Processing your own venison help!

[Gus]

I'm going to give it a shot this year!

I bought the Hesselgrave video and think I have a pretty good idea about how to do the deer itself but does anyone have any other ideas, tips, tricks, or other suggested readings?

Where is the best place to get freezer paper and tape?

I'm also thinking of grinding my own burger. Does anyone have any suggestions on a cheap grinder and tips or tricks? I'm not sold on getting a expensive fancy one yet because I'm not sure I'll stick with doing my own processing. This is just a starter year.

Any ideas on how to make sure a deer does not spoil in this early season heat? What I'm most worried about is shooting a deer on Sunday and not being able to start cutting until Monday after work.

Please share all you can!

[captkev]

I've been processing my own game for... too many years, I do it with the family, my dad is the one who showed us kids how to do it and its been part of the tradition of deer hunting, I started bringing my finished product to my local butcher and have him shrink wrap/ vac seal every thing, he only charges .10-.20 cents per bag and its worth every penny. my dad boudgt a small vac sealer and it works, but he paid over $200.00 for it and I'd say about 5% of the bags don't seal properly. The biggest part about makeing the sausage is to make shure cut and throw out all of the grizzle and small bone chips, common sence there what you put in is what you put out later we trim most of the deer fat off and add pork and pork fat some even add beef 1/3 1/3 1/3 thats all up to you, spices... I even grind in 10 lbs of jalopenio pepers just for kicks.

Good luck, I think you'll get a better sence of enjoyment out of hunting now too. makes you feel good to know that your getting your own deer back to.

[subzero]

Just about all grocery stores have the freezer paper and tape, Cabela's have grinders in various price ranges. I have processed my own deer and it is not that big a deal even if you have to do a quick job on a Sunday night.

[Nova]

Fleet, Gander and Cabela's all have grinders, but don't get the electric one. They are garbage for grinding venison. Get the hand one, but make sure it's big enough. Even a beginner can quarter a deer and make it small enough to get in the fridge Sunday night until you get to the final cuts. I personally don't use a saw to cut bones. Gets too much bone dust and marrow in the meat. We debone everything and after some practice you waste nothing and have a better product. As soon as you get the deer hung back at camp wash it good(the cavity) with water and shove a couple ice blocks in the cavity and wrap it with twine. Works great to cool the meat fast and keep it from spoiling. I wouldn't hang it more than a day in 70 degree plus temps. Good luck, you will enjoy carving your own deer.

[Mark Christianson]

Dont get the electric grinder because they are junk????

Are you crazy? There are some great ones out there.

You wont catch me hand grinding any meat ever again!!!

The electric ones work great. That is if you aren't using a Kmart bluelight special brand.

No ifs, ands or buts about it.

[fivebucks]

The two most important tools for me when I process my venison (outside of a knife) is a Gander Mtn purchased Electric grinder that works great, and a vacume sealer.

With any grinder you just have to remove as much silver skin as possible.

[RussDaBuss]

Like stated above. Cool it down as quick as possible. The main thing is to take your time (with-in reason if it is warm). Keep it in mind that whatever you cut up and freeze will eventually be cooked. I cut off anything questionable, all the lard and most the silver stuff as.. Do all the trimming before you package and freeze it and all you have to do when you take it out of the freezer is thaw it out and wash it (I usually soak mine in water in the fridge over nite) Also for the trimmings be picky. You might end up with less but what you end up with is VERY good.. I have been doing mine for about 5 years now and it is a good feeling when all is said and done. AND, you know what you are eating!!

Good luck

[Nova]

Biglake, did you buy one of the fleet farm ones or a high buck one. I guess we just tried the $80 one from fleet. Two differnet machines and they both jammed up. What kind is yours and where did you get it? cost? I know he didn't want to spend much, that's why I suggested not going electric. I grind between 5 and 10 deer a year so if I could find a good electric it would be awesome. Thanks in advance for the info.... didn't mean to offend your grinder

[irvingdog]

Bill Hesselgrave will be at the Gander Mountain in Maple Grove on October 29th at 2p.m.

If you are in the area, don't miss it!

[KeystoneLight]

MINNESOTA DEER HUNTERS ASSO. has a DVD on field dressing,butchering and wrapping for about $20.00 that is pretty good. Check out their HSOforum.

[EXTREME]

The best tip to offer is separate the muscles and cut against the grain on the hind quarters. The back straps must be cut against the grain as well. I usually make the front shoulders into burger meat, but some make roasts out of it. The most important thing about butchering your own deer is get rid of all the fat. Most of the people that don't like venison, have never had it cut properly...that is a fact. Anyway, it makes you feel better about your kill, when you can take care of it yourself. Good luck!!

[captkev]

The grinder we use is a electric... But you probably would'nt find another one like it, My grandpa made it.

One large hand grinder with the hand crank taken off, next he built a shaft that runs into a steering box off a old truck, conected to that is a pully wheel that is fed to a belt to another wheel on a 1/2 hp electric motor off of a washing machine or a furnace, I can't remember All I know is that its processed 100's of deer over the years, the only thing ever replaced is the blades. Oh, and its all mounted nicely on a piece of 1/4" sheet metal. Its heavy, but its lasted along time.

[Guest]

Dont forget to take care of meat as far as CWD.Its not hard to keep out of the brain,spine and cut out the limpnodes.Very easy to do while you butcher if you know how to do it.

[Mark Christianson]

Nova,

I dont know what brand it is. Its my parents.

I'll try to find out what brand, but they have had it for 10+ years.

No offense taken.

Just amazed to see someone that prefers cranking by hand. I did that when I was a kid, and I can tell you its not what I want to do again. You can rip through a huge tub of scraps in no time with a good electric. And spend the rest of your time making your own sausage!

[Polar Bear]

Gus, Once you get the hang of processing your own deer you'll never be comfortable hiring it done again. I've done more than 100 in the last 25 years and can now cut and wrap a whole animal in just under 2 hours after hanging if I really hustle, not counting grinding time.

However, if there is beer drinking and bragging involved it can take much, much longer !

Best of luck.

[Polar Bear]

One tip you might not find anywhere else: After finishing skinning, next cut away all tainted and blood-shot meat. Then get yourself a hand held propane torch and pass the flame over every inch of the carcass both inside and out to burn up any loose hair clinging to the meat.

This is, by far, the easiest and quickest way to remove the hair. When the flame hits a stray hair you will hear a hiss-crackle noise and the hair will dissapear leaving just a hint of ash residue behind.

Best of all, you never have to worry about picking a disgusting hunk of fur out of an otherwise delicious meal.

[Froggy4371]

Polar Bear Great Point We have been doing that for years and it works great. I will also tell you this if you have someone that has done it before just ask for help so you can learn from someone that has done it before. I have taught many people! And one other thing!!!! If you have to ask if it is ok to put in the scrap pile toss it!!! If you don't know if you want to eat it now one else wants to eat it!

Froggy

[BLACKJACK]

Good topic! For years we hauled our deer into the butcher shop and then scattered, just easier and no wasted hunting time. Last year for the first time I tackled it for the first time because I had shot a doe on a Sat, it was warm out, no butchers open til Monday. Got a friend to help, he had done many deer, we skinned it out, and cut it up while my wife vacumn packed. It turned out good. The biggest challenge is keeping everything clean and figuring out what cuts to make, where steaks and roasts should be cut out of.

Now I've been gearing up to do my own again. Still not sure about some of the cuts, yes I know steaks come out of the backstraps, but that hind quarter is a challenge! Thinking about making more roasts this year, that front quarter would make a nice blade roast! Looking for somewhere to buy some big cutting boards, any ideas where to find them? Also, has anyone ever used one of those meat grinders that attach to a Kitchen Aid mixer? I'm sure my wife might like the grinder attachment for Christmas!!!

[Jackpine Rob]

The Kitchen Aid grinder attachment works, but it really isn't powerful enough if you're doing more than one deer. There are a couple of sizes you can grind to, and I found that if you tried to grind to the smaller (burger) size you clog the thing up in short order. You end up having to coarse grind and then go back and re-grind to the smaller size.

That said, the grinder attachment is a worthwhile addition to the kitchen arsenal - so I'd buy one of those anyhow and then get a good heavy-duty grinder specifically for meat. I ended up with an old heavy-duty electric from my late grandpa, who was a butcher at one time. That thing really chews through the meat!

[wallter]

What do you guys recommend if I shoot one in warm weather? Should I buy ice to cool it off? Should it hang over night regardless of temp? Skin it right away or after overnight hang? Rinse out cavity with water(yes on no)? Or just bring it straight to the garage skin it and butcher it? Thanks.

[nolte]

This is what we do when it's warm for bear. Most of the deer we get are later in the season.

First if you can get the hide off in a clean place. If you are traveling quite a ways get some ice bags and put in the chest cavity. I would also rinse out the cavity and/or meat but don't let it soak in water. Also try to trim off any fat, hair or xtra you aren't goining to use. Much easier now than later in your cut meat.

After that pull the t-loins off, cut off the backstraps, and then quarter the hams and shoulders. If you don't have time to get the hams and shoulder put them in a chest freezer or cooler with ice, but keep them out of sitting in water. with just the cavity left, start working between ribs and around left over bones to get some xtra for sausage and burger. Make sure when you cut up wild meat to keep the tallow, glands and white parts out. They are what usually give it a gamey taste.

[Jackpine Rob]

Out antelope hunting last year the daytime temps were in the 70's, and some of the fellows at the campground actually drove into town and used the car wash (cold rinse) to clean off the dirt and blood. Pretty slick idea. Wished I had thought of it!

I had the hide off of mine about an hour after the kill. Gutting was done shortly after it hit the ground, and I had a 3 gallon water container in the cooler (with lots of ice) in the back of the pickup. Sluiced out the cavity real good with cold water, let the water drain while loading up the rest of my gear and that helped out greatly.

Flies were a real problem, and I had some of those yarn game bags. I had the antelope hung up off a tree at the campsite, and once the hide was off I pulled a deer-size bag over the carcass while preparing the rest of the butchering kit.

I would cut off part of the carcass to work on, and pull the game bag over the remainder to keep the flies at bay. The boned-out meat went into cheap white cotton pillow cases which I marked (backstraps, hindquarter, front quarter, grinding, misc.) with a magic marker.

The boned out meat went into coolers on top of a bed of ice contained in a sealed up garbage bag. Another double-bagged and sealed bag of ice went on top of the meat. Lasted just dandy until I got home 2 days later. As noted above, you absolutely, positively DON'T want the meat resting in water. Also, do not put the meat itself sealed up in garbage bags or plastic - it'll go south in a hurry.

[Guest]

I personally dont wash the deer cavity out with water as its a good way to spread bacteria throughout the animal.What I usually do if the cavity needs cleaning is to use leaves as it works great.Also,another little tip is when you wash off your gutting knife,place it in some water and bleach and let it sit for 12 hours to kill any bacteria left such as CWD or anything else,at least that what I have been told to do,just a little extra care.

[captkev]

Well, I'm not dead yet I love to fallow tradition, even if its a little supersticious, my dad told me it was bad luck to wash your hunting knife in soap and water allmost 24 years ago in november, to this day my gutting knife has seen nothing but hot water, or maybe i've just built up one heck of an ammune system.

[Guest]

captkev-I didnt state soap and water,bleach and water,helps kill all bacteria on your knife.Sometimes hard to change traditions,but sanitation is key,in processing my venison.Good luck.