Vintage Hobart Meat Grinder

I've been wanting to grind my own meat for sausage and hamburgers for quite awhile and I've been watching vintage grinders in ebay - they are pretty expensive. One seller dropped his price and then accepted a low ball offer from me so I purchased a Hobart Model 4312 last month. It was originally used in a grocery store in Sioux Falls, SD in the late 1940s or early 1950s.

I honestly did not realize how BIG this grinder is, it weighs at least 100 lbs, stands 15" tall, the motor is 9" in diameter and about 15.5" long from the back to where the grinder attaches. The grinder attachment is a model 12, which uses plates 2 3/4" in diameter.

A friend killed some deer this year and wanted to blend the venison with some pork. We ended up with 62 lbs of meat and this Hobart ground it all in 12 minutes with a 1/4" plate.

He gave me a deer also and I blended it with packer brisket and a pork belly. I ended up with 72 lbs of meat (ground 3/16") which I used to make the best Italian meatballs and grilled hamburgers I have ever made.

I have also made over 80 lbs of sausage in the last month: Italian, andouille (two versions because I decided the first recipe had too much thyme and tasted like breakfast sausage), Central Texas style sausage, and green onion sausage.

I next plan to make some authentic German bratwurst (anyone got a recipe?) and a good Louisiana boudain.

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Post# 1055140 12/22/2019 at 13:02 (1,585 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes I've been wanting to grind my own meat for sausage and hamburgers for quite awhile and I've been watching vintage grinders in ebay - they are pretty expensive. One seller dropped his price and then accepted a low ball offer from me so I purchased a Hobart Model 4312 last month. It was originally used in a grocery store in Sioux Falls, SD in the late 1940s or early 1950s. I honestly did not realize how BIG this grinder is, it weighs at least 100 lbs, stands 15" tall, the motor is 9" in diameter and about 15.5" long from the back to where the grinder attaches. The grinder attachment is a model 12, which uses plates 2 3/4" in diameter. A friend killed some deer this year and wanted to blend the venison with some pork. We ended up with 62 lbs of meat and this Hobart ground it all in 12 minutes with a 1/4" plate. He gave me a deer also and I blended it with packer brisket and a pork belly. I ended up with 72 lbs of meat (ground 3/16") which I used to make the best Italian meatballs and grilled hamburgers I have ever made. I have also made over 80 lbs of sausage in the last month: Italian, andouille (two versions because I decided the first recipe had too much thyme and tasted like breakfast sausage), Central Texas style sausage, and green onion sausage. I next plan to make some authentic German bratwurst (anyone got a recipe?) and a good Louisiana boudain. View Full Size

Post# 1055172 , Reply# 1 12/22/2019 at 18:37 (1,585 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes 1 That machine will run for the next 200 years. No Joke. That is a Hobart Built Motor. Hobart used to be the Best Company and built their own motors. Now they source out and have been totally disappointed with anything they make these days. Been in the restaurant biz my whole life and watch them slide down the crapper fast. stevet and whirlykenmore will disagree, but that's how I feel. Nothing beats the older Hobart designs and their builds. Screw the efficiency. They got the job done with virtually no breakdowns. Nice machine you have there. Including that germ laden wooden pusher. (Just kidding. Love wood )

Post# 1055219 , Reply# 2 12/23/2019 at 07:44 (1,584 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes I was worried about the wood myself so I cover the wood with foil when I use it.

Post# 1055227 , Reply# 3 12/23/2019 at 09:37 (1,584 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Hobart stuff* Was the very best, Nothing new even comes close, I want a buffalo chopper, I used to work for a friend who had a restaurant and made slaw to sell to other restaurants, I made 150 to 200 pounds of cabbage a day into slaw some weeks with a buffalo chopper, They will chop barbecue and do all sorts of other things well.

Post# 1055244 , Reply# 4 12/23/2019 at 14:51 (1,584 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes 3 For years, our family used wooden spoons and cutting boards. I still use them. Don't worry about that pusher for the grinder. That's some pretty hard wood. I think it is Rosewood that used like for Knife Handles. Gawd people are just so paranoid about germs these days. But then again, all the hand sanitizers and anti bacterial this and that, it's no wonder there are super bugs these days. Most people's immune systems are junk now because they have nothing to fight. And when they do, they crash and burn.

Post# 1055248 , Reply# 5 12/23/2019 at 15:13 (1,584 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes Well, this wooden pusher has a hole in the center. I dug some petrified meat out of it so I'm going to fill the hole with epoxy. I'll cover it with the foil until i get around to doing that.

Post# 1055249 , Reply# 6 12/23/2019 at 15:19 (1,584 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.))
Checkrate/Likes *Hobart Quality:* Definitely is not near what it once was. Eddie I will not disagree there. However there has been a trend across the whole Food equipment industry toward cheapening up products. However when I look at some of the complete junk others are making the Hobarts don't look that bad. Still it's a damn shame. WK78

Post# 1055423 , Reply# 7 12/24/2019 at 19:46 (1,583 days old) by stevet (West Melbourne, FL)
Checkrate/Likes *Merry Christmas, David* Sent you a nice surprise. Hope you like it! Steve

Post# 1055435 , Reply# 8 12/24/2019 at 22:10 (1,583 days old) by 58limited (Port Arthur, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes Thanks Steve! Merry Christmas!

Post# 1055444 , Reply# 9 12/24/2019 at 22:57 (1,583 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)
Checkrate/Likes A hand-operated one mounted to a table was what my mom had long ago, so it was a treat to assemble and get to use, though those many tens-of-years ago make me wonder what I grounded�beef or liver and I did an occasional onion in between the meat grinds... One nice trip back over there won�t really find that grinder very easily, nor in promising condition... A DOBIE GILLIIS episode showed the ever-goofy Maynard G. Krebs grinding the stick in Herb�s electric grinder, his beatnik jargon, as TV�s first �spaceman�, going along with the feat, and all... Did I tell you that I�m turned on to meat grinding and that I would surely love to obtain whatever equipment (maybe attaching to my mixer) and recipes, that you will hopefully share? � Dave