Butchering
- Thread starter Oasis1965
- Start date
- Location
- Western Manitoba
^ This! I do not think many people understand the difference between deer / pork and beef. Many times, we ground up pigs (pork) for sausage, that might have still been a bit warm from the butchering - there is no "marbled fat" to worry about. Same with deer. But it is nice to be able to hang good beef for 8 or 10 days after butchering - at a temp that keeps the meat cool but does not freeze - I had read that circa 4 C or so is about ideal.
It might be different for big elk and moose - a butcher that I met near Hudson Bay, Sask. would hang the sides in his cooler room, until they felt "sticky" to put your hand on - time to cut them up, then. He had a "freezer plant", so the packaged meat would be "flash frozen" quite quickly after it was cut up and wrapped. As with other cooking, the result is often with the "cook" - cuts of deer meat are NOT cooked the same as higher end beef cuts.
As a newbie....and I mean a real newbie, I took a 'hunting and butchering' 2 day course (I only stayed for one), and it was great to see the nuance on how to do this....ie. how you hang the animal, and the actual location of the cuts, etc. I there really is something about seeing it first hand. IMHO.
I know i am a bit late to the party on this thread but If you live in a high deer strike area like me talk with the local highway workers. I learned to gut, skin, and cut up deer using a few fresh road kills. I do not suggest using the meat for anything beyond learning or if you hunt yotes. I donate the meat from mine to a local eagle rescue, the skins go to a friend who makes medicine bags and such and if any antlers they get cut up for my dogs to gnaw at. Our local highway crews usually just bury them to avoid having scavengers come in.
Also fair warning road kill deer stink to high heaven but it sure build your stomach.
Also fair warning road kill deer stink to high heaven but it sure build your stomach.
Depending on how fresh the kill is you can get some really good cuts off of a road kill . Both deer and moose & I'm typing from experience !
I`ve been butchering all my wild game and some domestic for years,once you start you will never use a butcher again.There are lots of youtube help videos out there and it`s not as hard as one would thing,you are best to start with a quarter at a time and if it`s cool enough you can do a quarter an evening.Buddy had his moose butchered last fall at a cost of over $800,wasn`t long ago you could get a good side of beef for that price!
I was the butcher teacher when I left the group(2023). 10 years 5 moose, 5 deer and 5 bears. I owned all the knives. I sharpened them as needed. I had a butcher beef diagram on the wall for those who wanted a specific cut from the Moose, deer, cows and pigs. I have been involved in butchering since 1975. I will never do head cheese again!!
Watch the videos repeatedly and learn how. Next is having a spare freezer to keep the animal(moose) deboned cold. The spare freezer keeps the meat the right temp for grinding too.
I butcher next day as well. If you want 14 days tenderizing hire a butcher.
Watch the videos repeatedly and learn how. Next is having a spare freezer to keep the animal(moose) deboned cold. The spare freezer keeps the meat the right temp for grinding too.
I butcher next day as well. If you want 14 days tenderizing hire a butcher.
the ones that i used to get from the guys here would be "fresh" but that could have meant 30 min -4 hours and usually were in the cooler weather the issue i had was i found the meat turned really grey when cooked compared to my regular kills that the meat would stay a nice pink unless over cooked. Some one once told me it was due to the spike in adrenaline if the deer didn't die instantly.
Gonna second the recommendation to search through the Scott Rhea Project YouTube channel.
Bearded Butchers are good too, though they use tools that are expensive and probably outside the lines for a garage/ home cutter. SRP shows a LOT of uses of nothing more complicated than a decent set of knives, a hand saw, and a cleaver sometimes. Cheap and effective.
Have had GREAT service from my Princess Auto grinder (which sounds like it's gonna blow up, every time it runs, but still has not!), as well as the 5LB sausage stuffer I got there too.
Bearded Butchers are good too, though they use tools that are expensive and probably outside the lines for a garage/ home cutter. SRP shows a LOT of uses of nothing more complicated than a decent set of knives, a hand saw, and a cleaver sometimes. Cheap and effective.
Have had GREAT service from my Princess Auto grinder (which sounds like it's gonna blow up, every time it runs, but still has not!), as well as the 5LB sausage stuffer I got there too.
I'm late to this party, but the Eat Wild (eatwild.ca) crew have some workshops and a lot of videos about this. I'm not through all of it yet but the stuff I've done has been excellent. I haven't butchered an animal for 30 years and that was in a different country, the refresher has been excellent, I think they do a great job.
