Self processing tips.

[notnksnemor]

Seems there is a lot interest in home processing now.

If you've done it a lot, as I have, post a tip to help.
If you've got a question, ask away.

I'll start.
Keep you meat very cold, I like 1/4 frozen, when cutting.
Grind the burger twice.
You will be surprised to see how much "silver skin" is picked up on the 2nd grind.

Others?

 

[campboy]

Thanks for the tip. About grind some now

 

[Bjrink]

Good comfortable setup. Spend a lot of time processing, make it as easy as possible

 

[Bjrink]

 

[HuntinJake_23]

Keep your work space clean and organized and make sure your knives are very sharp. Nothing worse than a dull knife and you end up tearing/ripping meat Instead of a nice cut.

I prefer vacuum sealing my finished product over the butcher paper or the ground meat bags, keeps in the freezer longer.

To add on to the grinding tips: keep the grinder parts cold, I keep mine in the freezer, and my cabelas grinder has the outer ice pack. The friction can heat things up quickly and make a mess of some of the meat.

 

[notnksnemor]

When you clean your grinder blades, put a thin coat of olive oil on the before storing.

 

[hunter 85]

Don’t skimp on equipment! Buying cheap just means you will have to buy it again. Meat bins are worth their weight in gold. And get a bigger grinder than you think you need.

 

[sportsman94]

Get a flat stone and sharpen your grinder knife frequently. Also use the stone to flatten out your grinder plate when you sharpen the knife. It’ll cut cleaner, faster, and be less likely to plug up

 

[B. White]

Don’t skimp on equipment! Buying cheap just means you will have to buy it again. Meat bins are worth their weight in gold. And get a bigger grinder than you think you need.

That is what I was going to mention. I bought a small no-name and eventually gave it away and bought a LEM. It doesn't care if the parts are cold are not. It chews everything up. My first one would get clogged easily. It did better with something you let half freeze, but still was aggravating. The LEM doesn't seem to care. I do spend a good amount of time trimming ahead, but the grind is quick.

If you can't afford one that you want, wait and don't buy one. I cut up a lot of them before I had a grinder and just deboned and separated the muscle and wrapped plastic wrap and then in freezer paper. Cook the big pieces like a roast. Cut up the smaller stuff in cubes when ready to cook in something like stew or chili. We used to use a knife as a cuber to make cubed steak, or the meat pounding hammer depending on what we were cooking. It doesn't have to be complicated.

 

[2dye4]

Bought a Cabela’s 1 1/2 hp over 20 years ago and I’ve never had regrets. You can’t choke it down no matter how much meat you throw at it.

 

[campboy]

@NCHillbilly this might be a good thread for a sticky?

 

[campboy]

I have a Weston grinder that someone gave me. #8 3/4 hp
Gets clogged very easily but I haven’t tried freezing the parts or keeping the meat very cold

 

[campboy]

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

 

[campboy]

Get a flat stone and sharpen your grinder knife frequently. Also use the stone to flatten out your grinder plate when you sharpen the knife. It’ll cut cleaner, faster, and be less likely to plug up

Very good idea

 

[whitetailfreak]

Quit dragging deer. Save your back and quarter and bone in the woods. For you public land hunters, once you start doing this you'll hunt areas that you never would hunt before. It'll increase your success.

 

[MattLemmon]

A couple things.
I sort of learned this as I went, was never taught this stuff growing up. Lots of good info here and on YouTube.

First, begin with the end in mind. I figure out how I want to cook/eat it and cut in order from easiest to hardest and grind last. If it’s multiple deer/hogs I’ll usually spread it over 2 days.

Investments. If you’ve never done this before, it can seem daunting. Start with a or several ‘good’ knives, and good doesn’t mean expensive. What’s your cutting surface? I do it in the kitchen and have several large plastic cutting boards. I use restaurant server tubs, which are great, but you can use several big bowls. The next investment for me was a good grinder (get what you pay for here). You can do an awful lot with just this. After the grinder for me was a vac sealer. Then a dehydrator. Then a sausage stuffer. All give you more options and make things easier. My next will likely be a slicer.

My top advice would be to just pull the bandaid off and do one with whatever you have now! I enjoy the processing part now as much as I do the rest of hunting.

 

[Hunter/Mason]

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.

 

[livinoutdoors]

You really dont have to spend a bunch to get going. I ground deer in a $20 walmart food processor for a decade almost. Worked fine and you really cant tell the difference. Good height work station that you dont have to lean over. Sharp knives.

 

[menhadenman]

If you freezer wrap with paper, Saran Wrap the burger first. Seems to add a year of freezer life.

 

[175rltw]

Quit dragging deer. Save your back and quarter and bone in the woods. For you public land hunters, once you start doing this you'll hunt areas that you never would hunt before. It'll increase your success.

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