Processing your own deer & waste

rybohunter · 10-21-2008, 07:17 AM

I"™ve thought about this for a long time and I"™m wondering how others do it. I cut up my own deer and have been for many years. I try to do my best recovering all the meat from it. HOWEVER, there comes a point where trying to get every last scrap turns into a very slow and tedious process. When grinding meat, I trim all fat, membranes, tendons etc. When dealing with neck meat, ribs, and even lower leg areas, the process can be quite drawn out. Where do you guys draw the line?

I don"™t want to feel like I am wasting stuff, but sitting there and cutting meat for hours on end, makes me wonder if I am going overboard or if there is a faster way that I don"™t know. I use very sharp fillet knives for this process & it still takes forever.

gplant · 10-21-2008, 07:27 AM

I bet you get more meatand is much cleaner then if you where to take it to a processor. Thats why I like doing mine. I think the extra effort is well worth it!

brucelanthier · 10-21-2008, 07:34 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: rybohunter

I"™ve thought about this for a long time and I"™m wondering how others do it. I cut up my own deer and have been for many years. I try to do my best recovering all the meat from it. HOWEVER, there comes a point where trying to get every last scrap turns into a very slow and tedious process. When grinding meat, I trim all fat, membranes, tendons etc. When dealing with neck meat, ribs, and even lower leg areas, the process can be quite drawn out. Where do you guys draw the line?

I don"™t want to feel like I am wasting stuff, but sitting there and cutting meat for hours on end, makes me wonder if I am going overboard or if there is a faster way that I don"™t know. I use very sharp fillet knives for this process & it still takes forever.

I trim my meat similar tothe way thatyou do. I then take the trimmed stuff fat, membranes, tendons and combine it with the stuff I don't want to spend time trimming and run all that through my grinder. Then I freeze it in 1lb packages and label it as dog food. The dogs love it. If you don't have dogs you can give it to someone that does. I don't eat the organs but I take those and cut them up for more dog food.

The process of trimming your own meat can be tedious but, with as much time as I put into hunting these animals, I think they deserve as much of my time after I take them. Also, some of the meat that needs trimming will get frozen in a gallon bag to be thawed and trimmed at a later time.

Gundeck · 10-21-2008, 07:37 AM

If you are wondering if you are gonig too far, chances are you did plenty. As long as you are using the majority of the meat, you are doing your due diligence in my humble opinion. We cut up as much as we can for burger and sausage after the steaks are done, so I don't fret the scraps we throw away.

OHbowhntr · 10-21-2008, 07:39 AM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: brucelanthier

I trim my meat similar tothe way thatyou do. I then take the trimmed stuff fat, membranes, tendons and combine it with the stuff I don't want to spend time trimming and run all that through my grinder. Then I freeze it in 1lb packages and label it as dog food. The dogs love it. If you don't have dogs you can give it to someone that does. I don't eat the organs but I take those and cut them up for more dog food.

The process of trimming your own meat can be tedious but, with as much time as I put into hunting these animals, I think they deserve as much of my time after I take them. Also, some of the meat that needs trimming will get frozen in a gallon bag to be thawed and trimmed at a later time.

That's a good idea Bruce, I'd have never thought of that, but I will now. I usually drop a lot of the trimmings to mine as they are anxiously awaiting any little dropped morsels anyhow. I suppose another idea for it might be "Coyote bait!!!"

Ryan,
I know that I spend a couple hours on each animal, but in the end, as said above, I get cleaner meat, and it's a better grind with less sinew if I do it myself vs. a processor doing it. And I'll get a lot more meat out of a deer than the processor ever does. Probably 20-25% more from my guestimations.

PreacherTony · 10-21-2008, 07:41 AM

Guys ..... only fat has a gamey flavor ..... the membrane DOES NOT ...... as far as the neck goes ...neck fat doesn't have a gamey flavor either ..... we do roasts with our deer ... my school kids look forward to a neck roast every year at the christmas party .... it is absolutely delicious!!!!!

Now the fat on the legs [:'(]

Schultzy · 10-21-2008, 08:07 AM

I do all of my butchering as well. The stuff that I don't want for steaks or burger goes Into a trimmings bag and that goes to the butcher to get made Into whatever I want.

This Is what I do with the parts (areas) of the deer...

Neck- 2 Roast (depending on size of deer). Not much trimming Involved being fat gives your roast some moisture.

Front Quarters-1 Roast In each front quarter- Shoulder blade and meat In one piece, try It, It Is awesome!! The rest of the meat on the quarter goes Into trimmings.

Hind Quarters- 90% of this goes Into steaks. The rest goes Into trimmings.

Tenderloins- The small loins between the thighs. They get taken out the night of the kill otherwise they get way to dried out and aren't much good the next day.

Backstraps- The clear film or skin that's on them gets taken off. I then cut the straps into nice 1" to 1 1/4" steaks. Another good way to do It Is use a sawzall (sp?) and cut out the back straps and spine together and make T-bones (make sure the spinal cord Is not In there).

Ribs- I sometimes will trim the fat off of the ribs and cut 3 to 4 ribs out at a time and make a rack of ribs once In a while. Whitetail ribs aren't as good as other ribs but there not too bad. Otherwise I'll trim some of the meat off the ribs for trimmings.

Heart- I always take the heart If the deer Is recovered the same day. If the deer looks a little unhealthy I won't take it. If you take the heart make sure you bring It In right away to the house and clean It up and cut It open taking all of the cartlidge and junk off of It. Throw It In a pail and fill it up with water and put a bunch of Iodized salt In It and let It sit In the fridge for a day to get all of the blood out. Take It back out the next day and either freeze It or cut It Into small chunks and fry It up with some fry magic and grease. Onions give It a great taste as well If you fry them together.

rbeckman · 10-21-2008, 08:14 AM

I take all the meat off that I can get. I seperate it and label it for jerky or burger. I even take the meat between the ribs, great for making jerky. I try to leave only the bones for the coyotes. Everyone in my family enjoys the deer burgers and with the prices of food going up I try to getall of the meat I can. It doesn't bother me how long it takes to process it, it is well worth it in the long run.

WV Hunter · 10-21-2008, 08:28 AM

I cut the backstraps to chops...approx 1" thick. I take the loins whole. I take the hind qtrs, shoulders, neck and clean them up and grind to burger. I don't take the ribs...our deer don't have much meat on em and its not worth my time. All my meat is cleaned of tendons, silverskin, etc....clean red meat going in the grinder, it comes out awesome! I pack my burger in ziplocks, about 1.5lbs per pack - stack them flat in the freezer.

My kids LOVE to grind the meat, one of their favorite things to do during the season. They get totally JACKED about it, LOL.I butcher 8-12 a year, so I have a system down now- the only part that takes a while is the actual trimming/cleaning upof the meat. If I wasn't so tedious on that (to me it makes ALOT of difference in the end product) I could be done pretty fast. The big grinder I got about 10yrs ago was a great investment for me.

rybohunter · 10-21-2008, 08:32 AM

Thanks for the input guys. I do give a decent amount of trimmings to my dog, I never thought to save all of it to give to her though.

Quote:

I get cleaner meat, and it's a better grind with less sinew if I do it myself vs. a processor doing it. And I'll get a lot more meat out of a deer than the processor ever does. Probably 20-25% more from my guestimations.

See I feel the other way that I'd get more from a butcher. My big concern boils down to the trim to be ground meat. Sometimes I feel like I waste MORE meat trying to clean every bit. If that makes any sense. Say I have a little chunk that is a mix of meat & fat. In the process of separating the two I can"™t be 100% efficient. So I lose some meat. Where as if I tossed the whole chunk in, I lose none, but have extra "œstuff". Plus my grinder doesn"™t handle fatty or that slimy membrane material very well.
Maybe I just need a better grinder???