We tried our brand new kitchenaid 4.5 qt to grind chopped pork for brats- just like the instructional video says you can do...and the motor on this smaller model was pathetic. It bogged down within the first two minutes. It got way too hot. It was difficult to get the meat through the grinder. We kept cleaning the blades every 3 to 5 minutes just to get the thing to work. We resorted to using our hand grinder made of cast iron rather than the flimsy plastic job Kitchenaid makes.