canadaman30
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Far from the City
Some good info here.
Processing my own deer tomorrow....any advice?
- Thread starter CyaN1de
- Start date
For getting the hair off. Water and vinegar for sure. A brush with stiff bristles dipped in vinegar and a comfortable handle; flicking it a certain way picks the hair up really well. This method was suggested to me by an experienced hunter. Very efficient. I have heard many opinions on both sides of the argument about using straight water. The guys I hunt with are against it. Any knowledgable butchers on here care to comment on that subject?
- Location
- Sudbury, On
I see some guys talking about "brazing" the hairs off a moose... Does that apply to deer as well?
No idea. What do they mean by "Brazing".
I have used a propane torch to go about a carcass and singe off the hairs that were left in place, but it is as easy to hand pick them as anything. Even easier to take some care when handling and skinning, and avoid the worst of it, esp. the little short cut hairs that happen when guys are slashing at the hide from the outside.
The good cuts are in the straps, and the hinds, The rest you can pick through and find the bits that will make stew or chunks that can be made into jerky easily enough, and everything else, grind.
The shanks, the lower leg muscles, are loaded with tendons and are tough as hell unless you cook them low and slow for a looooonnggg time. I generally cube them and they go straight to the grinder bowl. I usually cut by myself, so I strip the front end first. The backstraps and shoulders contain a bunch of decent meat, though the shoulder stuff is tougher. Stew. The rest gets stripped of fat and into the grind bowl.
The hinds get stripped to big muscle groups, those get paired up on the table and sorted into steaks and roasts. Lots of guys like to butterfly the small cuts to make bigger steaks, I don't bother.
Mostly, I have found that if I freeze the meat in large chunks, I can do what I want with it when I defrost it, and it really speeds the processing. Rather than make a package of chops or small steaks from the straps, I have been cutting it into say a 6 inch long chunk and freezing it that way. If I feel like steaks, easy, or I can just season it up and have at it on the grill or in a pan, slice it and serve. Or I can shred it and strir fry, etc. You can even make burger from it, but you can't make a steak out of a package of burger!
Been putting up bags full of sausage or jerky meat too. Usually 2 KG per. Makes a nice size to work with later. Easy.
Cheers
Trev
I only use vacuum sealers for very special game, like duck, pheasant, and rarely,.. finer cuts of big game.
Theres no reason you cant use high quality ziplock bags to freeze all youre meat.
Just dont forget to cover with water and let no air in when making the seal... should be good for years.
The vacuum packaging is way too costly and can be wasteful, when you get moisture near the seal area and it wont seal, then you have to dry off the meat and do it again, and use more specialized plastic...
Theres no reason you cant use high quality ziplock bags to freeze all youre meat.
Just dont forget to cover with water and let no air in when making the seal... should be good for years.
The vacuum packaging is way too costly and can be wasteful, when you get moisture near the seal area and it wont seal, then you have to dry off the meat and do it again, and use more specialized plastic...
Brutus
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Yep use vinegar for cleaning. Trev's advice is very sound. Myself with the the caped and cleaned carcass facing the normal with the neck downwards and rear legs wide on a spreader bar, I firstly cut out the internal tenderloins hugging along both sides of the spine as these are easily dried out and then shrink up much like beef jerky. Best to get them out while they are still full of moisture and juicy and of slightly bigger proportions.
The front legs are easliy cut off and set aside. (no bones to cut through BTW) Cut out the backstraps right now going from the narrow hips all the way to the base of the neck. Wrap and covet these tasty bits as much as the removed internal tenderloins. If the ribs are desired this is now the time to cut them out and remembering bone dust makes meat go bad more quickly. (plan to consume them soon, maybe marinaded before the BBQ) You know should now have the neck, a mostly just boney spine and the best hind quarters. Cut the spine and perhaps keep the neck roast. Now take each hindquarter and divide them up using the natural seperation of the muscles, this is easy to see actually once they are in hand. I used to double wrap with saran wrap my meat and then wrap with brown butcher paper, tape closed, mark with non-toxic marker the cut of meat and the month/year it was taken.
Take your time with the best hindquarters and then once done tackle the front quarters, maybe turning them into stew meat, or ground up for burger etc.
Same with the neck meat, this is about the toughest and least desireable bits of deer venison.
In Moose Jaw we used to wrap up the 'neck roast' and gift it to the most annoying non-hunting beggar(s) of venison on base while purposely mislabeling this cut of meat.
They usually never came back for more!
With a couple of good sharp knives a hacksaw and maybe an axe for the spine, an average WT deer and all of your cleaning goodies and buthering wrap, this could easily be processed and in the feezer in 2-3 hours without interupption, for one fella in good light, one cutting table and room to wrap everything up very nicely.
YMMV
The front legs are easliy cut off and set aside. (no bones to cut through BTW) Cut out the backstraps right now going from the narrow hips all the way to the base of the neck. Wrap and covet these tasty bits as much as the removed internal tenderloins. If the ribs are desired this is now the time to cut them out and remembering bone dust makes meat go bad more quickly. (plan to consume them soon, maybe marinaded before the BBQ) You know should now have the neck, a mostly just boney spine and the best hind quarters. Cut the spine and perhaps keep the neck roast. Now take each hindquarter and divide them up using the natural seperation of the muscles, this is easy to see actually once they are in hand. I used to double wrap with saran wrap my meat and then wrap with brown butcher paper, tape closed, mark with non-toxic marker the cut of meat and the month/year it was taken.
Take your time with the best hindquarters and then once done tackle the front quarters, maybe turning them into stew meat, or ground up for burger etc.
Same with the neck meat, this is about the toughest and least desireable bits of deer venison.
In Moose Jaw we used to wrap up the 'neck roast' and gift it to the most annoying non-hunting beggar(s) of venison on base while purposely mislabeling this cut of meat.
They usually never came back for more!
With a couple of good sharp knives a hacksaw and maybe an axe for the spine, an average WT deer and all of your cleaning goodies and buthering wrap, this could easily be processed and in the feezer in 2-3 hours without interupption, for one fella in good light, one cutting table and room to wrap everything up very nicely.
YMMV
07blackwater
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Port Coquitlam, BC
Exactly. That meat would be a mess.
.
I hang it the same but then skin making sure to ring the ass and tie it to off. Next I skin the throat and tie off the esophagus. Then skin the rest.
Next take a meat saw and split the sternum, to just about the lung cavity. Split the pelvis with the saw as well.
Now carefully cut around the ass, and avoiding the bladder until you can pull the intestines between the legs.
Carefully (using your fingers as a guide) slice the belly from pelvis to sternum. The guts are going to follow so be careful. Cut the connecting tissue along the spine as the guts fall out. When they stop falling it means you've hit the diaphragm. Cut it out along the rib cage on either side to the spine then it should all fall to the ground with hardly any mess at all.
Let the meat air dry then you can brush off any hair that was left. If you spilled any blood while gutting wash immediately with a mild water/vinegar solution.
When the meat dries quarter and bag it. proper butchering is another story.
Butchering was the main objective with this thread. Deer was taken Friday and hung over the weekend.
Took the wife and I 3hrs to cut and wrap it. ( I cut and she wrapped)
Not the most professional job but the next one should be easier.
Will have to do some more research for next time as I made a few mistakes with the hind quarter and probably did not use it to its full potential.
What do you guys do about the dried part of the outter meat, just trim it off?
Seems to me it would be easier to butcher it right after it is skinned provided care is taken to keep hairs off it, which I managed to do quite well as I was quite anal in the skinning part.
Took the wife and I 3hrs to cut and wrap it. ( I cut and she wrapped)
Not the most professional job but the next one should be easier.
Will have to do some more research for next time as I made a few mistakes with the hind quarter and probably did not use it to its full potential.
What do you guys do about the dried part of the outter meat, just trim it off?
Seems to me it would be easier to butcher it right after it is skinned provided care is taken to keep hairs off it, which I managed to do quite well as I was quite anal in the skinning part.
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If you cut and wrap right away, you skip dealing with dried bits. Or, make friends with someone that has a decent cooler that can keep it cool as well as maintain the correct humidity levels.
I don't go in for hanging it any longer than it takes to get myself organized to cut and wrap.
It's all good! Next one will be easier still.
Cheers
Trev
If you cut right away before the meat firms up, it makes it very hard to slice the meat and you actually end up with more smaller bits of meat that would normally be steaks and roasts. After the meat firms, it will "stand up" under the knife, but if you cut it very soon after the kill, the meat will roll under the knife and be harder to cut properly.
Dried bits go into the grinder. No waste.
Congrats and kudos to the wife for helping - makes the job that much easier/quicker.
After I was done my first deer, it became quite obvious that unless the butcher was a good friend, I would be processing deer from that moment forward. I know how the meat was cared for and the end result would have no 'unknowns'.
Pay close attention to what trevj has been saying. I seem to have done most of what he has been suggesting.
Not in my experiences, SuperCub. But of late, I have been cutting chunks and sorting out pieces of muscle groups and putting them away whole or in larger pieces. I have cut and wrapped a couple, starting while they were still warm, and didn't find it any harder to cut and slice.
I can cut steaks, butterfly, unroll and stuff, whatever, starting with the larger cut, when I defrost it to eat it. It stands under the knife just fine when it still has a few ice crystals in it, eh.
Yeah. All trim red meat goes into the grinder bowl! It all turns the same color in the cook pot. I don't let the outside turn halfway to jerky though, either, though I have ground some of that in the past, and it was fine. If it had gone to the butcher, that would have likely gone to the dumpster with the rest of the trim.
I'm a pretty big fan of leaving the hide on, if the deer cannot be cut right away. I found it kept the carcass moist longer, and cool usually wasn't a problem where I was hunting. Circumstances vary, as do appropriate ways of dealing with them.
I have seen some carcasses that were hung for, well, however long they were hung, too long, anyways, that were pretty much jerky onna skeleton. That was at a butcher. When I asked how much meat the guy was going to get out of it, the butcher said "not much". Said the rest was gonna land on the floor as waste. Seems a poor return on my labor and time, to waste that much meat. The guys that brought those in, paid the same price per hanging pound as the guys that got more meat.
Glad it all went well. Many hands make short work, eh.
Cheers
Trev
I have some beef butchering experience. It kind of over laps.
After I skin a cow, I hang it and pressure wash the hell out of it. Gets rid of hair, blood etc.. Never hurt the beef. I am assuming it wouldn't hurt a deer either. It can be tough to keep a deer from having the water freeze on it in november though.
Hang it if you can. When you hang meat, it naturally becomes more tender.
Cut out as much tendon as you can. Its a pain in the arse, but when you go to cook, smoke or grind your meat its much better.
Keep everything as clean as you possibly can.
If your shooting a buck in the rut---- >sausage, peperoni, smoke, jerky, burger..
And above everything, make sure you get a clean quick kill through the lungs. Anything else will affect the meat quality.
After I skin a cow, I hang it and pressure wash the hell out of it. Gets rid of hair, blood etc.. Never hurt the beef. I am assuming it wouldn't hurt a deer either. It can be tough to keep a deer from having the water freeze on it in november though.
Hang it if you can. When you hang meat, it naturally becomes more tender.
Cut out as much tendon as you can. Its a pain in the arse, but when you go to cook, smoke or grind your meat its much better.
Keep everything as clean as you possibly can.
If your shooting a buck in the rut---- >sausage, peperoni, smoke, jerky, burger..
And above everything, make sure you get a clean quick kill through the lungs. Anything else will affect the meat quality.
deer cuts
1 Eye of round
2 Inside round
3 Sirloin top
4 Outside round
5 Sirloin tip
6 Tenderloins
7 Loins
8 Neck roast
9 English roast
10 Top blade
11 Mock tender
My own processing
For burger add 25 % pork butt and 12.5% lean beef (ground Chuck) grind twice through 3 mm plate.
1 Eye of round
2 Inside round
3 Sirloin top
4 Outside round
5 Sirloin tip
6 Tenderloins
7 Loins
8 Neck roast
9 English roast
10 Top blade
11 Mock tender
My own processing
For burger add 25 % pork butt and 12.5% lean beef (ground Chuck) grind twice through 3 mm plate.
Looks like you've got it figured out nicely. Good job!My own processing
I've also seen many times that they will remove ALL the deer fat and simply replace that fat with a portion of pork fat. Most butchers will give you that fat for free (I did) and it does produce a nice flavoured grind.
1 Eye of round
2 Inside round
3 Sirloin top
4 Outside round
5 Sirloin tip
6 Tenderloins
7 Loins
8 Neck roast
9 English roast
10 Top blade
11 Mock tender
My own processing
For burger add 25 % pork butt and 12.5% lean beef (ground Chuck) grind twice through 3 mm plate.
OK....I could have used this post 2 days ago!!!!!
Never thought to even find a picture of the broken down groups at the time. I was at the butcher last night grabbing pork fat and they had a picture of the breakdown of a cow and where all the parts came from. Cant see a deer being much different, only smaller.
