been doing my own processing for as long as I can remember. The cost and the idea of gettin' someone else's gut shot meat is what initiated it. Very few shops grind burger or make sausage in small batches, so unless you take in a several deer, or during off season, they're gonna mix yours with someones else's to process. With the rise in CWD around here and the advise of deboning all cuts, the cost for having your deer processed commercially has skyrocketed. Plus many butcher don't like to be too picky about trimmin' venison cuts because most folks don't like getting only 20# of meat back for their $100.....so they leave on a lot of what I prefer not to eat.
Actually the process is very simple and as long as you cut your steaks as close to perpendicular to the grain of the meat, you can't really mess too much up.
I always skin the deer as soon as posible to let it cool, and to remove any bloodshot meat that may taint the rest. If temps will allow, I will allow it to hang at least a week. Sometimes in early season or during a warm spell I'll insert blocks of ice in the chest cavity to keep the meat cool. I don't allow the ice or the water that melts from it come in contact with the meat tho, I freeze water in gallon food storage bags just for this purpose. Most meat processors age meat @ around 40 degrees, something that's not too hard to maintain in a garage or shed during most fall seasons. A small thermometer hangin on the rump will tell what the temperature of the meat is. If it gets too warm or it's a early bow kill, I'll quarter it , wrap it loosely in freezer paper and put in the chest freezer......if I can't cut it up right away. I always pull the loins whole before I quarter, then quarter the meat and debone before making the cuts. I like to put the quarters in the freezer till just firm to help make deboneing and cutting easier....it also keeps the meat from getting warm and mushy while you work on it. I use Ice Cream pails to put the burger meat in until I grind it or have it made into sausage......never use garbage bags for this.....they are for garbage, not food. I also like to freeze the burger meat till almost froze as it makes grinding it much easier. I used to use a large hand grinder(from cabelas) with a motor attached to it to grind the burger, but now I use our large kitchenaid mixer with the meat grinding attachment and it works very well. The savings from cutting up just one deer alone will pay for either the hand grinder or the attachment. Most of the time I will only grind up as much burger as we'll be using promptly for it stores better in larger pieces. I also recomend waiting till you use it to add beef or pork fat to your burger as the enzymes in these tend to break down over a period of months and turn rancid even when froze when mixed with venison.....an example is venison summer sausage. Ever notice how good processed venison summer sausage is when it's fresh as compared to pullin' a stick out of the freezer right before the next hunting season? Some say they can't tell the difference, but I can.
Don't be afraid to give it a try as the satisfaction of knowin' exactly what you are eating and where it's been before it hits your mouth is sometimes just as rewarding as the kill.
