Man, my buddy had the exact same problem last year. His trim was all jagged and looked like someone had taken hedge clippers to it blindfolded. He tried to just even out the top but ended up making it worse because the sides were so uneven. He finally had to cut it way shorter than he wanted just to get a clean line. Took him like three passes over two weeks to get it looking decent again. Definitely a lesson learned about starting with a clean slate instead of trying to patch up a mess.

Oh man that's a good point about the volume thing. I remember when I was in college I worked at a grocery store deli and we'd grind beef in the morning, wrap it up, and the stuff that didn't sell by 3pm just sat there looking gray. The butcher told me the color change doesn't mean it's bad but man it looked sad. One time this lady came in screaming that our fresh ground beef smelled like feet. The manager just shrugged and said "that's why we freeze it now." I actually think the frozen stuff from the big stores is fine for weeknight tacos or spaghetti. Not every meal needs to be some fancy butcher shop experience.

…heavy clay'll do it every time. That stuff gets packed in so tight it locks up the cutter before you even feel the drag. Had a similar jam up near Brunswick a few years back and it took a full day to flush everything out.

Ain't the bevel what gives you the back cut though?