In the market for a meat grinder. I searched some old threads but wanted to get some new recs. Not looking to go crazy so ~$250 is probably the budget.

Academy or cabelas brand ones are fine if you're just doing one deer or hog. Just DO NOT put the parts in the dish washer. Ask me how I know

Also Fb marketplace has a plethora of good deals out there

Or just be incredibly lucky like me to have your neighbor/hunting buddy inherit a $6,000 Hobart from his brother in law

I have a Lem Big Bite #5 grinder. I use it for making hamburger meat with brisket trimmings. I only do about 8-10lb at a time and that is about the max of the grinder before it needs to cool down. If I run it too hard or too long the cork screw heats up and starts cooking the meat.

This is above your price range so I guess it depends on what you want to do but for me I wouldn't want a smaller one.

You'll pay a substantial outdoor consumer markup buying a grinder targeted at outdoorsmen and sold by an outfit targeting outdoorsmen. So don't do that if your primary goal is to get a solid grinder at a budget conscious price point.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/weston-33-1301-w-pro-series-12-electric-meat-grinder-and-sausage-stuffer-120v-750w/943331301W.html

total shot in the dark here but if you have a Kitchen Aide mixer, check out their grinder attachment. I do an elk leg roughly every other yr into burger and it handles it fairly easy. I think the attachment is like $50

I went from kitchen aide attachment, to cabelas deluxe grinder, to now using the Meat! half horsepower grinder. Tell us how much you are planning on processing/using it each year for a better recommendation.

The grinders that are measured in watts for power like the cabelas one are good if you're staying under 40ish pounds per sitting. If grinding up a few pounds for burgers, or just one big project a year it probably will do just fine.

For doing batches that are 50+ pounds, or processing multiple animals a year, I'd get at least a half horsepower unit from somewhere (which likely means increasing your budget some). I really like the Meat! 1/2 hp unit and they almost always run a Black Friday sale that gets it down to $375 or so on cost.

I don't expect to be doing more than a few whitetail a year. I may wait until Black Friday to find a good deal and just freeze what I shoot until then.

Try these folks.

https://vacuumsealersunlimited.com/product-category/meat-grinders/

I bought the 22 single grind and have been happy with it. Prob not much cheaper than the best price you will find but competitive. Small business. Lady who answers the phone is the owner. Always been good customer service. She doesn't stock, just drop ships from manufacturer, so she cuts price as much as she can.

If you're like me, you end up buying a vacuum machine also. The vac master 215 is a workhorse.

Agree with the Weston posted above. If you go with a retail brand, my Cabela's actually out runs my LEM all day, that being said LEM has great customer service and parts availability should you ever need them (I have). Can't go wrong with either. Heard good things about the Meat! Ones as well but no experience with them.

FB marketplace is your best bet to get a good quality grinder for way under retail.

I got my newest (to me) grinder, which is a 1 hp, for less than I paid for my .35 HP new several years ago. Barely used, all I had to do was give it a good cleaning.

LEM is the brand I would focus on, and get the most HP you can. I went from a .35 HP to a 1 HP when i found a deal i couldnt pass up and it is a night and day difference.

No matter what, you want something that has metal internal drive gears and metal components (tray, auger housing, etc).

Weston, Hobart, LEM...all good brands. Cabelas is pretty solid as well, but IMO you are paying as much for the nane on the side as anything.

https://www.academy.com/p/meat-500-watt-12-grinder

This was $111 after I put it in my cart and had really good reviews so I rolled with it. If it can't keep up it won't hurt too bad. Seems to be pretty well-made though. Everything's pretty solid internally from what I could tell. We're grinding up about 40 lbs tonight so we'll see how it does.

I like this company: MEAT!

I don't have a grinder from them yet. But I bought a vacuum sealer from them during last year's Black Friday sale and plan to upgrade my grinder this year.