Talking Meat

[Semisane]

With all of our talk recently about meat, I thought I would re-post a thread that I originally posted back in 2007.

Here it is.

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So, What Do You Get From A 110 Lb. Doe?


I process my own deer. Totally debone it (except for the neck), separate the muscle groups in the hind legs into individual roasts, and remove all fat and connective tissue. Recently shot a 110 lb. doe. Out of curiosity, I tracked the yield. Here's what I got.

Neck (bone in) - 3 lbs. 12 oz. This will make a big pot of soup.



Two tenderloins (7 oz. each) and two back straps (2 lbs. 7 oz. each). Everyone knows what to do with these.



Six boneless roast from hind legs (average 2 lbs. 8 oz. each). These will go on the pit for sure.



From the sholders and elsewhere, chunks of stew meat (2 lbs. 10 oz.) and larger chunks for pot roasts (4 lbs.).



Everything else is coarse ground for chili and tacos (8 lbs.)




TOTAL: 31 lbs. 10 oz. boneless meat plus the neck.
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[popeandyoungchaser]

That is pretty much average of what I bone out of a doe that size. I love processing my own deer, as I know exactly what i'm getting. The "stew meat" as you call it, usually gets ground into burger for me. My family substitutes ground venison in place of beef in everything so I need as much ground meat as I can get. Those roasts though are some of my favorite cuts for the crockpot!! The tender loins or inside loins as i call them, never get frozen. LOL They go on the grill after a night of marinating right after the kill.

[Breechplug]

Got the Grill Fired up and Ready to go Semi......Hey, where's the Heart??? anyone else eat the Heart? Rince it out well and cut it into thin strips and Fry it in Oilve Oil with Onions, Taste like Steak! I also save the Bladder if full, for Cover Scent or an Attractant, especially if She's in Heat. Saves on Buying Doe-P
(BP)

[popeandyoungchaser]

I save the tarsals off of rutting bucks that my buddies kill (if i haven't shot one yet). They look at me funny but hey those things work! I'll have to look into savin' the bladder too if its full.

[Semisane]

Ya` gotta have heart Breechplug. There's a guy in our club that's so crazy about heart that I usually give them to him.

If I keep the heart, here's how I cook it. First, I simmer it for a half hour or so in water seasoned with salt and Crab Boil seasoning. We have a brand called Zatarain's down here that's great, but something like Old Bay will do. Then I smoke it for about an hour on the good old Weber pit with about six or seven coals & Hickory chips piled on one side, and the heart on the other side away from the heat (cover on). Chill it in the fridge & slice it thin. Makes great sandwich meat.

[mountaineer magic]

Saving the pee is good considering the price nowdays. I made my own lure last year from the buck testicles. It has been aging for a year. Going to use it this coming week. I skin the testicles, then blend the inside of them in the wifes blender( don't tell her) then mix it with vodka, age 3 months then add glycerine, age another 3 months add a little musk and let sit til the next season. A good lure and I can make 8 oz from 1 buck and for the price of about an oz of commercial lure.

[cayugad]

You might be right there Semisane on the weight of meat cut from the bone, on a deer that size. I always thought it was about 50% of the body weight, but never really weighed it.

The front shoulders I leave whole. I take them and put them on a Brinkman Smoker grill with dry onion soup mix all over them, put a water pan under them to semi steam, and cook them nice and slow. That meat will fall right away from the shoulder and leg bone. I used to make two of them for Thanksgiving every year to supplement (like we needed more food) the turkey and ham.

We used to carve off the rib meat and all the flank meat for sausage, but that is a lot of work, for a little amount of meat. But, have you ever took the ribs and cooked them over an open fire? I have a open fire rack and it is a heck of a way to cook ribs. Raise it up high and cook them things slow. When they start to fall apart, then they are ready to pour the barbecue sauce all over.

The heart... I have eaten it, cooked in bacon grease with onions. But I have a friend the pickles them, so now I just save them and give them to him (when they are not all blown up). He pickles them hearts, then slices that into sandwich meat. I don't eat it, but he seems to enjoy it. The rest of the guts, like the liver etc.. I leave in the woods for the coyotes and crows.

[Gotbuck]

The liver if shot or not makes a great catfish bait for next year. The heart is the best on sandwiches.

[oldsmellhound]

That's a pretty good amount of meat. I usually get about 25 - 28 lbs of meat out of a 110 pound doe, but I probably don't spend as much time de-boning out the meat and saving the "little stuff". I also usually don't spend much time on the neck and lose a bit of meat out of that area. Not to mention, if the bullet goes thru the shoulders I lose some meat there....

[deer655]

I have had heart which was pretty decent. I used to hunt with a guy that loved deer liver. We usually had fried liver biscuits for breakfast which were better then I thought they would be since I hate calves liver