Cleaning an Enterprise Sauage Grinder

[Dwayne Henson]

A friend came to me for  tips on how to clean an Enterprise No. 22 Sausage Grinder. How would you clean it? On the body it says "Tinned". Would you use Lye, or Electrolysis. Or are both of these methods a no-no? I don't want to remove the tin. Thanks for the help
Dwayne

[C. Perry Rapier]

Dwayne, in my opinion, if the tin is adhered to the metal, as it should be, the electro will not harm it. As a rule, and I have cleaned them, I just use an sos pad and it works fine. However, if you got a bunch of rust, I'd use the electro.

[C. B. Williams]

Perry: If you got rust, the tin is gone. Right?

[C. Perry Rapier]

Perry: If you got rust, the tin is gone. Right?

C.B., I would say that is correct because the rust will have eaten through the tin to get to the cast iron, so in that spot of rust, or rust area, the tin will be destroyed or, at the very least, damaged.

[Duke Gilleland]

I "zapped" a # 10 Enterprise that was rusty and it seemed to come out alright. It is mostly dulled but looked pretty fair with a coat of mineral oil on it.

[crrush]

Hi! I'm new to the board!

I, too, recently acquired an Enterprise sausage stuffer, and fully hope to use it to do what it was intended--make sausage!

The thing is a complete rust bucket, but it's become something of a mission of mine to restore it to it's almost original grandeur. I started "polishing" it yesterday--after dismantling the whole set up--and I've knocked off the worst of the heavy rust with a wire brush attached to a drill.

(I live in Chicago, and don't have much in the way of a backyard or workshop, so electrolysis and lye treatments aren't really an option).

My questions: How "deep" should I polish it? Is there any danger in using a drill/wire brush set up?

I think I should 'buff' or very lightly sand the stuffer to get the last, stubborn bits of rust (and the stuff stuck in hard-to-reach places), but I don't know what to use. Suggestions? I don't want to scratch the surface too much, but give it a nice cast iron patina.

Re-seasoning is my biggest fear--how to season so many parts and pieces that must move smoothly in order for the stuffer to work? I'll use Crisco, as recommended here, but if anyone has any experience or hard-learned lessons to share, I'm all ears/eyes! If the site allows, I can post before and after pictures of the stuffer when the project is complete!

[Duke Gilleland]

The one I put in Electro came out a dull gray after the rust came off. I have not used it yet but wiped down with mineral oil until I do. I see no reason to "season" as you are not going to cook with it. I say once clean, wipe down with mineral oit or spray with PAM. Wipe off excess and store in dry place.
I would not be afraid to use a soft wire drill type brush on it. Like CB said, the tin is gone if it is rusty.

[crrush]

Good point on the seasoning! I hadn't even thought of just keeping it lightly oiled. But won't seasoning make it easier to clean/maintain? I thought seasoning was also to "protect" whatever food goes thru (from the cast iron?), even if you're not cooking. (This is a concern, especially with raw meat).

Or is it not worth the effort of a full season if I can just keep the rust off with mineral oil, and keep it dry and rust-free in storage?

Thanks again for the help! I just bough a wire brush for all of the 'hard to reach' places on the stuffer, and some very fine steel wool for polishing. This sucker is gonna SHINE when I'm finished with it!

[crrush]

[size=8]I promised to post Before/After pics of my Enterprise Sausage Stuffer restoration project. Due to landlord limitations (and a fear of methods I'm convinced could electrocute me, i.e. cast iron electrolysis), I ended up going the old-school route. With a LOT of elbow grease, some power tools and steel wool, I buffed this rust bucket to its former glory. (I've posted details of the process on my blog: jujube.typepad.com. It's the first entry at the very bottom)

For the record, I purchased this beauty for the whopping price of $29.50 at an antique store in Ottawa, IL, called "Gramma's Attic". If you know these stuffers at all, you know they cost upwards of $200 used on eBay, or over $400 new at Chop-Rite.

Before:

After:



[/size]

[Gerald Melsheimer]

Somebody has spent a lot of time and effort on this piece.  Looks really good.  Have you used it yet?
Jerry

[Sandy Glenn]

Colleen, Your hard work has certainly paid off.  Your "rust bucket" is now a work of art.  It looks gorgeous... you did a wonderful job.  Now you need a good magnet to pull all that steel wool out of your fingertips ;)

[crrush]

[size=8]The official inauguration of the stuffer took place last Saturday. We made four different types (a family recipe from Louisiana, a Fillipino breakfast sausage, a Norwegian potato sausage, and an Asian sausage) and made about 50 lbs. of sausage, total.

Putting the pre-tubed hog casing on the stuffing tube:


Loading the stuffer with the first batch:


The first spiral (it was definitely a group effort):


And links:


The only problem we had with the stuffer was the "plunger plate". Apparently, the one that came with the stuffer is for pressing fruit. It is smaller, which means there's a bigger gap between the canister and the plate. So, there was a lot of meat squishage coming up over the plunger plate as we cranked it down. We managed to rig it with plastic bags to minimize the squish, but I'm buying a new, large plate thru Chop-Rite (www.chop-rite.com) for next time.

I can't wait to find another one of these stuffers to restore! It was a grueling process, and yes, I had steel wool-laden, tender hands for a while, but I just finished a delicious sausage and grits breakfast, so it was allworth the effort.  :)
 [/size]

[Scott Sanders]

Colleen,

Nice job restoring the fruit/sausage press....it looks great.  Thanks for the pictures of the restored press in action.  It is always nice to see this old iron brought back to life and being used for what it was intended.  Have you got any "family" sausage recipes that you could pass on???  I have made the potato sausage before and found that my particular recipe, although very good, was a bit on the bland side.  I'll probably doctor it up next time, but that does change the old Swedish family recipe.  

Also.....Welcome to our forum...If you would like to join us, there is a lot more to see on the member's side....known as "The Dark Side".

Thanks again,            Scott

[suziqz]

Congratulations Colleen~!  I must say, all of your pictures have now inspired me to want to find one of these!  It is beautiful and you look like you are on a set at the Food Network..   ;D

IMPRESSIVE FOR SURE!  I hope you will become a member here at WAGS.  I'm sure there are allot of us who would enjoy your enthusiasm for restoring cast iron-!  I know, I have!

[Duke Gilleland]

Great job! Look like a bunch of Texas Czechs doing that sausage!! ;)