Any good books on butchering game?

J.Hancock said:
I want a hardcopy (analog) aswell. Youtube isn't "subsistence" as it were.
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Sure is! See it, then do it, then show it to someone else. Classic instruction theory. Then you know it forever.

As a bonafide book slut, with boxes of books on pallets, that I move around with a pallet dolly, I can safely say that you cannot carry it all around with you all the time.
The good part of cutting up stuff like deer is, it's really hard to mess up so bad as to ruin anything beyond edibility!

Keep it cool, keep it clean, cut the big pieces, then make them smaller, do grind last.
I usually co-opt the mixing bowls in the house, plus have a couple large steel salad bowls for butchering.
Brown paper on the work surface to make cleanup a breeze.
Stick the grind meat in the freezer while wrapping all the rest, so it's cold and firm, before running it through the grinder. Almost frozen, if you have the patience. Have done a couple whole deer with a hand grinder. It didn't suck.
I put away as many big prices as I can, of stuff like back strap or broken down sections of the hind, as I can always cut steaks or kebab cubes later, but it's hard to put the small pieces together again. And it's less work when butchering.
 
Steve Rinella did a couple episodes on butchering deer on MeatEater. He did both halves of the deer differently and did a good job of it.
YouTube University all the way.
Cheers,
GJG
 
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Thanks for the great response and tips from everybody! I'm a little old school and find I learn and retain information better from books than I do computer screens. I'll still hit up youtube for visual instructions, but I'll be able to fall back on books for clarification if needed.

Thanks again for sharing!
 
I actually like the European methods for handling game. They tend to have a bit of variance from our established ways...but often us old timers drag bad habits and learned legends that are often false.
I don't eat venison fat...reminds me of poor mutton, coats the roof of me mouth.
Hanging. Was a definite hanging fan, then had about 3-4 friends and family ( lots of meat cutters in my clan...just over the last 10 years) laughing and saying "Wasting your time, the enzymes that work in beef are absent in deer"
That may be true, my deer seem to be tender'r...definitely less dry. But there is sure a dirth of literature backing up this position.
To the point that I thought 'What the heck' and wrote an email to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Meat Hygiene Section asking on it...no reply as yet.
I shall be sure to start a thread concerning the answer when it arrives.
But our butchering methods are not without fault. The people who take the prime cuts and feed the remainder to their dogs...I cant continue without getting angry. They are like Buffalo hunters, eating the hump and letting the rest rot...travesty IMO
The same Meat shops that say 'Don't hang' also turn the shank into dog food...best stew meat ( if you can handle slow cooking the stew) IMO.
But not worthy of an argument. Hang it...or not. Just don't waste it.
 
Most guys don't hang their deer in temperature and humidity controlled environs.
Two weeks hanging on the back porch only really gets you an extra 3/4 inch of black crust trimmed off the carcass before the remainder gets cut and wrapped.
You pay the butcher by the pound for that black crap that he dumps on the floor, though. Hope the tenderness you thought you got, was worth it. :)
I spoke with one of the Butchers when I was in Moose Jaw, and he said losing half the yield to trim from a dried out crust on the outside of it, was pretty common. I'd rather get as much yield as I can off of the game I take home!

Maybe I have met a different class of butchers, but none I ever left an animal with made dog food out of any game.
Unless someone asks for Ossa Bouco (spelled wrong, I am sure) the shanks go into the trim for grind to burger, which is fair enough.

I don't mind Venison fat, as long as it's hot. Cold, it's pretty nasty.
 
I don’t hang deer, after I skin and quarter I let the meat rest in a marine cooler for a day or two with some frozen 2 litres to keep things cool. The meat is always tender and juicy, we do the same with our chickens we butcher for meat. They rest for a day in the spare fridge before we put them in the freezer.
 
I've been lucky enough to have a career in food and a scout member as a kid where we learnt to prepare pigeons in the field.
I don't think there's many animals I'd have an issue breaking down.
 
I would love to show you guys the inside of a modern pork plant. Here's a handout vid of a frontmatec dual split saw. I'll be installing one (their second) at a client's plant early next year, although one difference they stop the cut before the base of the skull. The Chinese market takes most of the complete heads:rolleyes:
 
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