over load it or you will not be happy and I think I read other reviews of people forcing meat into it and breaking the mixer. Like I said, SLOW GOIN.
I would buy this again for the mixer, because I had the mixer.
I would NOT buy the mixer and this attachment for only this purpose.