Sounds like you need a buddy to give you a hand. With a skillet and some brews going, it shouldn't be to hard to find one.
self butchering
I do my own butchering, but sometimes I take it a butcher to help out when I don't have the time. I don't really have just one..
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Ya see...this is a great topic. NJ Bowhunter, "you have to try taking the hide off with your truck." Hang it from the neck cut the legs off, split the legs (if it is a bigger deer), go up and around the neck and pull just enough to get a golf ball (small round object) under the skin and a rope around it. Attack to truck and pull. It is off in seconds! I take a propane torch and burn any remaning hair. I cut the backstraps out first. Then the shoulders and then the hams. I have taken the ribs many times but I have not found a good way to cook out the fat in them. Any tips would be appreciated. Carc [no swearing please] gets cut and finally the neck, which I freeze whole. You can use it for hamberger or for stew (bone and all). I agree in freezing larger chunks and do the fine work later. The outside layer gets the freezer burn, if there is any, and the inside stays protected. All of the scrap gets frozen to be ground later when the season is over and can be done in larger portions. Shoulder can be deboned and frozen whole or there are a few decent chunks if it is a big deer. There two lines on the ham on the outside. Cut lightly and the ham can be opened into the different muscle groups. I use my fingers to pull apart the groups and use the knife only if there are connective fibers. Some groups are more tender than others. That goes into how you cook and use them. Tools: Buck Zipper for quartering, bonesaw, and Buck 119 for all of the butchering. Yes, sharp knifes are a must. Without doing any of the fine work it can be done in under an hour. The only draw back is that you can not give packages of nice cuts of meat to friends. The time taken to trim the meat is the same. It is your choice whether you want to spent the time while you butcher or before dinner time. Again...there is no right way or wrong way, and the more people I talk to the more tips I get. As long as you trim it like NJ Bowhntr said...you can't go wrong, it all tastes good.
You guy's have some neat tricks! I'm going to sift through all these posts and try some stuff when I get to doing some self butchering!
I either grind the neck meat, or tie up as a roast.
I cut up the left over neck bones for spagetti sauce.
I cut up the left over neck bones for spagetti sauce.
We sometimes cook the neck down for sauce too. The meat is very tender.
I did not have the luxury of being able to afford to have my deer butchered for many years. I did have my second deer last year done, but this years I did myself. Mostly because I didn't like the way it stored. It was packaged like meat from the market. I wrap mine in cellophane and then in butcher paper. Last a full year that way in the DEEP freeze. The regular freezer above your fridge is a meat killer.
Spend the money on a deep freeze if you can. I also stopped trying to make venison steaks look like big cow steaks. I figure a deer weighs in at less that ten percent of a cow. It's steaks shouldn't be as big as a porterhouse. Makes for a more tender venison cut in my opinion.
My kids (girls) would rather eat venison then beef and lots of my friends now gladly take venison home with them after having been served it at my house.
Spend the money on a deep freeze if you can. I also stopped trying to make venison steaks look like big cow steaks. I figure a deer weighs in at less that ten percent of a cow. It's steaks shouldn't be as big as a porterhouse. Makes for a more tender venison cut in my opinion.
My kids (girls) would rather eat venison then beef and lots of my friends now gladly take venison home with them after having been served it at my house.
I butcher my own in 2-2.5 hours.All muscles are seamed and all fat and silverskin is removed Most portions are frozen whole. The meat doesn't dry out as much and you have more choices of how to cook it. Once you thaw it, you can then decide steaks, roast, etc. Of course the lower quality cuts are automatically stew or ground.
Takes me 3.5 hours total. Skining takes 15 minutues. Deboning roasts, butterflying the straps, chuncking and trimming the meat for ground, and vaccum sealing all the cuts takes about 2.0 hours. Usually then I let the box of chunks for gound sit over night in a garbage bag in the fridge. Put the bag in the freezer a couple hours before I plan to grind. Grinding and vaccum sealing 1 pound bags takes another hour or so. Right now I use a grinder attachment for my wifes Kitchen Aid mixer which is nice, but slow. Next year I am going to spring for a bigger grinder.
do you guys seam out all connective tissue? it would take you longer that way if you did. my deer take up to two days sometimes. i never make chop meat or sausage, that could be why..
Franco.........
Franco.........
Holy Crap! Dan and hunterpanz... you guys are flying. Maybe it's me, but it takes me at least 6 hrs to do mine.
David
David
Before my current job, I was a butcher for years. Could just about do it blindfolded. The only draw back is equipment. I used to have it all at my disposal, now it all gets done by hand.Holy Crap! Dan and hunterpanz... you guys are flying. Maybe it's me, but it takes me at least 6 hrs to do mine.
Before my current job, I was a butcher for years. Could just about do it blindfolded. The only draw back is equipment. I used to have it all at my disposal, now it all gets done by hand.
i learned as a kid to cut meat, still very good at it to this day.[up]
Takes me a while... I would say:
- First day... just to process (nice and clean)...all of the main cuts.... at least 5 hours
- Second day... just to process (nice and clean)...all of the scrap meat.... at least an hour. Then another hour or so to grind it all up.
Then my back is sore.
- First day... just to process (nice and clean)...all of the main cuts.... at least 5 hours
- Second day... just to process (nice and clean)...all of the scrap meat.... at least an hour. Then another hour or so to grind it all up.
Then my back is sore.
I take off all the silver stuff. I would say I remove 90% of the fat from the meat being used for ground (except the meat from the ribs, this fat seems to make the ground better IHMO)
I do not see how it can take more than a couple hours to cut up a deer. Have you seen this video?
Butchering Video
This is pretty much what I do.
-dan
I do not see how it can take more than a couple hours to cut up a deer. Have you seen this video?
Butchering Video
This is pretty much what I do.
-dan
It takes me about 4 hrs to butcher the deer. Sounds to me we all pretty much do the same thing. I did buy a big #32 hand grinder and a food saver from wallmart a few yrs ago. The food saver cuts down on alot of time and work. The few hours cutting up the deer saves big money. Each time I do one I get better.
I did two last year and had ROy show me a few tricks. I need a better set-up, to do it more often.
same here. but i clean every bit i cut. all tissue and fat. i even cleanup every piece of cubed meat for stew meat. so when i cook it it is all ready and i don't have to clean up and meat.Holy Crap! Dan and hunterpanz... you guys are flying. Maybe it's me, but it takes me at least 6 hrs to do mine.
I did my last two. It's tough not having enough room to do it. I've learned I'm real good at cutting stew meat.
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