What causes uneven output from a commercial meat grinder?

Uneven output usually stems from more than one fault. A dull knife smears rather than cuts, a worn plate or poor knife-to-plate fit lets meat slip back, and excessive clearance between the auger and barrel causes feed surge. Inconsistent chunk size or warm meat also changes cutting resistance. Lock the recipe, temperature and chunk size first, then check knife edge, plate flatness, auger wear and feed rate. Run real product continuously and watch whether the second half of the batch still holds; log current draw. If two consecutive batches differ noticeably, demand adjustment, not just a no-load demo.