Butchering question

Spcamno

Spcamno

CGN frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 99.7%
397   1   1
Location
GTA,Ontario
While everybody is waiting for season to be open whether is deer, bear, moose or multi species.

I am curious to know how you want your game to be butcher?

I know some of us usually have the tougher meat turn into roast, stew etc and some even ground the meat into sausages, hamburgers and what not but what about the backstraps?

I always ask the butcher to turn them into chops ( with the back bones ) but really backstrap is just the meat without the bone and always wondering why most people prefer backstraps over chops?

Any difference in terms of flavor or its just personal preference?

Not a chef but enjoy cooking especially the game animal I harvested myself.
 
I butcher my own. Most of it gets ground up for making sausages and pepperettes. I save a few choice roasts and the back strap. Freezer space is at a premium, why fill it with bones.
 
I debone all wild game. I like alot of steaks, roasts and usually get the rest bagged as trimmings. That way I can either get burger made, use as stew meat or get sasuage made. Plus it keeps better longer if frozen in 10-15 lb bags. Steaks and roasts go quick.
 
I cut conventional steaks, roasts, chops. Trimmings get ground.
The cuts really depend on how you prefer to serve meat at the table.
 
unstableryan said:
We get all the roasts made and burger the rest. I've found myself grinding up chops and steaks to make more burger when we have run out of that first.
Click to expand...

This is how I usually go too, usually cook a roast or burger in chili, macaroni, etc before a steak.
 
like several have commented above.

I butcher all my own, its roast, or ground up into burger.

loins get special treatment :) packaged whole for deer and in 2 or 3 bags for moose. Carefully put aside so they don't get mixed up with any of the regular roast packages.
 
I chop mine they make great grilling steaks, i personally dont see a need to use it as a roast.. the hind quarter roasts make for great roasts already when cooked to medium then sliced thin.. just a personal preference we also don't buy any store bought meat either so not much premium grilling steaks can be had off an animal
 
Spcamno said:
While everybody is waiting for season to be open whether is deer, bear, moose or multi species.

I am curious to know how you want your game to be butcher?

I know some of us usually have the tougher meat turn into roast, stew etc and some even ground the meat into sausages, hamburgers and what not but what about the backstraps?

I always ask the butcher to turn them into chops ( with the back bones ) but really backstrap is just the meat without the bone and always wondering why most people prefer backstraps over chops?

Any difference in terms of flavor or its just personal preference?

Not a chef but enjoy cooking especially the game animal I harvested myself.
Click to expand...

Easy answer? Bone-in game meat tastes like dog####. You can't get all the fat off or the connective tissue out so you end up with off-tasting meat after it's been in the freezer for a while. With chops you also destroy the tenderloin, the finest cut of meat on the animal, in order to have a lollipop-sized mouthful of potentially good meat on the chop. Then, you try to grill the aforementioned chops and they dry out into shoeleather within a minute of putting them on the BBQ. With a whole tenderloin or piece of backstrap you can grill it nicely and not overcook it while still getting a good sear on the outside. Wild ungulates want to be cooked medium rare...maybe medium at the most, but more than that and you'll destroy it.

Now, I badly want to try Steven Rinella's osso bucco recipe this fall and maybe even his neck roast recipe as I have always ground this meat for burger/sausage or made stew out of it. But the good cuts of meat deserve to be treated well for maximum enjoyment. I cut and wrap all my game myself and put a ton of work into trimming in the first instance so that the meat will keep in the freezer and deliver a good product when I cook it. The easiest way to turn people off of game meat is to cook it wrong.
 
Big ugly has quoted my thoughts exactly , although I do eat moose steak ( back strap ) cooked on bbq time to time most steaks and all deer steaks get turned into Swiss steak

I'll double. All the bone and gristle , fat etc removed makes all wild game meat better .
I can't be paying others to put enough time and effort to cleaning and trimming meat to my standards
 
Keithjohn said:
Big ugly has quoted my thoughts exactly , although I do eat moose steak ( back strap ) cooked on bbq time to time most steaks and all deer steaks get turned into Swiss steak

I'll double. All the bone and gristle , fat etc removed makes all wild game meat better .
I can't be paying others to put enough time and effort to cleaning and trimming meat to my standards
Click to expand...

I butcher everything myself (deer, bear and boar - I gave up on moose over 20 yrs. ago). Mostly boneless, some steaks, roasts. Some of the trimmings I grind, some I leave in stew meat. The shanks, shoulder, etc. I tend to leave bone-in and I'll do those as pulled whatever or slow-cooked. I also mix some with pork and make sausages. But I find that with game - especially bear - it's critical to get them gutted and cooled down ASAP, otherwise it doesn't take long to get an off taste.
 
I do the entire loin into bone in chops. I find the bone in chops I butcher and eat taste just fine. The rest goes into grind after I take the time to make the meat super trimmed of silver skin and excessive fat. IF the fat is white a fair bit of it goes into the grinder also.

Darryl
 
as for deer i do the following
front shoulder de boned and cubed for stews and curries
backstraps cut into half for the bbq
rear leg meat is separated in roasts.
keep it simple
 
I wont kill an animal unless I know I have the time immediately after it hits the ground to bone out completely and trim completely (every bit of fat, sinew, shot damage),everything done within an hr most times. Have never had a "gamey" animal,( young, female or old buck heavy into the rut) since I started sticking to this regime. I have made my own sausage for some time but quit that the year my kids bought me a meat slicer, now I just slice everything that isn't going to be a roast or steak and 24-48 hr marinate it in the sausage mix of my choice for that year and then cook in the smoker just the same as jerky would be...tastes like the sausage but no added fat so the wife considers it healthier so I get to eat more.
 
There will be as many answers to this question as there are personal tastes and budgets or know how.


I have been trained as a butcher and therefore I am a meat snob. Even in standard cattle and such, I only like certain cuts for steaks or roasts and that sentiment would be even more so with very lean game cuts. Tenderloins, ribeyes and new yorks strips would be boneless .... more from a practical side as they can all be cut without a band saw. Bone-in cuts are great for keeping meats moist while cooking, but I can debone an animal with basically no more than sharp knives and a rudimentary table, so that is most practical in the field. I might consider top sirloins for roasts .... everything else I'd grind for ground meat or sausage. My skills came after my hunting years .... I might try a chuck for a roast, but on game, it might be too dry for what I would use it for.

I see no sense trying make super lean cuts palatable with marinades and such ..... ground meat has so many uses and recipes anyways, so I see no reason to eat the tougher cuts as steak, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom