Advice for a rookie...?
 

So I've run into a bit of a question... I'm rather new to deer hunting and getting my meat processed... I harvested 2 does this past Saturday, and was called Monday before noon to announce they had both of my deer processed and ready for pickup...

I had them leave the backstraps, tenderloins, and roasts in tact but made sausage out of the rest.

Something that was brought to my attention, by a friend, after I picked up my processed deer is the Processor did not have time to properly bleed out the meat... Is this something I should be concerned with? I've already frozen the meat, but should I thaw the backstrap, tenderloins, and roasts, and do a sort-of bleed out procedure for a day or two? or just find a different processor for my future harvests?

Also on a side note- the processor packed everything on Styrofoam backing and plastic wrap like what you would find at the grocery store... Do I need to re-package to prevent freezer burn? or is this sufficient?

Thanks for your time!

Dead animals do not bleed out , when the heart stops the bleeding stops. If hung, meat will lose some blood through gravity. I have my deer hung in a walk-in for 6 or 7 days to age a bit but it will still exude blood when it thaws out, that will always happen. If you are concerned about the blood, put your meat in a collander or kitchen sieve when it is thawing and then put the collander or seive in a bowl and put it in the fridge and excess blood will drain into the bowl. Venison burger is usually bloodier than beef, not to worry.

I think it would be better to have bled it out . but I tell ya what we do , when you thaw it to cook .. put tenderizer on it (after thaw) and let it sit in fridge for 2 days before cooking .. we do steaks all the time like that .. cook to 145 F .. no more. slow as possible.. top it w/ onions and sliced pepper and the last minute or 2 top that w/ favorite cheese .. mmmm..mmmm..m

another thing - have you ever considered processing yourself ? if you're going to continue hunting , and you enjoy venison , you might want to .. if you have the provisions..i built a cleaning table , bought an electric grinder , a little hand drive cuber , buy freezer paper at grocery store .. we make our own sausage .. we know how the meat is cared for .. I understand it's about $80 these days ?? NOT ME . been doing it for hundreds of years.., i'd be glad to talk to ya

Thanks for the colander idea, I'll be doing that when it comes time to thaw the meat, thanks!

David, thanks for both of your inputs... I'll def. be looking for some recipes and I don't see anything wrong with this one, so I'll probably refer back to this when it comes time to cook.

As for processing for myself, I have the type of personality that over time, I get more and more involved in the mechanics of the things I do... I really like the idea of knowing exactly how my meat has been handled and that I'm actually getting my deer and all of my deer back from processing... plus, including cleaning it cost me $160 for two does... I'm sure over the next couple of years I'll be cleaning and processing my own...

If by sausage you mean rolls of venison summer sausage, it is most likely not your deer. The back straps, loin and roast may be, but the sausage is most likely not. Unless the processor makes it at his place of business.

I assure you, the sausage I have made from my deer is from my deer.

$160 for processing two whole deer is inexpensive. You will likely get what you paid for such as the packaging. Your meat will "burn" in the freezer if not vacuum packed. I de-bone my deer keeping the tenderloins, loins, a couple roasts, and some grinding meat for myself. The rest goes to my favorite processor for salami, sticks, and brats. Costs me an average of $4 per pound for the processing.

My advice is to leave it as is and enjoy. Thawing and repackaging will be a pain in the a$$.

Before cooking, I generally soak my thawed meat in water or saltwater baths for up to a few days before cooking. Change the water each time it turns bloody. Buttermilk is used as well. Some use Dr. Pepper.

If you plan on doing much hunting I would highly recommend learning how to process it yourself.

Several folks like to hang the carcass a few days to "age" before butchering but depending on where you are from this may not be an option. It is too warm for that here so while out in the field I pack the gut cavity with ice get everything cold quickly and to keep it that way till I get home. Once home I quarter and butcher. If however I plan on being out for several days then I will quarter and place in an ice chest with ice dumped on top and the drain left open. You don't want the ice to melt and then have the meat sitting in water.

DavidG has it right! Process your own. I have a partial unedited video somewhere we wanted to do a field to freezer. We almost got there! We showed tracking, dressing, Disassembly, properly caring for the meat as well as cutting into MY favorite - thick steaks with the remainder going to the burger bowl. I've never invested in a sausage maker, I have a kitchenaid grinder/bread mixing machine from the 70's and easily process deer, elk, and even moose.

Once ground (I mix 1-5 with pork/bacon), adds enough to not cook with grease. A great addition is a relatively cheap burger press! For sausage make a very thin patty, for burger, make em whatever thickness you're comfy with! Fennel is a great addition in sausage (use sparingly). Bacon ends, sometimes available in bulk are awesome to do you're final grind with.

BLEED WELL & DRESS THE ANIMAL IMMEDIATELY AFTER KILL, SKIN ASAP,DISASSEMBLE, REFRIGERATE MAJOR PARTS 1-4 days AS YOU LIKE, CUT, PACKAGE, ENJOY A JOB WELL DONE!

That's my $.02

REM7600

PS: I usually refrigerate major parts "bone out" for 2-3 days. Then when freezing, vacuum sealer is the only way to store meat well.

When I kill a game animal, it has generally been dead about 5 minutes by the time I unsheathe my hunting knife. This might be because I have to find the animal after it has gone out of sight, because I give it some time to be sure it is dead, because it takes a while to collect my gear and stow it in my pack and then walk to the dead animal, because I'm taking pictures, or all of the above. In any case, I bet that I could not make those dead animals "bleed" more than 1/4 cup of blood at that time -- after the animal has been dead for 5 minutes. Blood flows because a heart pumps the blood. No beating heart, no pumping blood, not much "bleeding" is going to happen. Sure, if you open up the chest cavity and you have a nice double lung shot, you are going to find plenty of blood. Heck yes, get all of that out of there -- as well as guts and lungs and heart and liver and the rest. But I wouldn't really call that "bleeding" the animal.


The Reader's Digest version of the above is, in my opinion, you don't need to perform a special procedure to "bleed" a big game animal.


As has been said by another, the meat will freezer burn if stored in the freezer for very long in those shrink wrapped Styrofoam dishes. By "very long," I think 2 months would cause significant freezer burn. The first lesson you should learn from this experience is to NEVER use that processor again to process any of your meat. No competent meat processor would do that.


It is easy to process your meat yourself. It adds to the satisfaction of hunting. You have more control over the quality of your meat and what kind of cuts. I like to keep the backstraps intact, possibly cutting in half in the middle and freezing two separate packages from one backstrap, if that is big enough on a deer for two separate meals. I then cut the backstrap into steaks when I unthaw and prepare to cook. I think by avoiding cutting the meat up it keeps it fresher. Big chunks of meat I like to package in roasts of 2 LBS to 3.5 LBS in size. Smaller chunks I package for making stew. My attitude to the roasts is I can do just about anything with them. I can cut them into smaller pieces to make stew meat. I can slice thin slices off of them and make venison scaloppini for frying. I can grind up and make sausage if I want. Or I can make a braised roast with them.


If you double wrap your meat in good plastic wrap and then wrap tightly in butcher paper, it stays good a surprisingly long period of time in a DEEP FREEZER. I have had excellent meat taken out of the deep freeze after 3 years.

I was referring to the OP but I am sure you knew that. Around here if you take a deer to a processor( I dont) your steaks and burger will be your deer your summer sausage will most likely not be. Around hear the processors send it to a butcher a hour or so away that makes a lot of summer sausage

To tell you the truth,,Deer do not have to hang ,Such as Beef does
I have questioned a number of butcher's about this matter in the past.
paper wrap is better than the foam plastic wrap ,,But Shrink wrap is best.
It is beast to leave the meat frozen after processing for 15 day's that will insure to kill any bacteria ect..
I De-Bone my deer soon as i get them home,Put meat in gallon size freezer bags allow to stiffen some in freezer then cut and process,seperate what goes to grind and what is back strap steak and such.

Nothing has to hang, however dry aged beef and dry aged venison taste better than not aged. I know a guy who throws his doves unplucked and ungutted in a crisper drawer in a fridge in his garage for a week before he cleans them. I would not eat them, nor would I eat any undrawn bird that was aged, all I would think about would be the guts festering in them before they were cleaned.

Sometimes I do mine, sometimes I bring in. My butcher wants them to hang upside down to get the blood out.

The blood shot meat is what really need's to be cleaned good,, That is where the main problem comes from,Like was said earlier they really don,t bleed out after the kill.

You cannot clean blood shot meat. You cut it away and toss it out or maybe cook it for the dog but you don't eat it or mix it in with the good meat. Hanging does not help bleed out a carcass. Obviously, a hanging carcass will drip liquid from the forces of gravity. The reason to hang meat and dry age it in a controlled environment is so the enzymes in the meat break down the tissue and some of the water in the meat evaporates concentrating the flavors.

Butcher should be meat from hind quarters that was hung by head. Squeezed it and blood came out. He believed gravity would drain it out through nose if hung by back end.