<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Would this grinder also work for stuffing?
http://www.cabelas.com/product...o-Grinder/714623.uts </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
as the sales guy on the sausage maker's showroom floor says:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> a grinder is for grinding and a stuffer is for stuffing </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
you certainly can use a grinder to do it, as others have mentioned, but it is not intended for that purpose.
after grinding and mixing your loose sausage, its is very sticky. It becomes a real challenge feeding it into the small opening in the grinder and it still has to be forced down the shoot by hand, with a plunger. At the output end, things become very inconsistent. You'll get moments of great output and then nothing, which makes it tough to get an evenly filled casing. It takes some time, and during that time the sausage and the grinder get warm.
Keep in mind that I admitted to never getting very good at stuffing with the grinder. I probably did it 5-7 times before my lovely assistant (read:wife) got fed up and bought me the 5 lb cranker.
With the 5 lb cranker, I'll fill it in seconds, packing it well, making sure to get it fairly air free, and chuck it in the fridge for and hour or two. After a beer or three, I'll assemble the whole thing, slide on a casing, and, by myself, crank out 5 lbs of perfectly stuffed sausage in minutes.
moral: how nice is your helper?
not nice: never helps you make sausage
nice: always helps you and together, you happily stuff sausage with a grinder
really nice: sometimes helps, gets fed up with the whole business and buys you a stuffer that doesn't require their help