Have you found one brand or style work better for stringy meat or glands?

Todd, I keep the blades sharp and place the meat or glands in a freezer for 20 - 30 minutes to "stiffen up" before grinding.

Keep the knife and plates sharpened.

You can buy a two stone sharpening set for your grinder most likely for $30 >$35. I use mine a few times a year when I am grinding often.

It is remarkable how well and easy you will grind with a good sharp knife and plate.

The grinding stones are made to fit into your grinder. One sharpens the knife and one sharpens the plate.

Look up "sausage maker grinder plates". Soak them in some water shortly before using them.

Found the sharpening stones on Amazon. Thanks fellas! Those stones are going to be for me like when the cavemen discovered fire for the first time!

I went to meat cutting school 40 years ago. I was taught to always keep my knifes and plates together, don’t mix knives between several plates and always place the knives on the same side of the plate. They will form a grove and last a lot longer this way, and not need sharpened as often.

wws

We grind more than most I would bet. I have found that keeping your blade and plates smoothe and mated as best as possible will give you your most efficient result.

Like stated, matching the two is very important and working with a cold product will help the process along greatly with out mushing up and not feeding well thru your plates.

The sharpening stones that I recomended work very well when needed to touch up your knife and plate.

Cold, half frozen, is always better grinding, whether edible or not. I even freeze my stuff so I can thaw it quicker and grind. A frozen gallon jug of anything is tougher to thaw than a flat gallon ziploc bag. Gallon ziplocs froze flat stack better in the freezer too.