Meat Cutters

Common Types and Configurations

• Electric meat cutter kit (1 HP): Complete machine with a 1 HP motor, stainless steel cutter housing, and stand. Suits small butcher shops, jerky producers, and BBQ kitchens running under 200 pounds of meat per shift. Cutting sizes from 1/8 inch up to 3/4 inch are available in this kit format.
• Electric meat cutter kit (1.5 HP): Heavier-duty version with a 1.5 HP motor and larger cutter housing for higher throughput. Suits mid-size butcher shops, meat processors, and high-volume jerky producers. Available across the full cutting size range from 1/8 inch through 2 inch dicing.
• High Volume electric meat cutter kit: Wider cutter housing on the 1.5 HP base for production throughput. The wider feed accepts larger whole muscle pieces without pre-trimming. Suits commissary kitchens and production-line operations. Sized at 1/2, 1, 1-1/2, and 2 inch cutting blades.
• Meat cutter attachment for #12 hub: Cutter head only, designed to fit the standard #12 hub on an existing commercial meat grinder. Lets operators add cutting to a grinder they already own without buying a second base machine. All-stainless-steel construction.
• High Volume meat cutter attachment: Wider cutter head on the same #12 hub mount. Increases throughput per cycle on the existing grinder. Sized at 1/2, 1, 1-1/2, and 2 inch cutting blades.
• Stainless steel construction: Standard across the catalog. Cutter blades, shafts, and housing are stainless for food-contact safety, daily wash-down, and corrosion resistance against brines and marinades.

What to Look at Before You Buy

• Kit versus attachment: Buy a kit if this is your first cutter (you get motor, cutter, and stand in one machine). Buy an attachment if you already own a commercial meat grinder with a #12 hub and want to add cutting capability. Attachments cost less upfront because they reuse the grinder's motor and base.
• Motor power: 1 HP handles small-shop and jerky-shop volumes. 1.5 HP handles mid-size butcher shops, commissary kitchens, and high-volume jerky producers. Match motor to the toughest task on the menu (large cubes of tougher cuts need more torque than fine strips of tender meat).
• Cutting size: Smaller sizes (1/8 to 1/4 inch) suit shred-style and strip-style jerky. Mid-range sizes (3/8 to 1/2 inch) suit stir-fry and small stew cubes. Larger sizes (3/4 inch up to 2 inch) suit standard stew meat, kabob cuts, and large dicing for beef chuck and pork shoulder. Most shops buy multiple blade sizes to cover the menu.
• Standard versus High Volume: Standard cutter housing handles trimmed whole muscle. High Volume housing accepts larger pieces without pre-trimming, which cuts prep time on production lines. The High Volume premium pays back fast on shifts running 300 pounds or more per day.
• Hub compatibility: Attachments mount on the standard #12 hub used by most commercial bench-top grinders. Match the #12 hub spec on the existing grinder when buying an attachment.
• Cleaning access: Stainless steel blades and housing detach for daily wash-down. The combs between blades that prevent meat from sticking are removable for full cleaning between protein types. Tool-free blade and comb removal matters for shops running multiple proteins per shift.
• Voltage: Catalog units run on standard commercial single-phase power.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a commercial meat cutter and what is it used for?

A commercial meat cutter is a powered countertop or freestanding machine that converts whole muscle into uniform strips, cubes, or dice for further processing. Butcher shops use them to portion stew meat, chuck for sausage, and trim cuts for fajita strips. Jerky producers use them to strip beef, deer, or turkey to consistent 1/8 to 1/4 inch widths so every piece dries to the same texture in the dehydrator or smokehouse. BBQ restaurants use them to cube pork shoulder, brisket point, and beef chuck for chili, burnt ends, and casserole prep. Asian and Mexican kitchens use them for stir-fry strips and fajita meat at production speeds hand-cutting cannot match. The cutter is not a slicer (slicers cut already-portioned meat into thin slices) and not a tenderizer (tenderizers break muscle fiber). The cutter dices and strips whole muscle into raw portions.

What is the difference between a meat cutter, meat slicer, and meat tenderizer?

The three machines do different jobs. A meat cutter (also called a meat dicer or strip cutter) takes a whole muscle piece and converts it into uniform strips or cubes. The blade assembly cuts in two dimensions to produce 3D portions like jerky strips or stew cubes. A meat slicer takes already-portioned cooked meat (deli ham, roast beef, prosciutto) or a whole muscle piece and shaves thin two-dimensional slices off it. The blade is a single rotating circular wheel and the output is flat slices for sandwich and deli use. A meat tenderizer takes a portion of meat and breaks the muscle fiber with rows of dull needles or grooved rollers, leaving the meat the same shape but mechanically tenderized. A butcher shop running a full menu often owns all three plus a grinder, because each tool does something the others cannot.

What size cutting blade do I need for jerky, stew meat, or strips?

Match the blade size to the finished product. For jerky strips, use 1/8 inch for paper-thin shred-style jerky or 1/4 inch for standard strip jerky. For stir-fry strips and fajita meat, use 3/8 inch. For small stew cubes, chili, and casseroles, use 1/2 inch. For standard stew meat and kabob cubes, use 3/4 inch or 1 inch. For large dicing on beef chuck, pork shoulder, and brisket point, use 1-1/2 inch or 2 inch. Most shops keep at least three blade sizes on hand to cover the full menu (one for jerky, one for stir-fry, one for stew). Catalog kits ship with a single blade size and operators add other sizes as attachments. Buyers running multiple products on the same shift often buy a 1.5 HP kit at one blade size plus additional attachments at the other sizes they need.

Related Categories

• Meat Grinders
• Sausage Stuffers
• Meat Mixers
• Meat Tenderizers

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• American Eagle Food Machinery