Meat Processing tips

[Deertick]

Anyone got any tips to make things go smoothly?

Anything you have done to get better cuts, or make this chore less demanding?

(At our house, we generally process the animals ourselves -- there\'s a satisfaction in it, and a comfort knowing you have meat from THIS animal, and not someone else\'s. BUT ... I\'m growing to not enjoy it. I grew to not enjoy changing my oil, too, and now I pay someone else to do that!)

 

[bowhunter]

Sorry no tip here. I also do my own processing. It takes time but at least you know what you are getting is clean and done the way you want it.

I have been known to shoot deer on Friday so I could process it on Sunday. I have passed on many animals because I was to busy to deal with the processing.

Deer and antelope don\'t take as long as elk. But elk taste much better.

 

[Wake26]

Here is my list that has made cutting up game a little better.

1) Buy good equipment, its worth it.

2) Get a good table that you can raise up to a good level to cut on, It will save your back.

3) I find it easier to cut up game with filet knives. I keep 3 good sharp ones should get you through an elk.

4) I prefer vacuum sealer of wrapping paper. It goes quicker.

5) Having a walk in cooler helps knowing you can take your time and not have to cut meat right away after the kill. I\'m spoiled on this one.

6) Did I mention having good equipment. Grinders, dehydrator, knives, tables, vacuum sealer etc.

7) And the most important thing of all is having a wife that enjoys helping you do the work.

 

[cnelk]

If you can slightly freeze the meat chunks before you grind them they go thru the screen much better.

When you start grinding, spray a bit of PAM or other non-stick spray in the throat of the grinder.
This will help the first bit of meat from sticking to the metal.

I too use fillet knives

Beer and friends make it go much easier

 

[elky McElkerson]

my tips. i did one elk (well, my third), a deer, and many turkey in my kitchen.

i just use my kitchen knives. my boning knife works pretty awesome.

1. follow your wife\'s lead. if she wants to help, cool. if not, dont force the issue.
2. big huge cutting board.
3. i\'m not a butcher, so i dont force my hand at trying to make neat PRO looking steaks and cuts. i only focus on \"body parts\"
4. no bones. i do serving sizes and double wrap with plastic, one wrap of foil, and put each \"body part\" into a ziploc bag with the air sucked out, and clearly labeled with a sharpie.
5. this part might be false, but i like to refridge everything first to get it cold and THEN freeze it. i think the meat is less frosty and crystalline with ice.

6. have a bowl handy for those odd colored bits and pieces..bowl is labeled \"pet food\"
7. when done, everybody out of the kitchen..i sanitize everything with a bleach water mix.

i found that my wrapping is better than the paper wrapped stuff my butcher sends me back home with..and lately, i have found even his vacuumed sealed stuff is prone to leaking.

 

[Deertick]

Thanks for the tips ... I\'ve found the filet knife works well, too ... and beer ... Wife works well, too! She\'d prefer to do the finish work -- wrapping -- rather than de-boning. (She did saw the lower legs off an elk this year, and was proud of herself, as was I.)

The tip about partially freezing burger ... and using a spritz of oil on the grinder ... I\'ll try that! I bet that would really help. I have bags of \"pre-burger\" in the freezer already.

For those who vacuum-seal: I usually don\'t use my sealer anymore ... because the liquids from the meat often mess with the seal. Any tips?

 

[cnelk]

A couple more things I do.
Vinegar is a natural disinfectant so I wipe down all the meat with that to clean before I start cutting.


I use 1 gallon storage bags instead of vacuum sealing.
I have had the same issue with liquids impeding the sealing process.
Then I wrap with freezer paper.
No problems with meat keeping up to 2-3 years this way

 

[BTL]

For those who vacuum-seal: I usually don\'t use my sealer anymore ... because the liquids from the meat often mess with the seal. Any tips?

^^^When vacuum sealing I always fold up a piece of paper towel, 1/4\" wide works ok and the width of the bag itself, and place it just inside the seal point.
This will stop the moisture from affecting the original seal after vacuuming out the air. I will also add a second seal above it for safe measure....
Might be over kill but it seams to work.

 

[Lark Bunting]

I cleaned all tools and cutting surfaces five times during my deer butchering. I also kept everything cold...i\'d cut off a chunck of meat, put the leg back in the cooler, and would only work on that on piece of meat before i\'d get the leg back out. At any given time the bone was so cold it would hurt to hold for any length of time.

My mantra was clean and cold.

Also, this deer is WONDERFUL! I can\'t believe how delicious the meat is so far. Again, clean and cold.

 

[mainebrdr]

Beer and friends, huh Brad. So how much of each?

 

[colorado russ]

I agree with BTL on the use of a paper towel when vacuum sealing. Another idea is to put the lug of ground burger back in the freezer to harden up some before sealing OR you can try turning down the vacuum sealer one number(it will still remove all air but won\'t flatten out).

A tip for cleanup of the grinder: push 1 or 2 slices of bread through once done grinding meat and it\'ll push out what\'s left in the auger.

Buy a vertical grinder even if you don\'t do the processing yourself. I like to get extra burger/grind and then make snack sticks, summer sausage, brats, breakfast links, etc.. throughout the year. I just thaw 5 lbs at a time so I can season to my liking - eat a little and freeze the rest but will eat rest within a week or two as I don\'t like refreezing meat. If you don\'t have a smoker for the snack sticks or summer sausage, just use liquid smoke and slow cook in a convection oven.

 

[Deertick]

A tip for cleanup of the grinder: push 1 or 2 slices of bread through once done grinding meat and it\'ll push out what\'s left in the auger.

Oh, I\'m trying that!

 

[Baby Huey]

An important part is to take care of the meat in the field. The less hair and dirt/leaves you have on the meat, the better it will be for you - both with taste and less cleaning of that stuff at the processing table. My nephew harvested a doe last weekend and he pulled a Benihana on the animal - there was hair, dirt and leaves all over the sliced up meat. This took a long time to clean up. My brother took a 3x3 budk and took better care of the meat, which helped the process go quicker.

We have always processed our game ourselves, except for one year we were all busy and my brother took my elk in to a processer in Aurora, CO (out of business now). That experience left a very sour taste in my mouth as they claimed they ground up our back straps when we asked where they were. It takes time to process, but it is more satisfying knowing that we are not getting swindled as well as it is a fun time getting everyone together and sharing the hunt stories and looking forward to next year. Like Brad said, beer and good food adds to a good processing night.

A while ago I bought a video (yes - not a DVD) from the Colorado Division of Wildlife called \"From the Field to the Table\". This was a great help to get us on the right track with cutting steaks and roasts, as a butcher was employed and showed how to make the cuts in the video.

For hamburger, try and get the silver sinew off of the meat as much as you can. This takes a considerable amount of time, but the hamburger has turned out very good for us when we get that stuff off.


It also helps to have a big processing crew:

 

[iccyman001]

Very cool Roman

 

[F M]

It\'s definitely nice having some extra help. A good superviser in the background helps also :upthumb:

 

[BTL]

When you start grinding, spray a bit of PAM or other non-stick spray in the throat of the grinder.
This will help the first bit of meat from sticking to the metal.

I too use fillet knives

Beer and friends make it go much easier[/quote]

I was just going to post about this for making sausage. Good tip here. The non stick spray will help your casings slide off easier too.

Who adds any bacon or other fats to their burger meat? Do you do it before or after? I have heard of a few doing this to help hold the meat together but I think the bottom line for me was cooking the burger meat too long and drying it out.