Do you process your own deer?
 

I think I'm going to have to start,the cost of processing is getting way to high.

My deer field dressed @ 162lbs and I had 52lbs of meat from that. It cost me $250 to process it this year. I get all of it made into Jerky and Sausage and I know that adds to the cost, but this is getting out of hand.

I think next year I'll have to bone it out before I take it to the processer or process myself to save a buck.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

Getting all that good stuff adds up. That is MUCH more of the cost than the actual processing of the deer itself. I bet if you took them 50-60# of meat to be made into all that you'd still pay almost $200. You are probably better off getting the deer cut up by them, them making the sausage & jerky yourself. Or do it all, I've been doing it for years. It can be time consuming though.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

i process my own

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

Process every deer myself, 3 this year. It takes about 2-3 hours to do it right, clean it and remove the hair but it's worth every penny. I've got the cleanest deer meat available. When I first started hunting and had my deer processed commercially, I ended up with too much hair. That was the end of that! I don't worry about a bone saw, just de-bone it and slice the hams and backstraps into steaks and the rest into burger.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

yep,sure do. i have a boat winch mounted to the wall in my shop for hanging.i keep a extra frig in the shop ,i usually quarter them and proccess later. i also have a meat grinder and a hobart cuber. i have made my own jerky,summer sausage,breakfast sausage and pepperoni. i like deer best canned or cubed.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

There you have that Big old John Deere tractor and you are complaining about how much it costs to get your deer processed.

Where I live, the Amish does it as a second income and they charge $25 for a simple cut - if you get the meat processed.

$1.50 per a pound for Jerky, weiners, kelbassa, pepper sticks / even with cheese.

$3.00 for bologna - which weighs about 3 lbs.

I get my whole deer cut up for about $90!

That's 10 lbs - dried - jerky
10 lbs. - kelbassa
10 lbs weiners
10 lbs - pepper sticks with cheese
and the rest ground into hamburger.

I wonder how much that would cost where you live?

Then again, most of the jobs in my area only pay's $8 - $8.50 an hour!

A $10 an hour job - even for a skilled machinist is considered a good job!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I do all of it....costs lots less!!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

all the time....I just love them does...and those tasty younguns

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I always process my own, and would not have it any other way. It's all part of the process of hunting!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

As I am new I take it to a guy I know. He is a retired firefighter and butcher on the side. I took two to him this year, had one ham cut into steaks the other made into burger, Cost....$35. Sounds good to me.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

Me and a group of friends all ways do our own deer

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I have a buddy who used to be a butcher. About 2 1/2 hours, a case of beer, and some really good freezer bags!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I do all my own deer we get a couple of guys together and a case of beer and go to town. I enjoy doing it plus its alot cheaper.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

A good set of knives and couple of hours. bone it out and do it yourself and save yourself the money. When you sit down at the table it makes the meal that much more special to know that you took it from the pasture to the table all by yourself.

I don't use the ziplock bags, I get a couple of rolls of freezer paper and tape at the local wally world -- double wrap everything to prevent freezer burn and it works out great.

Enjoy.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I do all my own processing.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

Me & my hunting Friends process our own deer
de bone everything
I usually can all my share

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

Yeah boy, thats the way to go right there!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

only cost me $55.00 a deer when i take it to my processor. this is why i don't process my own, to me my time (3 or so hours) is more valuable than $55.00

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

We started do are own when I got back sombody else deer with hair and blood shot meat. I took mine in without all that stuff. I guess they thought they would give me more for my money. Wrong I ended up throwing it away. Never been back sense.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

People does not realize how labor intensive it is to make jerky and sasage. I heave people asking me to make them up a pound. for me to debone, and sort thru a hind quarter, and slice into 1/4" slices, and cure overnight, and dry takes hours.

Just to skin, quarter, debone, slice into steak, grind, package and put in a freezer takes me over 5 hours. So before jumping into the processing game, realize it takes some time.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I cut mine into steaks, roasts, chili meat, and if I do jerky I do that on my own. I've been sending the rest to a processor to make into sausage, but I'm debating on that. They charged me $50 to make 12lbs of deer meat into 24lbs of german sausage adding 12lbs of pork to it. Still cheaper than you can buy the sausage but not by much.

I'm amazed that so many people don't make steaks out of a deer. Several folks I've talked to around here just send the entire deer off to be made into sausage, etc. Seems like a waste to me.

It takes me about 3 hours by myself to go from a quartered deer to having it cut and packaged. Making jerky takes a while, but it isn't constant work by any means, it's checking the oven every hour or so and flipping it over. I like my jerky a little on the thick side so it takes about 6 hours in the oven at 185 to get it dried out. I can do about 5lbs at a time in the oven and the last time I made a batch of jerky I made 15lbs.

One thing that I did was spent some money onone of thosevaccumm food saver contraptions. It is SO much easier than messing with freezer paper and does a better job too. I spent $90 for the food saver and it costs $10 or so for a roll of the vaccumm bags and that is good for a full size deer.

I also feel that processing it on my own I end up with better quality in the end and there is never any doubt about how the meat was handled.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

A buddy of mine processes deer on the side, and make good money doing it. He only charges me 40 a deer but i only get steaks, ground venison,and sausage.As cheap as it is from him iusually processseveral bucks and give away the rest.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I do everything but the sausage and deer sticks. The only thing holding me back on that is the sausage stuffer and smoker. I'm hoping by next season to have saved up enough to acquire a nice electric or propane smoker. I got a pretty good processing DVD from askthemeatman.com and usually re-watch it every year before hunting season starts. Me and my son can bone and process a deer in 2-3 hours. Vacuum sealer is definitely the way to go.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I know it takes time but look at what the out come is. You know for sure that it is you animal not somebody elses and makes you appreciatewhen you have done from start (pulling the trigger)to finish (setting at the dinner table)when you take the first bit.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

What I was trying to explain to the post was, the guy was upset at the price. But obviously doens't know all goes into it. I kill 5-6 deer a year, and couldn't afford to process them. But, I mostly steak them out and grill them. For a person who doens't like deer meat and wants only to make sausage adn jerky, processing makes much more sense.

I myself would quit deer hunting, if I didn't enjoy the meat. But thats me.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

[/quote]
I myself would quit deer hunting, if I didn't enjoy the meat. But thats me.
[/quote]

Roger that. I know it's personal preference, but it pains me to hear when people grind up the loins to make sausage or burger meat.

I finally got around to processing one myself last week, I forgot how much work it is, plus, unless you have a cuber and meat grinder, you end upwith a lotjerky meat. I found a good processor that charges $60 regardless of size, and they're meticulous. My time is definitley worth more than what they charge.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I myself would quit deer hunting, if I didn't enjoy the meat. But thats me.
[/quote]

Roger that. I know it's personal preference, but it pains me to hear when people grind up the loins to make sausage or burger meat.

I finally got around to processing one myself last week, I forgot how much work it is, plus, unless you have a cuber and meat grinder, you end upwith a lotjerky meat. I found a good processor that charges $60 regardless of size, and they're meticulous. My time is definitley worth more than what they charge.
[/quote]

I just done hunting on a guys land on the Eastern Shore of MD, and he told me he uses the deer hinds for crab bait in the summer. Made me want to puke.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I process all my deer and usually help out my budddies!
Sure, its alot of work, but I think its worth it! You get the cuts you want, you get it as clean as you want and you know it your animal!
I debone it, cut out the loins, the hams, cut up some steak/roasts, leave the nicer meat for what I call, FRYS! Uhmmm, fried vension with onions and mushrooms!
Oh, and everything left over goes through my grinder (with the sausage attachments), to made into burger and sausage! I have several spice recipes for sausage, so I like to make them! That is the most work out of the whole process, but definitely worth it, in my opinion! I don't make jerky, mainly because I'm not a huge fan of jerky, I'd rather the sausage.
I then run everything through my Food saver, its then vacuum sealed and good to go into the freezer!

Again, its alot of work, but worth it! I only paid about $200 for the grinder, $100 for the vacuum sealer! I have done 4 deer this year, 2 last year! You do the math!!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I never process my own, never have. It's only $55 per deer where I go though... :D

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

We do it all ourselves..processed 6 deer this year so far..make bologna, summer sausage, hamburger and steaks or tips out of it..built our own smokehouse for it a few years ago too..that's really nice to have!!

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

It will surely take more than 2 or 3 hours to do the job right. More like 5 or 6, but I would never take a deer to the processors. You might get back somebody elses deer who was lying out in the field a day or two before it was even gutted. I will agree with the person who said that making only jerky or sausage out of a deer is a complete waste. Venison can provide some really good tablefare and a whole lot better can be made of it instead of jerky or sausage.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I can buy half a cow for that.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

For those of you that have your own grinders, do you have any words of advice to some of the rest of us who have been thinking about starting to grind our own?

I know I could easily make hamburger, but how hard is it to make decent sausage? Do you buy pork or beef fat to add to the deer meat? At $50 for 24lbs of sausage I could justify a $200 grinder if it wasn't a ton of work to make sausage. I would expect to be processing a couple deer per year and 2 or 3 pigs each year for many years to come so if it is something that is doable then I should probably start doing my own.

My only experience is with a hand grinder growing up as a kid and not adding any beef or pork fat to it and we ended up with a very big mess that didn't taste very good.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I process all my own, takes me roughly 8 hours per deer. That includes skinning, cut, wrap and clean up. It takes me longer than most because I keep shoulder and neck roasts, and I keep the ribs. The ribs are awesome if you pre cook them, rendering all the fat away. They make good soup too. Someone mentioned "frys". I label them "tips". What we're talking about is clear tender meat from the hindquarters that is too small for steaks. I usually have about 2 packages from a hindquarter. They are awesome for stir fry, fajitas, stroganof, stew, etc. For the rest, I have a $70 dollar kitchen grinder that works just fine. I make hamburger by adding justa little bit of beef suet, run through twice. I make fresh"plate sausage" by adding pork, maybe 25%, and spices (there are many recipies avaialble).Run that through twice also, wrap and freeze, I don't do casings or smoking, just use the sausage as you would pork sausage.An average deer produces about 15 lbs of trim to grind, that is after I keep the roasts, etc.I just use freezer paper and duct tape. I'm not a fan of those vaccum sealers, they're expensive, and I've seen the seals fail a lot.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I just had a deer processed and it cost me $37.50 for the back-straps cut and the rest grounded. Pretty good price to me.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I do most of it myself. I have found some good jerky reciepes that I make myself. The only thing I don't do is sausage. I'll take a frount shoulder in to have that done.

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I learned the hard way this year..I took the whole deer to the processor and got a huge bill. The meat is great but I think that I can do it a lot cheaper

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

I process my own. I do all my own jerky andsausage(Ipay othersfor larger tubes like summer sausage, etc). The process is time consuming but rewarding and I encourage people all the time to give it a go. Honestly it isn't as difficult as you may think and no matter how good you are you always have a trim pile(grind) so nothing is ever wasted or ruined.

I also custom cut as a sideline, my average net income is 20/hr not a real cash cow but it has been a way to pay for better tools and I do enjoy it. BTW my dad and uncle were both butchers so I had an earlier start then most;).

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

As far as a grinder I suggest a model that has steel gears, reverse and 1/3hp min. While the cheapers ones will work they do take longer which often leads to a dust collector;). With all grinders you get sausage stuffing tubes for stuffing the mix into casings. The grinder is a useful tool beyond just sausage for a home processor such as ground meat and ground jerky.

As far as sausage you can use beef or pork. I prefer a 50/50 mix meaning 50%trim and 50% fat. I make most of my sausage 70 vension to 30 pork/beef. I also prefer pork to beef in sausage, though freezer life is shortened with pork - 6mos max before it starts to turn. Beef will get you 12 mos.The making of sausage itself you will need to spice and mix (hardest part). Many receipes/pre-mix's exist for sausage but getting the desired taste for you is the tough part. The best way is to make test patties and do a couple of small batches. This way nothing special is really required, as you can hand mix, etc. Sasuage mixers make the pork/venison and spice blendingeasier. Another cost butas long as you keep your batches reasonable not a requirement to good sausage either. Personally I make 30lbs batches so not to get sick of one style, tastes better fresh and venison keeps longer prior to mixing. Once you have a formula you like, can nowstuff for uncooked sausage with nothing more required. If you want to smoke for flavour or fully cookedthen an additonal investmentof a smoker(if you don't already own one). Tip watch the garlic when making larger batches, it gets stronger with freezer age;).

RE: Do you process your own deer?
 

With our set up, it takes a little over two hours from field-dressed deer to packages ready for the freezer.

We also use double wrap - saran wrap first, thenfreezer paper/tape - on the bulky roasts, as well as a vacumm sealer for burger patties (try adding 10%-20% bacon - the cheapest, fattiest bacon you can find- to your burgers for a tasty alternative!) and bacon wrapped butterfly chops. Either has kept venison from freezer burn for a surprisingly (sometimes embarassing) long time.

Another tip we have found useful - chill the fat and grinder if possible before grinding burger or especially sausage. That will keep the fat from warming up as fast during the grinding process and smearing/clogging up the grinder.