How do you process your venison?

Been processing my own deer for 40 + yrs ! I learned at an early age that I never liked scraping that "tallow fat off the roof of my mouth when I was eating deer meat !!
I debone everything ! No fat, no silver-skin, no marrow and no bone / bone dust.
I separate the HQ muscle groups..watching out for the hidden scent glands. I take out the back straps right from the neck to the arse...lol all sliced thin for fry's. My grand kids (8 of them ) absolutely love it...as do my kids !!

I slice almost all mine for fry's..about 75 % of my meat. Salt and pepper only when cooking.
Nice big neck roast is always a hit with the family. I put the rest into stir fry and stew meat. The odd time on a multiple deer season, I'll toss a whole front shoulder into the big roaster for a camp or family get together, and my niece's hubby comes back and we'll make some sausages...links and patty's ( the favorite). I've had loads of people tell me that my deer fry's are the very best they've ever eaten..lol, and my family concurs !
 
I've butchered many deer and moose.

I don't age them, they hang for as long as it takes to cool, sometimes they need to hang to thaw out.

deer, loins and backstraps come out first.
Shoulders get cut off and deboned for stew/ground.
then the front half of the ribs and neck get deboned also stew/ground
then the easy parts
hind quarters / the whole hind gets put on the table and deboned the haunches gets deboned in one big chunk, then the lower leg gets deboned and added to the stew/ground bowl
the 2 haunches get cut into 4 big roast along the muscle lines.

I don't quarter or saw deer, they are small enough to deal with in front and back halves

I do want to get into making sausages but I'm just not set up for that yet. Too many other projects and hobbies
 
We butcher some of our own.

I take the loins and cut them into 6-8" pieces for the smoker. Tenderloins for the grill.

The rest get chunked off the bone and bagged to be ground for burger or turned into pepperrettes, salami, meatballs, etc.

Sometimes keep a big chunk of the back hips for jerky.
 
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One of my favorite things in life is venison backstrap , short sit in a brine and then dry rubbed with spices and wrapped tight in wax paper for 24hrs..... then into the smoker with cherry and mesquite for 6 to 8 hrs at 110F , finish in the oven on 250F till it hits 160 inside.
Got a portion of blacktail backstrap thawing right now for his very purpose ;)
 
Debone!

T-loins for the smoker.
Backstrap, cut 1-3/4” thick then do a butterfly cut through the middle, 4 per package, those are for the bbq.
Top sirloin, trim and tie into roasts.
1/2 of the rounds get cut into steaks for chicken fried steaks, the other half get tied into roasts.

All the rest is cleaned up and gets ground for sausage making, venison breakfast maple and hot Italian cut with 50/50 fat to meat pork is the way to go. (8 pounds venison to 4 pounds pork, for a 12 pound batch)
 
Grew up in a Hunting Family.
Been processing my own for over 50 years.

I hang my game anywhere from 8 - 10 days (deer) to up to 21 days (moose / elk).
In a dedicated meat locker designed for that purpose.

Whitetail Deer I maximize the number of steaks & chops I can get as we really like eating them.
Front shoulders = roasts.
Shanks left whole for the slow cooker.
Ribs for the slow cooker too.
Balance is burger.

Only deer sausage we make is from mulies or blacktails.

Elk and moose I do somewhat similar, but do cut more roasts.
And a lot of the ground from these go into sausage production.

Cheers
 
I did slow braised whole shanks this year.
275 for about 6-7 hrs in beef broth.
Didn't worry about the silverskin.
Just threw them whole in my big roaster with a handful of spices and some quartered onions
Turned out awesome,
Jelled up once it cooled down like a nice bone broth.
Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Sam
 
sammer said:
I did slow braised whole shanks this year.
275 for about 6-7 hrs in beef broth.
Didn't worry about the silverskin.
Just threw them whole in my big roaster with a handful of spices and some quartered onions
Turned out awesome,
Jelled up once it cooled down like a nice bone broth.
Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Sam
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I just did the same thing two weeks ago, turned out great. Seared it first though. Great use of it and takes no time.
 
Shanks are one of the best parts of a deer. Slow braised they transform into a real treat 😋
sammer said:
I did slow braised whole shanks this year.
275 for about 6-7 hrs in beef broth.
Didn't worry about the silverskin.
Just threw them whole in my big roaster with a handful of spices and some quartered onions
Turned out awesome,
Jelled up once it cooled down like a nice bone broth.
Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Sam
Click to expand...
 
I keep the back straps and tenderloins for roasts. Some stew meat, the football shaped muscle from the hind quarter for sliced jerky. The rest I chunk and freeze, to grind for extruded jerky later, or make farmer and Smokey’s with 1/3 pork.
 
How do I process my venison ?
With a fork and a knife and some home made buns for the gravy 😉
Seriously I am seldom successful so it is off to the butcher after skinning and trimming and blood shot meat and trimming of fat .
IC , that Frenched rack looked amazingly tasty.
Rob
 
I butcher my own. Tied roasts or ground is all I make.

If I need steaks or stew meat I just cut up a roast as needed, however most go in the slow cooker from frozen and turn out great. I might save a full front shoulder off the next deer to smoke next summer.

I have family and buddies into getting sausage and pepperettes made. What they share with me at Christmas time is plenty for me, its not something I really enjoy.
 
Made some Tomahawks steaks this year.
Pretty careful about tallow fat, trim it.
I will give it 24 hrs after getting it on the Gambrel.
I don't hang it more than that, had to many meat cutters tell me it's a waste of time. The enzymes to work with beef aging are absent in venison,
Dad always hung it, truth be told I'm on board with 24 hrs for rigor mortis to leave.
Cut it up, I vacuum seal it then butcher paper it.
 
45ACPKING said:
One of my favorite things in life is venison backstrap , short sit in a brine and then dry rubbed with spices and wrapped tight in wax paper for 24hrs..... then into the smoker with cherry and mesquite for 6 to 8 hrs at 110F , finish in the oven on 250F till it hits 160 inside.
Got a portion of blacktail backstrap thawing right now for his very purpose ;)
Click to expand...
You ever just go straight on the smoker, no wrap?

That's what i do. Salt/pepper wrap. 250 degrees for about an hour gets it to 125-130 degrees IT.

Wait.....160 degree IT ??? That's quite well done is it not?
 
This one got away from me a bit as i got distracted.
IT was 137 degrees when I pulled it off. I usually take off between 125-130.

Traeger at 250 degrees for about an hour.
 

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Hollow Point said:
after the sausage (veniso, pork, seasoning) is mixed i want to form it into patties instead of putting it into casings. i think it will be more versatile for adding to chili, sauces, etc as well as cook faster in pattie form.
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Patties are the way to go for getting sausage meat into the freezer with less fuss or equipment. I do push a few cased sausage through to do smokies, pepperoni, some dinner sausage but generally I'm happy just getting used to eating sausage on a burger bun. Also, as mentioned great for having on hand for pizza, pasta,..etc.
 
1st year trying sausage. Mixed 80% venison with 20% pork shoulder roast and the premixed mild italian sausage kit from Wild West Seasonings. When i first fried up a couple of patties it just tasted really salty. tried some more this weekend and some of the other flavours are stronger now. Is this common with sausage? Does it need to age?
 
Hollow Point said:
1st year trying sausage. Mixed 80% venison with 20% pork shoulder roast and the premixed mild italian sausage kit from Wild West Seasonings. When i first fried up a couple of patties it just tasted really salty. tried some more this weekend and some of the other flavours are stronger now. Is this common with sausage? Does it need to age?
Click to expand...
What sausage stuffer did you use? It was going to be my first time and also using the same seasonings one if that's the princess auto one? But I found using a grinder to be not really worth it based on reviews, I didn't find any decent stuffers that were cheap enough to try without having bad reviews.
 
Animals have natural lines in the meat so after a few times it’s really easy to break down a deer into the proper cuts. We usually take the hind quarters for roasts, tenderloin eaten same day, loin for steaks and everything else goes to meat sticks.

With YouTube you can’t really mess it up.
 
Cdnhunter117 said:
What sausage stuffer did you use? It was going to be my first time and also using the same seasonings one if that's the princess auto one? But I found using a grinder to be not really worth it based on reviews, I didn't find any decent stuffers that were cheap enough to try without having bad reviews.
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I never stuffed them into the casings. I just froze it in 1 lb. blocks. I can use it to make patties, use it on pizza, or add it to sauces etc. The kit was purchased from Princess Auto and came with the casing I just didn't bother using them. I have a stuffer that attaches to the grinder maybe i'll try it next time.
 
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