Arrow Flinger
Moderator
Do it yourself deer processing
Deer Selection
Good deer meat starts before you even pull the trigger. If I am hunting solely for a deer for the freezer, I will be looking for a medium size Doe. I will end up with an adequate amount of tender meat. Although there is nothing wrong with killing one, I don’t personally shoot 6 month old deer but with a Son that hunts with me, It seems that I end up with one or two to work up each year and there is no finer deer meat IMO. With a small deer, it does not make any sense to pay 50-75 bucks to end up with 20 pounds of meat so processing it yourself really makes sense. But of course, I ain’t passing on a big ole Buck but I usually handle the meat a little different. Grinding the whole deer is what I will do with it but that job is a little to much for me so I leave that up to a processor. I will Jerky a big ole buck also and handle that all my self. Cubing will also be a big help in tenderizing a big ole buck if you prefer steaks. A stressed deer that has ran a good ways before or after the shot is one that I grind or Jerky also. When a deer is stressed or has ran a long way, adrenaline pumps through the body and does not make for prime meat. The key to good deer meat (I just can’t seem to say venison) is a quick kill on a relaxed deer and quick gutting and cooling of the carcass.
So you have had a successful hunt and you have meat on the ground. You have taken all the precautions to ensure good meat on the table. You have gutted the deer as quickly as possible and cleaned the cavity and the deer is hung in a cooler or skinned and quartered. The meat is cooled as soon as possible. You have done everything you could to insure some good eating and now all that is left is for the processor to do his job.
The truth about commercial processing
I know that most commercial processors do a great job of taking care of your meat and will deliver the best meat possible with commercial processing but this is not always the case. I have seen a few that were less sanitary than I would desire and would not want to eat meat from there business. So check a place out before you do business with them. Let your nose be the guide. If a place stinks to high heaven, something ain’t right.
I learned a valuable lesson a couple of years ago when I took some meat to have sausage made. I took a lot of time cleaning, removing the fat and chunking 20 pounds of meat and took it to a processor. My Daddy has had heart problems and was banned from eating pork sausage by his Doctor. I was going to get him some deer sausage made with much less fat. When I made the request, I was told that sausage and ground deer is made in 100 pound batches. What does that tell you? Who knows how much ( or any) care was taken by the other people who’s meat that is now mixed with mine. This is just something to keep in mind.
I have had processed meat that was good but never any as good as my own boned out and cut deer. It is just the nature of the process. When a deer, cow or hog is processed, it is sawed with a band saw. That works out ok with pork and beef but deer is a different deal. Beef and pork fat add to the flavor. Deer fat taste bad. That is a fact and it is mixed in with your meat. You can remove all the surface fat and there is still fat in the meat that can’t be removed. Also with every cut made, bone dust and marrow are smeared on every cut. I am not saying that this adds a bad taste but it adds a taste to the meat. Have you ever heard someone say that soaking meat before cooking makes it better? Soaking takes away some of this bone and marrow and does help the taste but there is nothing that you can do to take away the fat mixed in with the meat.
Do it yourself
I know that a processor is quick and easy and there is nothing wrong with using one but you have never had deer meat that is as good as it can be until you have boned out meat. Boned meat don’t even taste the same to me. It is much better and it is very rewarding to handle the deer from the kill to the table. It is not that hard and it takes me probably no more than an hour to an hour and a half to get it in the freezer. With the high cost of processing now, unless you kill a big deer, paying for the processing is not bargain per pound either. Most charge 50-75 bucks to handle the job.
The only tools needed is a sharp knife, a cubing hammer (5 bucks or so) and a simple hand grinder (optional ) You can pick up a functional hand grinder for the price of one processing job and handle most of your own grinding needs. A dehydrator is also great if you want to make jerky and you can pick one up for 20-30 bucks. I even have an old small meat slicer that I bought at Goodwill for 20 bucks and it is a big help especially with Jerky.
I like to bone out my deer at the time I skin it out and do the entire job without quartering the deer. I start by hanging the deer head down and skinning the deer , washing off any hair that might have gotten on the meat. If water is not available, you can clean the meat at home. With some care while skinning, little hair will get on the meat anyway. Once the deer is skinned, you are ready too start boning. It is best to use a pulley system for hanging so that the level of the deer can be adjusted for a comfortable working height as your work progresses. The first thing I do is go inside the cavity and remove the tender loins. A lot of folks don’t remove these but they are by far the tastiest pieces of meat on the deer. Just take a knife and cut them loose. If I am camping, they don’t stay in the cooler but until supper! Next comes the back straps. There is a thin membrane (skin) covering all the meat. Take your knife and split it and cut it all off exposing the meat. You can now take your fingers and almost pull the back straps away from the back bone. Take the knife and cut the meat loose from the back bone from the neck to the tail bone. Next make a cross cut at the top of the back strap and one at the bottom. The next thing I do is pull the back strap at the spine and using my knife, work it loose from the rib cage starting on the inside. Repeat this on the other side and you now have the making for some fine butterfly steaks or smoked loin.
Now it is time to start on the rear quarters. The quarters are also covered with the same type membrane and the starting point is to remove it exposing the meat. You will notice that the quarters will have different muscle groups and that is what you want to separate. Once the membrane is removed, again, you can use your fingers and start to separate the muscle groups. You can almost pull them apart, Just use your knife to help with the separation. When the meat is attached to bone, just use your knife to trim the meat loose. In between these muscle groups is where some of that hidden fat will be found so I also remove it at this time. You will end up with several different sections of meat (roast) on each quarter and should be left with only bone when you are done. These roast can either be sliced into steaks of cooked as roast. I know this sounds a little complicated but once you get started, you will see what I am talking about and it is really pretty easy.
Next it is time to take care of the front shoulders and neck meat. I use this for grinding or stew meat. I just cut the neck meat and front shoulder meat off the bone and put in gallon storage bags and into the cooler for more intense cleaning later. There is not enough meat on the ribs for me to save so the yotes gets it. You have completed the first step and now all the meat is in a cooler and iced down.
Some people would rather just quarter the deer and cool and do the separating at home but with a little practice, you can have it in the cooler in 30 minutes or less so I just bone on the spot.
Aging
Aging is the process of hanging a deer in an adequately cool place for 5-10 days. This process allows bacteria to break down the meat for added tenderization. I have aged meat and can not tell a big difference in it either way. Some people swear by it though. Remember, if you age your meat, a temperature of 35-40 degrees is recommended if I remember correctly. Most of my aging takes place by accident when I don’t have time to get the meat worked up right away.
You are ready to cut
Once the separation is complete, you are ready to cut and wrap your meat or you can leave the sections whole and use them for roast. The most important thing to remember is to always cut your meat across the grain. This is essential for tender meat. Each section of meat will have the grain running one direction. Most meat sections are longer than they are wide and the grain is running the long way. Again, when you start, you will see what I am talking about. The only time I cut with the grain is with some of the meat I jerky. I do my cutting on the kitchen table and other than a little grumbling from my wife, it works just fine. Make sure to use a cutting board though! I sit out 3 large plastic bowls and use one for scraps, one for grind meat and the other for my finished meat.
I start with the back straps ( the tenderloins have already made for a fine supper!) Clean any hair that is left on it and lay it on the cutting board. You can cut them up several different ways. One way is to just cut the back straps into whatever length you desire for grilling or smoking. You can also just slice them up to what ever thickness you desire for steaks or my preference is to make butterfly steaks. For butterfly steaks, I start by slicing the back strap into pieces 1 inch thick. Now take each steak and make a cut in the middle but stopping the cut ½ inch from the bottom. You now can fold the steak out to twice the original size making it a butterfly steak. Butter flying just makes the piece of meat bigger.
Next it is time for the rear quarters. Each muscle group is also covered with another membrane. Remove it before you cut the steaks. There will also still be some membrane, ligaments and fat on some groups so remove it also and wash. Just slice each section up to the desired thickness and they are ready to freeze. Small sections left over are put in the grind bowl.
With the neck meat and front shoulders, I just chunk and clean and it is ready to grind. Make sure to remove any fat ect..
Grinding
Your meat you have saved for grinding is 100% lean and you will need to add beef fat for good burgers or pork fat for sausage. Do not use deer fat! Drop by a butcher shop and you can usually buy all the beef or pork fat you want for a small fee. Mix 1 part fat to 3 parts meat but you can adjust the amount to your taste. I would double grind (run it through twice) and get a good mixture. I have never made any good sausage so I don’t have a good receipt for the seasoning. Of course, if you want a whole deer ground, the hand grinder will take to much time so I just take the deer to the processor for that. Since you are getting the whole deer done, they will usually do it by itself if you request it. I still like to bone and clean my meat and take it to the processor in a cooler.
Cubing
Cubing is a process of breaking down the fibers of the meat to aid in tenderization. Although cubing is not necessary, it can be easily done with a cubing hammer. If you kill a big ole buck and want steaks out of it. I would recommend cubing them. Just take the steaks and lay them on a cutting board and beat away with the cubing hammer. You can cube them to any level that you prefer and it doesn’t take very long at all.
Jerky
I make my own jerky by first slicing the meat into 3/8 inch thick strips. I know this sounds thick but you will end up with very thin jerky. Slice with the grain if you like your jerky tougher or against the grain if you like it tender. Consistent thickness makes drying a lot easier. That is where my meat slicer really comes in handy. If your slices vary much in thickness, the meat will dry at a different rate. It will still work but just be careful to get it all dried. I use Hi Mountain seasoning and cure along with some fajita seasoning and salt and pepper. With the Hi Mountain, I layered the meat in a plastic bowl, seasoning between layers and refrigerate for 24 hours. It then goes in the dehydrator and 10 hours or so later, I have some awesome Jerky. Half of it will already be gone before I have time to bag it. I designate one whole deer (minus tenderloin) to Jerky each year and do a whole deer into Jerky. I cut and season all of it and freeze several batches to dry through out the year. I just store the dried Jerky in storage bags and it will keep for a week or so. I have tried freezing it but it real soggy when thawed so I don’t freeze anymore.
Freezing
The next important step is freezing. I try to pat dry all of the meat before packaging it. I have used wax coated freezer paper and it has served me well. Make sure to seal the package up good with freezer tape. I have used freezer bags too and that is the route I am using more and more due to the convenience. You can also use aluminum foil but make sure to double wrap. The only thing I don’t like about aluminum foil is that it is too easy to knock a hole in and you end up with freezer burn. The best way to freeze though is with a vacuum sealer. I hope to get hold of one soon and that will be my new way to freeze. You can add months to the freezer life by vacuumed sealing. I know that this all sounds like a lot of work but the end results is well worth the effort and it is a great feeling to know you did it all yourself. Like I said earlier, you will have quality meat unlike any other you have tasted. You might not have the quantity of meat that you get back from the processor but it will all be prime meat and no bone.
Again, most commercial deer processors do a great job and I am in no way slamming them but just trying to give ya’ll another option. The only downside is that when your hunting buddies find out that you can process, you will be the most popular man in camp!
Add another aspect to your hunting experience. Do it yourself!
Deer Selection
Good deer meat starts before you even pull the trigger. If I am hunting solely for a deer for the freezer, I will be looking for a medium size Doe. I will end up with an adequate amount of tender meat. Although there is nothing wrong with killing one, I don’t personally shoot 6 month old deer but with a Son that hunts with me, It seems that I end up with one or two to work up each year and there is no finer deer meat IMO. With a small deer, it does not make any sense to pay 50-75 bucks to end up with 20 pounds of meat so processing it yourself really makes sense. But of course, I ain’t passing on a big ole Buck but I usually handle the meat a little different. Grinding the whole deer is what I will do with it but that job is a little to much for me so I leave that up to a processor. I will Jerky a big ole buck also and handle that all my self. Cubing will also be a big help in tenderizing a big ole buck if you prefer steaks. A stressed deer that has ran a good ways before or after the shot is one that I grind or Jerky also. When a deer is stressed or has ran a long way, adrenaline pumps through the body and does not make for prime meat. The key to good deer meat (I just can’t seem to say venison) is a quick kill on a relaxed deer and quick gutting and cooling of the carcass.
So you have had a successful hunt and you have meat on the ground. You have taken all the precautions to ensure good meat on the table. You have gutted the deer as quickly as possible and cleaned the cavity and the deer is hung in a cooler or skinned and quartered. The meat is cooled as soon as possible. You have done everything you could to insure some good eating and now all that is left is for the processor to do his job.
The truth about commercial processing
I know that most commercial processors do a great job of taking care of your meat and will deliver the best meat possible with commercial processing but this is not always the case. I have seen a few that were less sanitary than I would desire and would not want to eat meat from there business. So check a place out before you do business with them. Let your nose be the guide. If a place stinks to high heaven, something ain’t right.
I learned a valuable lesson a couple of years ago when I took some meat to have sausage made. I took a lot of time cleaning, removing the fat and chunking 20 pounds of meat and took it to a processor. My Daddy has had heart problems and was banned from eating pork sausage by his Doctor. I was going to get him some deer sausage made with much less fat. When I made the request, I was told that sausage and ground deer is made in 100 pound batches. What does that tell you? Who knows how much ( or any) care was taken by the other people who’s meat that is now mixed with mine. This is just something to keep in mind.
I have had processed meat that was good but never any as good as my own boned out and cut deer. It is just the nature of the process. When a deer, cow or hog is processed, it is sawed with a band saw. That works out ok with pork and beef but deer is a different deal. Beef and pork fat add to the flavor. Deer fat taste bad. That is a fact and it is mixed in with your meat. You can remove all the surface fat and there is still fat in the meat that can’t be removed. Also with every cut made, bone dust and marrow are smeared on every cut. I am not saying that this adds a bad taste but it adds a taste to the meat. Have you ever heard someone say that soaking meat before cooking makes it better? Soaking takes away some of this bone and marrow and does help the taste but there is nothing that you can do to take away the fat mixed in with the meat.
Do it yourself
I know that a processor is quick and easy and there is nothing wrong with using one but you have never had deer meat that is as good as it can be until you have boned out meat. Boned meat don’t even taste the same to me. It is much better and it is very rewarding to handle the deer from the kill to the table. It is not that hard and it takes me probably no more than an hour to an hour and a half to get it in the freezer. With the high cost of processing now, unless you kill a big deer, paying for the processing is not bargain per pound either. Most charge 50-75 bucks to handle the job.
The only tools needed is a sharp knife, a cubing hammer (5 bucks or so) and a simple hand grinder (optional ) You can pick up a functional hand grinder for the price of one processing job and handle most of your own grinding needs. A dehydrator is also great if you want to make jerky and you can pick one up for 20-30 bucks. I even have an old small meat slicer that I bought at Goodwill for 20 bucks and it is a big help especially with Jerky.
I like to bone out my deer at the time I skin it out and do the entire job without quartering the deer. I start by hanging the deer head down and skinning the deer , washing off any hair that might have gotten on the meat. If water is not available, you can clean the meat at home. With some care while skinning, little hair will get on the meat anyway. Once the deer is skinned, you are ready too start boning. It is best to use a pulley system for hanging so that the level of the deer can be adjusted for a comfortable working height as your work progresses. The first thing I do is go inside the cavity and remove the tender loins. A lot of folks don’t remove these but they are by far the tastiest pieces of meat on the deer. Just take a knife and cut them loose. If I am camping, they don’t stay in the cooler but until supper! Next comes the back straps. There is a thin membrane (skin) covering all the meat. Take your knife and split it and cut it all off exposing the meat. You can now take your fingers and almost pull the back straps away from the back bone. Take the knife and cut the meat loose from the back bone from the neck to the tail bone. Next make a cross cut at the top of the back strap and one at the bottom. The next thing I do is pull the back strap at the spine and using my knife, work it loose from the rib cage starting on the inside. Repeat this on the other side and you now have the making for some fine butterfly steaks or smoked loin.
Now it is time to start on the rear quarters. The quarters are also covered with the same type membrane and the starting point is to remove it exposing the meat. You will notice that the quarters will have different muscle groups and that is what you want to separate. Once the membrane is removed, again, you can use your fingers and start to separate the muscle groups. You can almost pull them apart, Just use your knife to help with the separation. When the meat is attached to bone, just use your knife to trim the meat loose. In between these muscle groups is where some of that hidden fat will be found so I also remove it at this time. You will end up with several different sections of meat (roast) on each quarter and should be left with only bone when you are done. These roast can either be sliced into steaks of cooked as roast. I know this sounds a little complicated but once you get started, you will see what I am talking about and it is really pretty easy.
Next it is time to take care of the front shoulders and neck meat. I use this for grinding or stew meat. I just cut the neck meat and front shoulder meat off the bone and put in gallon storage bags and into the cooler for more intense cleaning later. There is not enough meat on the ribs for me to save so the yotes gets it. You have completed the first step and now all the meat is in a cooler and iced down.
Some people would rather just quarter the deer and cool and do the separating at home but with a little practice, you can have it in the cooler in 30 minutes or less so I just bone on the spot.
Aging
Aging is the process of hanging a deer in an adequately cool place for 5-10 days. This process allows bacteria to break down the meat for added tenderization. I have aged meat and can not tell a big difference in it either way. Some people swear by it though. Remember, if you age your meat, a temperature of 35-40 degrees is recommended if I remember correctly. Most of my aging takes place by accident when I don’t have time to get the meat worked up right away.
You are ready to cut
Once the separation is complete, you are ready to cut and wrap your meat or you can leave the sections whole and use them for roast. The most important thing to remember is to always cut your meat across the grain. This is essential for tender meat. Each section of meat will have the grain running one direction. Most meat sections are longer than they are wide and the grain is running the long way. Again, when you start, you will see what I am talking about. The only time I cut with the grain is with some of the meat I jerky. I do my cutting on the kitchen table and other than a little grumbling from my wife, it works just fine. Make sure to use a cutting board though! I sit out 3 large plastic bowls and use one for scraps, one for grind meat and the other for my finished meat.
I start with the back straps ( the tenderloins have already made for a fine supper!) Clean any hair that is left on it and lay it on the cutting board. You can cut them up several different ways. One way is to just cut the back straps into whatever length you desire for grilling or smoking. You can also just slice them up to what ever thickness you desire for steaks or my preference is to make butterfly steaks. For butterfly steaks, I start by slicing the back strap into pieces 1 inch thick. Now take each steak and make a cut in the middle but stopping the cut ½ inch from the bottom. You now can fold the steak out to twice the original size making it a butterfly steak. Butter flying just makes the piece of meat bigger.
Next it is time for the rear quarters. Each muscle group is also covered with another membrane. Remove it before you cut the steaks. There will also still be some membrane, ligaments and fat on some groups so remove it also and wash. Just slice each section up to the desired thickness and they are ready to freeze. Small sections left over are put in the grind bowl.
With the neck meat and front shoulders, I just chunk and clean and it is ready to grind. Make sure to remove any fat ect..
Grinding
Your meat you have saved for grinding is 100% lean and you will need to add beef fat for good burgers or pork fat for sausage. Do not use deer fat! Drop by a butcher shop and you can usually buy all the beef or pork fat you want for a small fee. Mix 1 part fat to 3 parts meat but you can adjust the amount to your taste. I would double grind (run it through twice) and get a good mixture. I have never made any good sausage so I don’t have a good receipt for the seasoning. Of course, if you want a whole deer ground, the hand grinder will take to much time so I just take the deer to the processor for that. Since you are getting the whole deer done, they will usually do it by itself if you request it. I still like to bone and clean my meat and take it to the processor in a cooler.
Cubing
Cubing is a process of breaking down the fibers of the meat to aid in tenderization. Although cubing is not necessary, it can be easily done with a cubing hammer. If you kill a big ole buck and want steaks out of it. I would recommend cubing them. Just take the steaks and lay them on a cutting board and beat away with the cubing hammer. You can cube them to any level that you prefer and it doesn’t take very long at all.
Jerky
I make my own jerky by first slicing the meat into 3/8 inch thick strips. I know this sounds thick but you will end up with very thin jerky. Slice with the grain if you like your jerky tougher or against the grain if you like it tender. Consistent thickness makes drying a lot easier. That is where my meat slicer really comes in handy. If your slices vary much in thickness, the meat will dry at a different rate. It will still work but just be careful to get it all dried. I use Hi Mountain seasoning and cure along with some fajita seasoning and salt and pepper. With the Hi Mountain, I layered the meat in a plastic bowl, seasoning between layers and refrigerate for 24 hours. It then goes in the dehydrator and 10 hours or so later, I have some awesome Jerky. Half of it will already be gone before I have time to bag it. I designate one whole deer (minus tenderloin) to Jerky each year and do a whole deer into Jerky. I cut and season all of it and freeze several batches to dry through out the year. I just store the dried Jerky in storage bags and it will keep for a week or so. I have tried freezing it but it real soggy when thawed so I don’t freeze anymore.
Freezing
The next important step is freezing. I try to pat dry all of the meat before packaging it. I have used wax coated freezer paper and it has served me well. Make sure to seal the package up good with freezer tape. I have used freezer bags too and that is the route I am using more and more due to the convenience. You can also use aluminum foil but make sure to double wrap. The only thing I don’t like about aluminum foil is that it is too easy to knock a hole in and you end up with freezer burn. The best way to freeze though is with a vacuum sealer. I hope to get hold of one soon and that will be my new way to freeze. You can add months to the freezer life by vacuumed sealing. I know that this all sounds like a lot of work but the end results is well worth the effort and it is a great feeling to know you did it all yourself. Like I said earlier, you will have quality meat unlike any other you have tasted. You might not have the quantity of meat that you get back from the processor but it will all be prime meat and no bone.
Again, most commercial deer processors do a great job and I am in no way slamming them but just trying to give ya’ll another option. The only downside is that when your hunting buddies find out that you can process, you will be the most popular man in camp!
Add another aspect to your hunting experience. Do it yourself!
Neither have I tried making jerky. Guess I will get me a dehydrator because I really like jerky.
