Self processing tips.

[whitetailfreak]

Nah -the bones don’t weigh that much and make for a way more manageable load in the pack- keeping it stay upright not just be a bag of jello down on your hips, and keeping the meat on the bone through rigor mortis makes for more tender result at the table.

That little popup28 hauled lots of meat off the mountain

To each his own but I'm not toting out bones when it's just as quick to bone em in the field. No issues keeping the load upright here. Compression straps will keep the boned meat from sagging and evenly distributed. There's more than one way to skin a cat

 

[fireman32]

Keep the venison cold and dry, also keep your equipment cold. Sharp knife, cutting board and patience.
I debone and slice everything into the pieces I want keeping them separated until it’s all prepped. Then do all the cubing, grinding etc.
Good vacuum sealer and scale.
Older bucks are generally ground except the neck, shanks and tenderloins. Get cubed and roasts from does. Use the lesser pieces from all to make sausage.
Food grade grease on the cuber and auger of the grinder helps a lot during cleanup.

Edit to add. I’m a LEM snob. Grinder, cuber, slicer, stuffer, mixer are all LEM. Never had a minutes trouble from any of it, roughy 40 deer have been processed with it since I’ve had it. Dexter boning knives are my go to for cutting. Currently looking at a chamber sealer since I’ve had less than good luck with Food saver vacuum sealers lasting.

 

[antharper]

I like to take a few hams every season and bust them up in sections and freeze in about 2 pound chunks. Take out and slice half frozen for jerky .
I also have a vacuum sealer but hardly use it . Just use good freezer ziplock. . I don’t put up anymore than I know my family will eat in a year and have never had a problem with quality .
All my ground I double bag . First in a cheap sandwich bag then 2 of them fit in a quart freezer bag.
I also like to freeze a few small shoulders and neck for the crockpot . Actually put a shoulder in crockpot this morning , simple and delicious . And I absolutely hate cutting the shoulders up . Picture of what that shoulder turned into

 

[sportsman94]

I know I gave one, but I thought of some more. If you aren’t in a bind for meat, freeze all your meat (deboned and chunked) in gallon bags and grind at one time at the end of season. To me that’s way easier than grinding every couple weeks. Another is to get a cheap fridge for aging deer. Put the quarters or boned out pieces in there and process further when you’re ready. Keeps it cool, dry, and can be used for other stuff in the off season. If you use meat lugs you can easily store 4-6 deer in a regular sized fridge. Beats worrying about ice and tan colored meat

 

[menhadenman]

Nah -the bones don’t weigh that much and make for a way more manageable load in the pack- keeping it stay upright not just be a bag of jello down on your hips, and keeping the meat on the bone through rigor mortis makes for more tender result at the table.

That little popup28 hauled lots of meat off the mountain

I did that just recently… agree with the bones. Plus you can cool em down in the branches while you work.

 

[whitetailfreak]

I did that just recently… agree with the bones. Plus you can cool em down in the branches while you work. View attachment 1273913View attachment 1273914View attachment 1273915

They'll hang boned too.

 

[Kev]

We use press and seal around the meat and then wrap with freezer paper on top of that. The meat will last years if you wrap it correctly. We have a vacuum sealer but never use it. We can move faster wrapping and it last just as long when my wife wraps it. I’m no good at wrapping though.

 

[WOODIE13]

Don’t let your buddies know you have everything to do it with. Did a few for a few of mine but when it gets late or their wife starts calling they leave you with the mess to clean up. I don’t do any of that anymore told em all to buy their own.

Time to find new buddies

 

[WOODIE13]

I have a vacuum sealer, hate it. Use standard freezer bags, add a little water, juice or marinade to it, squeeze out the air and seal. Works for me.

Get a grinder with a shut off if it gets binded up. Fried one with some goose and a steel BB.

Keep meat below 45 degrees, cooler, fridge, walk in.

Juice jugs frozen with water are your friends, last way longer than cubed ice.

Sharp knives.

An electric winch to pull the skin off with an overhead roof.

A canner.

 

[35 Whelen]

Here is how I do mine:

How I cut up a deer

Here is how I spent my day, cutting up the buck I shot on Thanksgiving. First, the equipment I use, plastic wrap, freezer paper, masking tape, marker, two sharp knives, cutting board, and a small bone saw. Neck - cut in half to make two nice roasts. This is the only thing I use the bone saw...

forum.gon.com

 

[notnksnemor]

If your wife already has a Kitchenaide mixer sitting on the counter, you're half way to all you need.

Grinder/cuber attachments for a Kitchenaide do a good job.

 

[bfriendly]

I do wish y’all wouldn’t put so much pressure on folks buying a grinder. My Harbour Freight$20 grinder works great, has the attachments to do sausage. I may only grind 2-4 deer a season, but it’s more than adequate. Use the money you saved and Buy A Jerky Gun! That’s my tip! Get a jerky gun!
I borrowed a slicer last year and bought my own this year. Making sliced jerky requires a lot more work, but well worth it!

this is the easy part. Once you season/cure it, then you have to spread it back out for drying…….it’s a love thing and worth all the time it takes!

 

[175rltw]

Keep the venison cold and dry, also keep your equipment cold. Sharp knife, cutting board and patience.
I debone and slice everything into the pieces I want keeping them separated until it’s all prepped. Then do all the cubing, grinding etc.
Good vacuum sealer and scale.
Older bucks are generally ground except the neck, shanks and tenderloins. Get cubed and roasts from does. Use the lesser pieces from all to make sausage.
Food grade grease on the cuber and auger of the grinder helps a lot during cleanup.

Edit to add. I’m a LEM snob. Grinder, cuber, slicer, stuffer, mixer are all LEM. Never had a minutes trouble from any of it, roughy 40 deer have been processed with it since I’ve had it. Dexter boning knives are my go to for cutting. Currently looking at a chamber sealer since I’ve had less than good luck with Food saver vacuum sealers lasting.

Chamber sealer is the bomb. You can vac seal a bag of water. Me and my buddy each got one at Costco in 2008 and we would run run them side by side in tandem for doing all our sockeye filets from dip netting, we’d run them in tandem for or moose as well. For everything else the production didn’t call for using them both but it made a huge difference to run two of them when processing 90 salmon. Or a moose. Or 2.
Or 5 and a caribou

I Make corned brisket or corned round from the moose- now elk or deer- make my brine and vac seal the roast in the brine.

Only time I use a food saver is for a major away game- aka out of state hunt where I’ll need to process it to before I get home.

 

[175rltw]

If your wife already has a Kitchenaide mixer sitting on the counter, you're half way to all you need.

Grinder/cuber attachments for a Kitchenaide do a good job.

I’ve been through 2 periods of my life where the kitchen side mixer was my grinder. I just packaged cubed up trim into 1-2 lb packs and froze it and otherwise would just pull a 1-2lb roast and cube it and grind it as they say PRN. As needed. That was the compromise- trying to grind 20-30lbs at a go was not tenable. But we never wanted for burger or spaghetti or chilli or tacos or breakfast sausage.

 

[Danny Leigh]

I'll add that when cutting chunks for grinding, leave the pieces long so that the auger will pull the meat through. We used to cut it up in smallish pieces only to have to keep stuffing the meat for the auger to grab.

 

[specialk]

I saw a YouTube video where a guy sprayed his grinder parts with food grade silicone after having them in the freezer. I might try that too. But it seems like cooking spray would do the same thing. Please keep the tips coming

i spray all my equipment with food grade silicone after cleaning them off REALLY good.......if your going to make any amount of sausage i recommend a meat mixer that will attach to most modern grinders....makes the job so much easier...

 

[sportsman94]

i spray all my equipment with food grade silicone after cleaning them off REALLY good.......if your going to make any amount of sausage i recommend a meat mixer that will attach to most modern grinders....makes the job so much easier...

What does it do to make it easier? I’ve only made sausage one way (seasoning goes on cubed up meat, grind twice to get even distribution of flavor and fat, then package or stuff in casings). I’m all for making my life easier though and have no problem picking up a new tool if it’ll do that!

 

[notnksnemor]

If fat is hard to come by when grinding, don't sweat it.
Grind and package lean. When you get ready to cook just put a dollop of lard in the pan if you're browning or frying burgers.
Mix a dollop in the meat if you are pattying to grill.

Good results.

 

[specialk]

What does it do to make it easier? I’ve only made sausage one way (seasoning goes on cubed up meat, grind twice to get even distribution of flavor and fat, then package or stuff in casings). I’m all for making my life easier though and have no problem picking up a new tool if it’ll do that!

i've never ground cubed, i use deboned deer meat straight into the grinder....then i use deboned pork butts into the grinder.....then it all goes into the mixer with the seasonings to incorporate....

 

[kmckinnie]

I’ve done deer and pork together. About 2 to 1 in favor of deer. Mix it together with spices. If I link in casings I add bell peppers onions cheese to what I want. Then grind into the casings. I try to do more stuff like that but my wife stops a lot of it. Then we cook. Everyone says how good. Then she says I made it. Then we argue again when we make it.