I had the classic for years and I made sausage a few times. The motor strained a couple of times so I just trimmed the meat more and cut it into smaller pieces. I upgraded to this model and it performed flawlessly while grinding up untrimmed meat. I’ve had it a couple of weeks and have made 10 lbs of sausage, a few loaves of bread, fresh pasta and even made fresh butter. I love this machine! [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]