I have been intrested in making homemade sausages for awhile. Reading up on this I was ready to purchase my first meat grinder/stuffer.After reviewing many here on amazon which I'm sure all are great, I came across this Alfa MC-5.When I finally decided on this one, ordered thru Atlantic Shores Equipment here on amazon com, I was very impressed as soon as I recieved my package. Which mind you, came at a lightening speed and well packaged for saftey.As stated above, this little guy is 1/2 Horse Power. Its very powerful. No grinding metal gears. Its really nice and solid. Big enough to get some serious meat grinding done, but not to big to be a hassel trying to clean in your sink especally if living in a small town home or apartment.The only thing I wish that was differant is if the power cord was alittle longer. But Im not complaining. Speaking of the power cord, the Alfa MC-5 has a compartment to store it in when not in use. Pretty classy actually. Have your meat grinder out and no cord dangling.Also, there is a second compartment right above the On Off/Revers Breaker buttons, this compartment is for the 2 grinder plates your not using and an attachment for making kubbe, a Middle East type sausage.The buttons in order from left to right are...Off/Reverse, needs to be fully off first before going into reverse.OnBreakerYou get some nice attachments with this too. The grinder plates are a #12 course, medium and fine, which is 1/4, 3/8 and 3/16 inch grinding plates in case you should need to replace one ever. Perfect to get started with. The grinding plates are a very good quality and should last a long time if taken care of. If need to replace, they are for a #12 grinder head.This also comes with 3 differant size stuffing horn/tubes for 3 differant size sausages. The stuffing horn/tubes are made from a real nice solid acrylic like plastic. This way you don't have to worry about rust or oxidation from metal, and this cleans much easier. I use to be a welder for many years and know just how hard it is to clean metal. However, don't get the impression the tubes are flimsy. They are very solid and durable.And the kubbe attachment was a real nice added benifit. Don't know if I'll be making alot of kubbe, but if I ever do want to, its nice to know this was added.I can see many years making sausages with my Alfa MC-5. I love mine. And I got to thank Atlantic Shores Equipment for their friendly customer service and speedy delivery which helped me make my decision on this purchase.Enjoy!Added Jan 20, 2008: My uncle and I have been hammering out loads of breakfast sausages with this, mainly using the 3/8" plate. We have been using a recipe from a book I have purchased from amazon...Great Sausage Recipes and Meat CuringThis book along with my Alfa MC-5 is a pretty awsome start for my sausage making station I'm building in my kitchen.My uncle and I are getting ready to start on Italian and a few German wurst sausages soon from this book and...Home Sausage Making : How-To Techniques for Making and Enjoying 100 Sausages at HomeWhich seems to be more then enough getting us started. Just remember, cut meat into chunks, slightly chill meat until slightly firm or stiff as so it won't gum and stick to the blade but not frozen, never force meat into auger, just gently push with tamper, and always clean good and coat with a good food grade oil when finished after unplugging and dissasembled.