Author Topic: processing deer meat  (Read 963 times)

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Offline stonewall34

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processing deer meat
« on: August 08, 2007, 04:36:37 AM »
Hey guys,
New to hunting here, how do you guys go about processing the meat from the deer you harvest.
stonewall34

Offline beemanbeme

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2007, 05:08:57 AM »
I gut it, skin it, cool it and take it to a state inspected processing shop and tell him, I want it hung a week and the steaks thick, beef suet mixed with the hamburger, one nice neck roast, double wrapped, etc.  If the weather is gonna be right, I hang it (them) on my back porch --it faces north.
The fellow that does mine is a retired butcher and has all the eq including a tenderizer for the round steaks. 

Offline dukkillr

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2007, 05:16:43 AM »
I've historically paid someone to do it for me... I did however do one last season on my own, mostly as a learning experiment.  It's not as hard as you might think, until you want something like summer sausage.  I did it, in part, because i'd somewhat mastered Jerky making, and I intended to make the whole thing into jerky.  The end result was great, but if I had no steaks, no ground meat, and no roasts... If you're looking for that kind of thing you should pay... If you're looking for scraps of meat to do whatever you want with, PM me and I'll give you some more specific advice.

Offline nyhunter863

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2007, 08:37:40 AM »
It takes a bit of time, but I have always processed it myself.  This is the ONLY way you will know for sure that the meat you are putting in the freezer is the meat from the deer you killed.  The butchers can tell you anything, but I would not be surprised that more than a few hunters end up with someone elses meat that may have not been killed or gutted as cleanly as your own.  To me it is part of the whole hunting process where one hunts, kills, cleans and then prepares the game animal they were lucky enough in getting.

Offline 30-30man

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2007, 08:41:09 AM »
The expense of processing has caused me to give away more deer than I wish to admit.  My walmart now sells the sausage kits, so I may try it again this season.  I only have another 6 days or so before it opens.  Lucky me!!!!! Most places around my neck of the woods charge $50-65 just to grind most of it into hamburger with maybe some tender loins wrapped. I'd rather have beef so I just trade it to my butcher.  It is 105 degrees here today and never gets cold enough in my neck of the woods to hang meat outside. I tried using the ice and cooler method to let the deer age.  You just keep adding ice and let the blood drain out the spout in the cooler along with water.  It was wasy but it made the meat awful tough and gave it a funny taste, so I have never tried it since.

Offline TribReady

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2007, 12:17:36 PM »
We let the deer hang for a few days then butcher them ourselves.
I like nice steaks and a couple roasts.  My dad grinds his own burger with the scraps.  I'll usually give him all my scraps in trade for a couple steaks....works out great  :D      And it's a good afternoon spent.

This last year I bought a food saver to seal up the steaks.  WOW, what a difference!  Better taste, better condition of the meat once thawed.  I will not go back to freezer paper!
A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have. -Thomas Jefferson


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Offline K.K

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2007, 03:43:37 PM »
In my younger days, I took it to a butcher. However, once I realized how easy it is, I do it all myself.  I think that the connection between our harvest and the meal on the table is enhanced when we do everything ourselves from start to finish. I thought that my two and a half year old son might be put off when I carried in the skinned hind-quarter to the kitchen table last year. Instead he saw me and said "More good meat to eat Daddy?!!" I mean, how can you let an opportunity pass like that to pass on our hunting traditions?

Besides the satisfaction of butchering your own, the home-made sausage, the better quality of meat and the cost savings, you may just bring one more unsuspecting hunter into our ranks.

Offline stuffit

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2007, 08:58:14 AM »
OK  finally got my search on another forum to find this for you.  It  has just about anything you might ever want to know about butchering and processing your own deer meat.

http://home.rochester.rr.com/sevendzero/

This should get you where you want to be on the subject,

stuffit
Everybody changes their minds sometimes but a fool and a mule.

Deceased

Offline rickyp

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2007, 02:40:29 PM »
I do most of it my self now around me it is like $75 to $100 for basic cuts and wraps
I cut the back straps off and then quarter the rest of the deer and put it in a large ice chest for a few days and then I debone it and grind most of it  and cut some up in cubes for stews.  I have a jerky shooter that I can make my own  jerky and I am starting to get the spices for bulk sausage.

Offline buck460XVR

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2007, 08:47:47 AM »
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.
"where'd you get the gun....son?"

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #10 on: August 24, 2007, 04:04:50 PM »
...I have always processed it myself.  This is the ONLY way you will know for sure that the meat you are putting in the freezer is the meat from the deer you killed.
It is a shame for all of you guys and gals that can't/don't trust your butchers.  I have traded with the local South Carolina butcher for more than 15 straight seasons (nearing 100 deer). 

I now know him, I know his wife, son, Mother and Father, all work in the shop, and they treat me like a member of their family when I am there for 10 straight days; 8 hours from my own home .  When they travel to Florida, my home is open to all of them.  I made them my friends and they made me theirs. 

Perhaps this is more than you want to "purchase" from the butcher.  However, I KNOW that the meat that goes home with me is the same meat that I shoot and NO ONE ELSE'S.  Friends don't treat friends any other way.

Offline rockbilly

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2007, 09:39:59 AM »
Land Owner.  I have a very good processor in my area, and on occasion do use him, but the primary reason I process my own game is because I can do a much better job than even the most experienced butcher.  

When I process a deer for example, all white meat, and gristle is removed, all fat trimmed away, the steaks are cut to my satisfaction, hamburger and chili meat ground the way my family likes, and sausage seasoned to our taste.  My processor can get close, but I still think I am more critical, and do a better job.  When it comes to packaging, I package for two, enough for a meal for my wife and I, what the processor considers a meal for two is not necessarily mine.  I also package a few larger packages for times when I want to cook for guest.  It is mostly a matter of personal taste.

And last but not least.  Most processors try to maintain a fairly clean operation, but you can bet your boots, my processing area is much cleaned than theirs.

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Re: processing deer meat
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2007, 03:15:16 PM »
rockbilly,  There is no one on Earth that is going to do a better job, cut to perfection, wrap exactly, or clean the way that you do when processing your own.  No doubt about that.  Same goes for me and mine, when I do that at home.

When I am out of town, everything you mention as well as FREEZING the meat for transport are my primary concerns.  My SC friends take very good care of me.  Better so than their local hunters who don't spend the time to stop and chat, don't pick up their meat when asked, and sometime not at all.  My butcher doesn't accept checks, but he has mine for the past 14 years.  If I need Jerky seasoning I can call and he will ship right then without question about repayment from me.