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Grinder size is determined by the size of the plate that the grinder uses.

The plate is a circular piece of steel covered in holes that fits on the end of the worm and determines how coarse or fine your ground meat will be.

The grinder size is denoted by a number, and this number corresponds to the diameter of the plate. The correlation of grinder size to plate size is shown in the following table:

Grinder Size	5	8	12	22	32
Diameter of Plate	2 1/8”	2 1/2”	2 3/4”	3 1/4”	3 7/8”

Generally speaking, the larger the size of the grinder, the larger the motor, and thus the higher the cost of the grinder. If you are planning to use your grinder a few times a year to grind less than a few hundred pounds of meat, then you can definitely get by with a number 5 or 8 grinder. For a comparison, Figure 1-5 illustrates some of the different sizes of grinder plates up to number 32.

Photo by David Pluimer

FIGURE 1-5: Sausage grinder plates of different sizes.

One other determining factor when choosing a grinder is the materials from which your grinder is made. Stainless steel is the industry standard because it is durable, easy to clean, and resistant to rust. However, you can save money by going with plastic or aluminum options.