Last Christmas, I got a meat grinder and I've stared experimenting with sausage making. My previous batches have been around a pound of pork, and I noticed that it seemed to slow down as I went. Today, I pushed through five pounds of chicken thighs and pork fat, which was a huge chore -- almost immediately, it the grinding would slow, and after maybe a half pound, I needed to take the blade out and clean the sinew out of the die. I could then go back and grind maybe a half pound again, before things clogged up.
Is this normal? I can't really imagine it is, or no one would ever grind meat.
I've tried the blade both ways -- one way is definitely the correct way; the other way doesn't cut at all.
I've cut the meat into cubes about the diameter of my thumb -- definitely smaller than the augur spacing.
I know, this isn't the world's best grinder (it's a "Back to Basics" brand). Does my blade need sharpening already? Is there some basic meat grinder technique I'm missing? Is the grinder just crap?