I'v been looking at the small meat cutting units on amazon, cabela's and tractor supply. Do anyone have any input on these band saws? They look good for cutting up the odd deer, pig and beaver but the reviews on most are all over the place.
Meat cutting band saw options
- Thread starter Urlec
- Start date
Butcherbill
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
My wife wanted to use my metal bandsaw in the shop to cut up deer, I said she would have to detail clean it before and after any meat touched it. That ended that conversation right then and there hahaha.
No. Meat saws do not have the places for junk to hide in that a wood band saw does.
A meat saw can be cleaned pretty quickly, properly.
For the OP, if it looks affordable for casual use, it's like to be low-end, consumer grade poo, and despite different stickers and prices, may have come from the same Chinese factory or distributor's sea can. On th eother side, for casual use, a commercial model iis expensive and a lot of bulk to have to dodge around the rest of the year.
Personally, I have pretty much quit putting bone in my freezer except as a separate package from which to pull treats for the dogs. Stripping the carcass to boneless primals is pretty quick and being able to reach in to the freezer and pull out a package that I know has 'that much' meat in it is really nice!
Check out Halford's Mail Order in Edmonton, or any Butcher supply place. Halfords is good in that they stock a wide range, from light duty to full on Commercial quality tools.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
A good $40 boning knife takes all the need out of owning a bandsaw....then just chill your meat overnight and cut it up neatly with a $79 tabletop home meat slicer (princess Auto). Cuts up steaks or jerky slices as neat as you please with only a 10 minute clean-up.
Butcherbill
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
It does, but some people want to cut some loin/rib chops with the bone in and make up some Frenched rack of venison
This year I’ll be doing some different cuts that don’t require deboning but I will either buy a butchers bone saw or a new hacksaw that I only use for splitting bone.
Small Biro is what I use....best in the market from what I've seen. Use to use a larger breakdown saw...also a Biro but the small one is perfect for what I need.
Also a saw for wood is not a great choice for meat cutting. The entire saw will fill up with meat with no guards and shields to redirect it, blade wipers to keep meat being draged around the pulleys and pushing the blade off.
Also a saw for wood is not a great choice for meat cutting. The entire saw will fill up with meat with no guards and shields to redirect it, blade wipers to keep meat being draged around the pulleys and pushing the blade off.
I cut up two deer years ago on my shop wood working band saw, it worked great however cleaning the dam thing afterwards was a nightmare as there was bits of deer in places I didn't realize there was places. never done it again. So I would suggest a dedicated bandsaw just for meat and fairly simple in design to aid in easy cleanup.
It does, but some people want to cut some loin/rib chops with the bone in and make up some Frenched rack of venison
This year I’ll be doing some different cuts that don’t require deboning but I will either buy a butchers bone saw or a new hacksaw that I only use for splitting bone.
Reciprocating saw with a long hack-saw (bi-metal) type blade worked perfectly for making elk osso bucco a few months ago. Partially froze the shanks and then sliced them off about as thick as a hockey puck.
Butcherbill
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Haha, I was just thinking my sawzall with a bimetal blade would do the trick too. I was just using it to cut door openings in our seacan last week.
I already use a cordless sawzall for splitting and quartering. For butchering its all currently knife work with a manual saw. There's nothing wrong with what were using now but any tool that can make the process run smother is a win. All the dog food is cut bone in so its either an axe or chainsaw right now depending on density. Most of the ham, rib and chop cuts are bone in for us and that's our preference. A commercial or high quality unit is not out of the question down the road but id prefer to grab a cheap Chinese model as a trial unit to see how it fits in how we do things.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I have access to a good commercial bandsaw in my family meat shop, but have long ago quit using it for any game processing. Band saws are OK for domestic meat cuts, but are bad for game meat. They drag powdered bone though the meat that makes the fat oxidize and turn rancid very quickly in storage. One reason so many people don't like game meat. A deboning knife works well, the meat stores better without off tastes and putting less bone in the freezer is a bonus for freezer space.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
All points I wholeheartedly agree with
+1 get a used one. 10 years working restaurants, never had one die, pretty much bomb proof, the good hobart models have sharpening stone and finish stone hidden on the back. just don't be the guy who takes the guard off and turns it on to wipe the blade with a cloth.
p.s. the princess auto one is marked down to 59.99 til the 10th. just saw on website
Reciprocating saw with a long hack-saw (bi-metal) type blade worked perfectly for making elk osso bucco a few months ago. Partially froze the shanks and then sliced them off about as thick as a hockey puck.
I have been using a cordless saws all for years, it has on other use then cutting up deer, best couple hundred bucks I have ever spent. Quick and efficient.
I'm using a meat cutting bandsaw that I have bought at TSC on sale for $299+ tax. It's a small saw with 82'' blade. I had a problem with the original blade. It wandered and cut through the top and guides as I was cutting through the bone.
I was joking that the crappy blade was good for cutting meat only. Then I bought good blades from Halford's Mail Order. Now I'm cutting pork chops and lamb and calf steaks. Using a woodcutting bandsaw is a waste of time. You need a SLIDING table.
I was joking that the crappy blade was good for cutting meat only. Then I bought good blades from Halford's Mail Order. Now I'm cutting pork chops and lamb and calf steaks. Using a woodcutting bandsaw is a waste of time. You need a SLIDING table.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Never cut bones. These aren't cattle...the only way to get good meat is to debone.
