Stoneridge Meat & Country Market Inc. first opened for business on August 27, 2004, as much more than a grocery store. Located in Wautoma, WI, the store has a bakery, produce, and dairy departments. But one of its strongest features is its selection of meats. A self-service meat section, along with a service counter and deli, account for more than half of the store’s income, says Kevin Katzman, meat and deli director. Stoneridge sells more than 20 varieties of marinated chicken breasts, 32 varieties of bratwursts, and about 100 recipes for sausages, from Polish to hickory-smoked.

To produce that much meat, Katzman started up the company with three Hollymatic machines in the production area: a Model 518 Roto-Flow patty machine, a Model 190 auto-feed grinder with a Model 3000 mixer/grinder Gemini system, and a Model Hi-Yield-16 meat saw. Katzman, who worked as a sausage maker and in sales for the sauces and seasonings industry prior to starting up Stoneridge, has also sold Hollymatic machinery. “That’s when I really saw what this equipment could do, and that’s why I chose it for my location,” he says.

Katzman says the patty machine gives Stoneridge’s patties a more tender bite, because the Roto-Flow system does not compress the meat. Rather, the system is gear-driven and forms meat columns that are gently twisted together to form the patty. “When you grill them, they don’t cup up like they would if they’ve been compressed,” he notes. “It gives the patty a more natural, hand-pressed flavor and bite.”

Among the store’s patty varieties are hamburger, brat, Italian, and bacon cheeseburger. Hollymatic’s patty machine aids Stoneridge in delivering a wider selection of patties in a timely fashion, Katzman says. Its portion size ranges from 1 ounce to 8 ounces, and it can produce up to 2400 patties an hour.

The Hi Yield-16 meat saw is another high-production machine, Katzman says, noting that “our butchers can really cruise along on it.” The saw is all stainless steel, and it has a cutting clearance of 16-inches high by 15-inches wide. He says the machine breaks down easily for cleaning, and because the parts are hinged on and stay attached, “there’s no chance of people taking the heavier parts and dropping and denting them.”

To mix and grind the meat, Katzman has the Hollymatic 190 automatic feed grinder deliver product directly into the Model 3000 mixer/grinder. The way the setup works, Katzman says, “we can start with the primals in the first machine, and it will grind it right into the mixer/grinder.”  Hollymatic calls this a Gemini System.  Both machines are equipped with a #52 grinding head, which allows for high output as well. This Gemini System can produce anywhere from 3,200 pounds to 6,500 pounds per hour, depending on plate size and the product. The Gemini connections on the mixer/grinder allow for continuous first and second grind production.

Stoneridge’s many varieties of sausage include a chili-cheese hot dog, smoked brat, potato sausage, and eight varieties of summer sausage and salami. Katzman calls the machinery “an asset to what we need to do to produce our sausage.” NP