What Food Processor for Raw Batches?

[John Popp]

We are about in the same situation with volume as Rafiki and also use the Weston 22. We had the Weston 32 which did a great job but too heavy. Don’t be fooled comparing horsepower rating as what you really need is torque to grind through bones.

I guess I’m the lucky one as I don’t need to clean up. Trish takes care of the clean up as she hasn’t been happy with my effort on that end. She made this proclamation last time I cleaned up, “you’re lucky you don’t need to cover up a crime scene, because you’d for sure be going to the pokey”.

 

[MasterC17]

I have now made two batches since purchasing a meat grinder and all I can say is "WOW" - I wish I had been using a grinder since day 1. SO much easier! I made a 20lb batch last time and it took less than an hour. That should last close to a month!

 

[John Popp]

Wish I could get it down to an hour, we are more like 6 hours.

 

[Rafiki]

I spent most of the weekend making cat fud. I ground up 4 whole rabbits and 8 lbs of pork. I had an additional lb each of ground lamb, venison and elk to add. I made a batch of bunny-baba (rabbit/lamb), bunny-oink (rabbit-pork), bunny-bambi (rabbit-venison) and bunny-elk (yeah, got no cute name for that one) and just plain oink. Grinding took maybe a 1/2 hour including reducing the rabbits to proper size to fit into the grinder. Grinding the meat is almost pleasant. Cleaning the grinder, measuring the supplements and measuring everything into individual meals.....took FOREVER! I try not to think about how quickly we will go thru the supply and how soon I will be grinding again.

 

[John Popp]

I take it you have some chicken haters.

I don’t do the pork, but otherwise the same diversity for Dino. Dooley only gets .

I always add some Lamb because the other stuff can be absent of much fat content. Dino hates it, but need to make sure he’s getting some A, D and K vitamins.

 

[Rafiki]

I take it you have some chicken haters.

I don’t do the pork, but otherwise the same diversity for Dino. .

Jammu is allergic to chicken. It sucks because chicken was cheap, readily available and both cats loved it. I substituted turkey but the cats do not like it as much as chicken and turkey is a pain in the butt to stick thru the grinder as I have to smash even the smaller bones prior to grinding. Last fall I tried pork and found that both cats like it but obviously I have to supplement for the lack of bones. Quail, a former favorite, is currently out of favor with both cats. Quail and rabbit are both too lean and too much bone so both are supplemented with some other meat as well as added fat. Rafiki would be fine eating the same thing day in and day out but Jammu insists on variety and can be a little shit when he is not in the mood for whatever is being served.

 

[MasterC17]

Poki loves chicken and has shown no signs of being allergic. Good luck trying to cook some for people though - he jumps right up and steals it!

 

[WitchyWoman]

Rafiki would be fine eating the same thing day in and day out but Jammu insists on variety and can be a little shit when he is not in the mood for whatever is being served.

Have you tried goat, venison, bison? I ordered some from Hare-Today. The venison and bison are consistent favorites here. Two like goat and rabbit but won't always eat it. One won't eat goat, one won't eat rabbit. Catering the palates of my 4 isn't as difficult as some others have it, but they can still be poop heads occasionally.

 

[Rafiki]

The base for most of my recipes is rabbit and I add another meat to it for both added meat and different flavor. The additions that they like are pork, venison, turkey, beef and elk. I have added bison in the past but not recently. They are not so fond of lamb so I have not tried them with goat. I also make turkey, beef and pork without the rabbit.

 

[Ninja-n-Bear]

[QUOTE="Rafiki, post: 124498, Quail and rabbit are both too lean and too much bone so both are supplemented with some other meat as well as added fat. [/QUOTE]

Hi! What do you use for added fat?

Also, thanks for inadvertently making me feel better about feeding pork, I was hesitant. We just tried it in a new batch and it was a hit!