Post by: firefighter4607 on September 06, 2011, 04:20:19 PM
I was wanting to find a good write up with pictures or a good video on how people process their own game. I was thinking it would be better on my wallet if I did it myself. With the price of tags going up I have to save money somewhere. I have a few questions that I am not sure about. I am mainly looking to make jerky and sauage out of my game. Not too fond of steak and roast. Also I would make some hamburger.
How long to you let it hang? At what temp. would you let it sit in?
Any tips, write ups or a website or video would help me out greatly. Thanks for all the advise.
Post by: MtnMuley on September 06, 2011, 04:21:37 PM
Post by: MichaelD on September 06, 2011, 04:24:40 PM
I am sure there are more/better out there, but this was easy to watch and informational for me.
:twocents:
Michael
Post by: firefighter4607 on September 06, 2011, 04:26:57 PM
There's been a few links posted up quite a while ago on here. I can't sem to find them now though.
:yeah: I thought I saw some a few years ago also but I cannot find them.
Thanks MichealD I will look into that!!!
Post by: runningboard on September 06, 2011, 04:32:31 PM
http://www.highcountryhunting.com/index.html (http://www.highcountryhunting.com/index.html)
I bought a video from them at a sports show and it didn't work they sent me a new 1 no questions asked.
as mentioned outdoor edge
http://www.outdooredge.com/Articles.asp?ID=132 (http://www.outdooredge.com/Articles.asp?ID=132)
step-by-step, I like that even though the guy has all the equipment at his disposal he uses a hand powered grinder and uses it to stuff his sausage too. shows that you don't need all the expensive "cool" stuff
Post by: steve04 on September 06, 2011, 06:29:10 PM
Post by: bearpaw on September 09, 2011, 12:14:22 AM
Post by: 3nails on September 09, 2011, 05:18:39 AM
Post by: bearhunter99 on September 09, 2011, 07:21:46 AM
You might change your mind about steaks and roast after you do your own. I felt the same way after going through several different butchers. The quality of the meat is so much better when you do it yourself. We bought a 1 horse meat grinder from Cabelas and was some of the best money I have ever spent.
:yeah:
Post by: stormin85 on September 09, 2011, 07:35:06 AM
Looking back i should've taken some pics through the process and that might have helped, my brother in laws brother is a butcher and gave us a bunch of tips while doing my deer from last year.
If i get an elk down i will try to take pics as i run through it next time, but all in all it isn't hard, just time consuming with how tedious you want to be de vaining (sp?) and stuff.
Post by: BIGINNER on September 09, 2011, 07:53:13 AM
Post by: Miles on September 09, 2011, 07:55:43 AM
Separate the muscle groups and cut steaks by cutting across/against the grain, not with it (see image below).
The muscle fibers (grain) are going left to right.
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehungrymouse.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F03%2Feyeroast1.jpg&hash=ccd74a69c5d37331165f3ec963e20514e59f3dc7)
(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehungrymouse.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F03%2Fslice.jpg&hash=57507a5cd0f64cb180a128c7b241849832e17b94)
Post by: Sumpnneedskillin on September 09, 2011, 08:40:02 AM
I actually just butchered my deer for the first time last weekend, all the others have been taken to the butcher, I guess we'll see if i did everything correct :dunno: lol however i just made steaks out of the tender loins and back straps, i know you can make other cuts with different parts, but the rest of the deer i made hamburger, but was able to pull a few roasts out of the hindquarters.
I've done a couple of deer on my own now. The wife had bought a recipe book that had a section on butchering your own. I'd look at the pics and start cutting. There were a few times I had to have her hold the book while I was trying to figure out where to cut. There's been some trial and error too. Some of my roasts and steaks don't look very pretty but they taste fine. Usually save the tenderloins, straps and the sirloin roasts. Rest gets ground up. I spend quite a bit of time taking the silver skin and gristle out. We use straight ground venision like some people use ground beef, burgers, tacos, stroganoff etc.
Post by: Bean Counter on September 09, 2011, 08:46:01 AM
Post by: spookgus on September 09, 2011, 12:46:48 PM
It is not as daunting as it seems. Your basically going to remove the meat from the skeleton. Trim off anything your not willing to eat. Separate out each individual muscle that you feel is big enough to roast, steak or strip jerky and grind the rest. You can blend in fat later if you make sausage or patties.
This is how I do deer.
If the temperature is around 40, I will hang for a few days. If I feel that the temperature is not conducive to hanging, I will remove the legs and fillet the carcass from the backbone down. Grab the tenderloins and scavenge the carcass for useable meat. Bag each leg and the loose meat and place in the shop and camper refrigerators in a manner that allows air flow.
No saw.
I remove the rear legs by trimming along the spine and pelvic bone until the ball joint is exposed. Cut the ligaments holding the joint in place and remove the leg. The upper muscle group of the rear leg is taken off the bone by trimming around the femur from the inside. Each individual muscle is separated and trimmed and froze whole to be steaked, roasted or made into strip jerky later.
The front legs I remove by cutting behind the shoulder blades. On deer I just remove the meat from the front leg bones and put the meat in the burger bucket. The three sections of meat on the shoulder blades are used for strip jerky.
Cut around the neck close to the head and cut along the spine to the pelvic bone. Continue filleting from the spine down to the brisket staying as close the ribs and neck bone as possible. Take the backstrap out of this section. The neck meat can be rolled into a roast but on deer it usually goes in the burger bucket with the rest of the front quarter.
Remove the tenderloins and scavenge the leg bones, ribs, and carcass for useable meat that can be put into the burger bucket.
Post by: Elkrunner on October 03, 2011, 12:24:10 PM
Post by: jackmaster on October 03, 2011, 12:29:12 PM
Post by: Rhinoron247 on October 03, 2011, 12:51:04 PM
Post by: KFhunter on October 13, 2011, 04:58:28 PM
toss it in a big cooler
to process I use a kitchen aid grinder attachment to grind and stuff sausage - not the best but hell I'm not making a living of it
sharp knife for the rest, pretty much sums it up
this time I'll be doing seal a meal instead of wax paper for storage.
trick is to prefreeze then seal it so you don't suck all the juice out
still tempted to hire a butcher, trust is a big issue though as I grew up raising beef and butchers was almost a curse word.
I'd LOVE to have a home butcher cool house with all the neat tools to process anything from beef to grouse and fish
Post by: gotshot on October 13, 2011, 05:50:54 PM
Post by: fishunt on October 21, 2011, 10:04:10 PM
Post by: jechicdr on October 23, 2011, 07:45:31 PM
Post by: TheHunt on October 23, 2011, 08:09:36 PM
Back straps are the meat along the spine of the animal. You can cut that out by cutting along the spine bone and the rib cage. Cut that up on 8 inch chunks and wrap them up. If you slice all the strap up it is has more issues and it easier to cut when it is frozen a little.
Tenderloin inside the body cavity and sliced similar to the back straps
There is one big ass roast that comes out of every elk and deer. It is the sirloin Tip Roast this is the one big muscle that is connected to the hip socket up to the last part of the ass you cannot miss it. It is the biggest single muscle in the ass.
You can make roast out of any muscle but I tend to grind more meat up then I do roast. All the neck and other meat gets ground up.
Post by: Bean Counter on October 24, 2011, 11:54:55 AM
First time post, have enjoyed the site for a while. My question is: How long can you hang a deer before butchering? When is the temperature too warm?
Welcome aboard, fishunt!
You can hang a deer for 5-7 days depending upon humidity (less = better). There isn't much benefit IMHO to going beyond the 7 with the risk of bacterial multiplication and they don't seem to get more tender. Also, IMHO, if you can't hang it for at least four days you might as well butcher it the day you shoot it. Hanging it for only one to two days produces little benefit to me as I understand the rigor mortis process to cause the muscles to harden before they get more tender again.
As far as temperature again that depends on humidity and elevation. 40 degrees is the general rule of thumb. If you're in a costal area the temperature is more consistent. But up high, it may warm up to the mid 50s or even 60 degrees during the day but it will get so cold at night that hanging meat will not warm up to the danger zone if its in the shade during the day. This should go without saying but be sure the animal/quarters are skinned and wrapped in a burlap bag, not plastic--you need the air circulation.
Post by: jackmaster on October 24, 2011, 12:14:36 PM
First time post, have enjoyed the site for a while. My question is: How long can you hang a deer before butchering? When is the temperature too warm?you can hang a deer for along time if its cold or pretty cool, if its hot and you cant refridgerate the meat then i would cut it up as quick as you can, we have cut are own meat for as long as i have been around and my dad was obviously cutn are own meat before i was born, i am 39 now and have learned alot about hangn meat, one thing i like the most is to hang the meat until i see little mold spots and then we wipe it down with a vinegar water mix, about a 70x30 mix water to vinegar ratio, let hang for a couple more hours and then cut it up, however if its warm out i let it hang for just acouple hours before i cut it up but i still wipe it down with the water vinegar solution...
Post by: C-Money on October 24, 2011, 12:37:37 PM
PS, the bag of meat you carried out weighed 65lbs. :yike: You are an animal!
Post by: triggersbuddy on October 24, 2011, 08:25:31 PM
Post by: BLUEBULLS on October 24, 2011, 08:36:54 PM
Post by: jechicdr on October 24, 2011, 11:30:08 PM
Post by: jackmaster on October 25, 2011, 06:34:54 AM
Post by: pips4bucks on October 25, 2011, 10:00:39 PM
We have 3 piles, steaks, stew meat, and hamburger. The neck gets saved to make mincemeat, if the front legs/shoulders are big enough, we cut some steaks out of them, but it usually goes toward
stew and hamburger. The backstraps and the tenderloins become steaks, as well as some of the bigger cuts out of the hindquarters. Sometimes we'll save the hindquarters for roasts, but it usually gets steaked up. Anything left that's big enough goes to stew, the rest into burger. Some of the burger is made into sausage.
Unless you're really particular about what your steaks look like, there's really no wrong way to do it.
Weather dictates how long we hang it. 40 degrees or less and we'll hang it at least 3 days as long as the weather holds at that temp. Often times I've cut up the critter the same day because it's too hot. I just got all the equipment to build a cooler..... for free! :IBCOOL: So now we can hang our game in a controlled environment until we're ready to cut it up.
Have fun with it!
Post by: elkoholic on October 28, 2011, 08:41:31 AM