Tips -
Bone out whole muscles 1st - follow the lines. When removing from the carcass - NEVER cut across the middle of a muscle - unless its a shank!
Once the whole muscles have all been removed - Trim all the fat, silverskin, and sinew off that piece 1st - then either freeze whole - Or cut into steaks against the grain.
If you are going to make Jerky - trim, then freeze muscles whole - and cut and trim your jerky when you are ready to make it. Its MUCH more fresh this way - than if you pre-cut your jerkey and then freeze it.
Never keep iffy meat. Much much better to error on the side of waste. When you thaw out a pc of bloodshot deermeat for dinner - it will turn you, your wife and your family off to venison. When preparing your own meat - the best thing you can say is that you inspected every piece before it was packaged. I never am wondering what I'll get when I thaw out deer for dinner - I expect it to be great.
I'm not a hamberg fan - so I have no tips for you there -
Last edited by farm hunter; 09-08-2010 at 08:00 PM.