Frozen game butchering?

[HeadDamage]

So I screwed up and I have a pair of deer hind quarters that are frozen solid. Any idea on how to cut them up for steaks and such? Can I defrost them and cut then refreeze? Thanks.

 

[Gatehouse]

Yes , you can defrost and refreeze, just mak e sure its well wrapped, as it will lose some moisture.

You can also use a band saw,a nd zipp it up that way.

 

[sbound]

Just don't let the meat get too warm... Ideally, thaw it slowly and retain some in a semi-frozen state so that it is still cuttable.

 

[Pudelpointer]

Frozen is no problem! I have 3 deer frozen like rocks in my shed right now. In each of the last two years I had late season bucks freeze solid before I could cut them up, and had to wait for the weather to warm before I could deal with them. Those two bucks were the best eating deer I have ever had, tender and tasty.

If you have a cool boot room, or a cool area in your basement, you could bring the 1/4's inside a couple of days before you want to cut them but it will likely still be partially frozen, but soft enough to cut up. They can hang for quite awhile before thawing. The first deer this happened to hung for 3 1/2 weeks before it thawed out enough to cut.....no problem. It won't go bad while it is frozen.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[tiriaq]

Haven't done this with venison, only with caribou. Don't let it thaw completely, just enough to cut. Should still have ice crystals in the meat. Refreezes without problems. Now, the caribou was not aged. If the venison was hung and aged, I don't know if thawing and refreezing would be a good idea.
Taking it to a butcher or someone with a meat cutting bandsaw might be easiest.

 

[toxic]

Before we made all our steaks boneless we would use a (meat) band saw to cut the frozed hind quarters into steaks. It's an option if you have access to a saw.

Now if we have quarters freeze I take it inside and put it in the beer fridge till it warms up enough to cut. The trick is to open the beer fridge often to let the cold escape - or is that just so I can drink beer...

 

[rtaylor1956]

Busy Bee Tools sell a meat saw for hunters at a very resonable price, it will cut frozen meat without a problem using a stainless steel blade, it even has a sausage maker on the side and sliding table, can be quickly and easly washed down for cleaning.

 

[CTS]

I have heard of people using a saws-all.

 

[12magnum]

if you're going to cut frozen meat by hand, it will be a lot of work. if you have a band saw , no problem. it's ok to re freeze meat.

 

[snowshoe]

I suggest that you leave the saw for cutting wood. When you saw through the bone, bone dust gets on the meat and taints it. If you do use a saw make sure you get all the tiny pieces of bone off the meat, and don't package the meat with bone in. Thaw it out some and cut it up. I know there is a lot of ways it can be done, but people have had roast venison in my house and thought they were eating beef. Improper handling of wild meat is why so many people don't like it

 

[woodchopper]

have this problem all the time here in November. We just thaw it out and butcher it. Like Gatehouse said, package it well

 

[Grizzlypeg]

I've cut up a frozen deer into steaks using a handsaw. Its a bit of work, but better than roasts. You can drive some nails through a board, lay some clean plastic on top, then flip it over and slam the frozen chunk down on top to keep it from moving. A hand saw cuts the frozen meat pretty fast, except for when you get to the bone. Give them a quick rinse under the tap and bag them and back into the freezer. Didn't affect the taste in any way, just took an afternoon to cut up two large quarters.

 

[the keepa]

A buddy of mine had a deer freeze solid overnight . We cut it up into big chunks with a reciprocating saw, wrapped it well and threw it into the freezer .

 

[BigUglyMan]

Thaw it out, cut it up and wrap and re-freeze. I made the mistake of having a deer butchered by a guy who left the bone in. Big mistake as it tasted like shat. After that I had to thaw the meat and cut the bone out before cooking it. No problem, but more dicking around. Subsequent butcherings have shown much better results.

 

[Covey Ridge]

people have had roast venison in my house and thought they were eating beef. Improper handling of wild meat is why so many people don't like it

I agree that improper handling is one reason why so many people don't like venison, but I do not agree with the other part of you statement about thinking they were eating beef. I am sure that your veneson roast is delicious, and every bit as good as roast beef or even better, but venison should not taste like beef. There are cooking methods that remove flavor from venison and beef and there are methods that cover the flavor of venison and beef but good venison has a distinct flavor which is very unique and different from beef and is very desirable because of this difference. I prefer cooking methods that enhance the flavor without making it taste like something that it is not.

I prefer to cut my venison slightly frozen. It helps me make cleaner cuts.

 

[grouseman]

I agree that improper handling is one reason why so many people don't like venison, but I do not agree with the other part of you statement about thinking they were eating beef. I am sure that your veneson roast is delicious, and every bit as good as roast beef or even better, but venison should not taste like beef.

I agree, if people thing your venison tastes like beef.. then they need to get their taste buds reset.... NO WAY WILL VENISON EVER TASTE LIKE BEEF...having said that, Im sure your venison roast was great