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Post by jbird on Aug 23, 2018 16:01:25 GMT -5
All I know is a good processor can be hard to find AND well worth the money in my opinion. I had to process one of my own once....what a chore that was. The local lockers where full...I had never done it before and had never seen it done before....prefer not to do it again. Like a bunch of other guys here, I've been doing my own for many years. There are lots of great threads on this board about processing. Check them out! I'll never take one to a processor again if I can avoid it. However, if you choose to get stuff like summer sausage, snack sticks, ground meat, etc., it may be a better choice for you. I think the processing is just another part of the overall hunting experience. I need to get with some guys I know in the area and actually learn how to do it. I know some of the locals put their deer in a "community cooler" and then they all pitch in when it's processing time.....I just need to make some phones calls and get in on that to learn. Other than the tenderloins we grind everything any way. It's just easier for us to use at the house that way....it's the primary red meat at home. When I did the one I did, I felt I was running out of time due to warm weather and everyone was full. I had to scramble to find equipment (grinder) and I had no real experience.....so I attacked it as if it was a giant squirrel or rabbit. I got the job done, but it was a task. I like having a locker in my back pocket as I do like the summer sausage of some of them as well. I also am not sure about the investment in the equipment and time. I can get a deer done (ground and tenderloins) for roughly $75. That is well worth the several hours it took me to do the one I had done. |
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Post by nfalls116 on Aug 23, 2018 16:50:07 GMT -5
Like a bunch of other guys here, I've been doing my own for many years. There are lots of great threads on this board about processing. Check them out! I'll never take one to a processor again if I can avoid it. However, if you choose to get stuff like summer sausage, snack sticks, ground meat, etc., it may be a better choice for you. I think the processing is just another part of the overall hunting experience. I need to get with some guys I know in the area and actually learn how to do it. I know some of the locals put their deer in a "community cooler" and then they all pitch in when it's processing time.....I just need to make some phones calls and get in on that to learn. Other than the tenderloins we grind everything any way. It's just easier for us to use at the house that way....it's the primary red meat at home. When I did the one I did, I felt I was running out of time due to warm weather and everyone was full. I had to scramble to find equipment (grinder) and I had no real experience.....so I attacked it as if it was a giant squirrel or rabbit. I got the job done, but it was a task. I like having a locker in my back pocket as I do like the summer sausage of some of them as well. I also am not sure about the investment in the equipment and time. I can get a deer done (ground and tenderloins) for roughly $75. That is well worth the several hours it took me to do the one I had done. I get mine all ground pretty much my family eats a lot of burger. We are trying to switch it all to deer burger gradually |
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Post by whitetaildave24 on Aug 23, 2018 18:04:59 GMT -5
We eat mainly burger as well. My in laws bought me a grinder probably ten years ago and it’s still going strong. Processing the deer has just always been a part of the entire process for me. From woods to table. Heck my kids were 7 and 5 before they ate ground beef in our house and they thought it tasted funny. Just had a bad season and the meat didn’t last. I still keep the backstrap, inside loins, and a couple roasts, but the rest is ground up.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2018 7:44:03 GMT -5
Same as Dave,
Add some jerky to the list.
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Post by jbird on Aug 24, 2018 8:24:56 GMT -5
Deer has ALWAYS been the primary red meat at our house.....once I started deer hunting. My kids don't know any other way. They will actually say something when we get a hold of some cheap, high fat, beef burger....and I don't like cooking/grilling with high fat beef either.....
The burger is just much handier to use at home. Our steaks and roasts tend to be beef...but if it's burger....it's deer at my house. I make some jerky on my own from time to time as well, nothing special but the kids seem to like it. My favorite is a mild summer sausage.....I really liked the old recipe from the Westport locker, but they changed ownership and recipe a couple years ago. I don;t like mine with the cheese and the like in it....I'll add my own cheese later, thank you very much!
A good grinder is a must if your going to do it yourself. I was able to borrow one, but a good one can cost several hundred dollars. We added 5 to 10% beef tallow by weight and ground twice then package in pound or 2 pound bags.
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Post by steiny on Aug 24, 2018 11:05:43 GMT -5
I've had some bad experiences with processors for both elk and deer and won't take another one to a processor. We usually eat three deer and sometimes an elk too every year, and I process everything myself. You really don't need a bunch of expensive tools to do a good job on a deer.
I've got a walk in cooler, but that is a luxury. You can kill your deer, skin and quarter it, then just put it in a big cooler with frozen milk jugs until you get it processed. Can stay in that cooler for 4-6 days no problem.
Other than the refrigeration, the next key things are a clean table, a couple good knives, sharpening tools, cutting boards and a grinder. I've ground dozens of deer with a cheap little $75 grinder that I've had for 25+ years. A fancy cabelas grinder with 2" throat isn't necessary and it is much heavier and harder to clean. A vac sealer is nice, but you can also just wrap the meat in saran wrap followed by freezer paper.
We debone everything. Back straps are left intact, two pieces per side and the inside tenders left whole. I take one roast and some choice steaks out of each hind quarter, and all of the rest of hind, both front quarters and the neck meat are ground into burger with nothing added. With a helper I can usually fully process a deer in 3 hours or so. A big doe will yield about 40 lbs of choice boneless meat and a nice buck probably 70 lbs.
Jerky is good, but it seems awfully wasteful to me. Takes about 10# of potentially good steak to make about 1# of good jerky. Summer sausage is advanced butchering and requires a stuffer and a smoker.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2018 10:27:01 GMT -5
I've had some bad experiences with processors for both elk and deer and won't take another one to a processor. We usually eat three deer and sometimes an elk too every year, and I process everything myself. You really don't need a bunch of expensive tools to do a good job on a deer. I've got a walk in cooler, but that is a luxury. You can kill your deer, skin and quarter it, then just put it in a big cooler with frozen milk jugs until you get it processed. Can stay in that cooler for 4-6 days no problem. Other than the refrigeration, the next key things are a clean table, a couple good knives, sharpening tools, cutting boards and a grinder. I've ground dozens of deer with a cheap little $75 grinder that I've had for 25+ years. A fancy cabelas grinder with 2" throat isn't necessary and it is much heavier and harder to clean. A vac sealer is nice, but you can also just wrap the meat in saran wrap followed by freezer paper. We debone everything. Back straps are left intact, two pieces per side and the inside tenders left whole. I take one roast and some choice steaks out of each hind quarter, and all of the rest of hind, both front quarters and the neck meat are ground into burger with nothing added. With a helper I can usually fully process a deer in 3 hours or so. A big doe will yield about 40 lbs of choice boneless meat and a nice buck probably 70 lbs. Jerky is good, but it seems awfully wasteful to me. Takes about 10# of potentially good steak to make about 1# of good jerky. Summer sausage is advanced butchering and requires a stuffer and a smoker. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2018 10:29:06 GMT -5
My buddy and I processed our own for a couple seasons, until things changed. We both moved to areas that didn`t allow us to hang a deer in the driveway to skin, and didn`t have the garage to set up the tables to debone, trim, cut and wrap. We had gone to a class in Rockville that the Purdue Ag. Extension had put on in conjunction with the Indiana DNR, and it was a great class. They had a doe that had been killed on a depredation tag, and they processed right there and took questions as they worked. There were great handouts, and they took a great deal of that doe and put it in dutch ovens right outside the area where the class was held, and got the coals going. It was difficult to concentrate on the class towards the end of it as we could smell that meant cooking.
I`m just at the place where I need a processor to take care of it for me, and I really want someone who would hang the deer to age it if possible, but for sure, won`t cut it while it`s in rigor. The roast I had from my last season`s buck was trough as tennis shoe rubber, and it`s because the guy cut it while it was in rigor. I`m still pretty upset about that.
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