Tips for processing your own deer

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Hair and handling ruin more deer than anything else IMO, Always cut inside out when removing the hide!
My goal is zero hair and to get the meat chilled quick! Be cautious with lymph nodes and glands.

Back straps are cut into thirds vac sealed an frozen, when needed cut 1 1/4" a good dose of Montreal seasoning rapped in bacon and cooked rare to med. rare. MMMMmmmmmm!!

Our burger is made with a Kitchen-aid grinder 5 to 1 venison to jowl bacon.
We make about 30 lbs. of jerky a year!!
 
I process 4 to 7 deer a year in my garage. The necessities.

A place to hang and skin.
A crank to get the animal up.
Two sharp knives, one a flexible boning or fillet knife.
A large tub to catch blood and water
Sawzall or a hack saw
A large trash bag or 2
A cooler of refrigerator to chill the meat for a few days.
Packaging material or a vacuum sealer.

Get the meat cold as quickly as possible. Get the guts out immediately. Learn meat primal cuts and where sirloin, round and chuck come from.

Have fun! It is much better and more rewarding to process your own.
 
I don't have anywhere out side to cut deer up, can't even hang deer anymore if I did have a tree to do so. I have used my tailgate to cut the deer, I skin one side. I debone and put the all the meat into food safe bin.

Things stay pretty clean doing half the deer at a time, just flip it over after all meat is removed from first side. I then bring all the meat inside. I'll put most in the fridge, and work a few pounds at a time to keep the temp down.

I am very picky and get all the bad stuff out, breaking it down goes fast the natural lines will show you were to cut.

I do stakes roasts and large and small Stu meat. Tho I'd just prefer to bring the hole deer of I have the gringer, I need one for my house and not just using my dads, even the back strap. I'll mix the deer with good clean beef fat, some is out to the side before the beef fat is added. To that I'll add clean pork fat for breakfast sausage.

there's just so many good recipes that ground meat is good for, I've grown board of stu, I'll use the ground for burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, chilli, pasta sauce, lasagna, tacos, hamburger helper, empanadas, really endless stuff.

Have to make jerky to, either cut strips for use the first ground meat before you add fat. I hope to make some summer sausage and some other stuff this year. Unfortunately my freezer only allows for one deer, bringing it help it pack in better and is convenient in one pound portions.

I use a filet knife or boning knife, and a larger stake slicing knife.

I've gotten away from butcher paper, it does work short term but it's just to much a pain for me. I have had great luck with plastic rape, if done right most of the air comes out. Great for making burger patties to.

Vacuum sealed would be best but I don't have one.

Don't trust the of the deer processors I have had friends is then and it get there meat and no where near the meat they should have gotten back. Plus I'm poor lol.
 
De-bone everything and trim ruthlessly. Deer fat is undesirable in taste and texture, and a de-boned deer takes up very little space in a freezer and keeps "better" with no fat or bone marrow smeared on it from cutting with a saw. Good tools are essential, and that includes a place to work, a hoist to lift things up easily, and a large "butchering table" of some sort that you can sterilize before and after use. Freezer paper worked for years, but we finally broke down and got a vacuum sealer which makes a difference in long term storage. It is also vital to kill it cleanly, gut immediately, and skin as soon as possible to cool things off.
 
I got a grinder a couple years ago really cheap. Used it once to process 2 deer (one mine and one dads) and it worked like a charm. It was like $60 at academy sports. Certainly worth the price. I like academy too. 1 deer pays for it. Mix in beef fat from your local butcher. Mix in cheese and bacon for a great burger.
 
troy fairweather said:
I don't have anywhere out side to cut deer up, can't even hang deer anymore if I did have a tree to do so. I have used my tailgate to cut the deer, I skin one side. I debone and put the all the meat into food safe bin.

Things stay pretty clean doing half the deer at a time, just flip it over after all meat is removed from first side. I then bring all the meat inside. I'll put most in the fridge, and work a few pounds at a time to keep the temp down.

I am very picky and get all the bad stuff out, breaking it down goes fast the natural lines will show you were to cut.

I do stakes roasts and large and small Stu meat. Tho I'd just prefer to bring the hole deer of I have the gringer, I need one for my house and not just using my dads, even the back strap. I'll mix the deer with good clean beef fat, some is out to the side before the beef fat is added. To that I'll add clean pork fat for breakfast sausage.

there's just so many good recipes that ground meat is good for, I've grown board of stu, I'll use the ground for burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, chilli, pasta sauce, lasagna, tacos, hamburger helper, empanadas, really endless stuff.

Have to make jerky to, either cut strips for use the first ground meat before you add fat. I hope to make some summer sausage and some other stuff this year. Unfortunately my freezer only allows for one deer, bringing it help it pack in better and is convenient in one pound portions.

I use a filet knife or boning knife, and a larger stake slicing knife.

I've gotten away from butcher paper, it does work short term but it's just to much a pain for me. I have had great luck with plastic rape, if done right most of the air comes out. Great for making burger patties to.

Vacuum sealed would be best but I don't have one.

Don't trust the of the deer processors I have had friends is then and it get there meat and no where near the meat they should have gotten back. Plus I'm poor lol.
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Money is definitely a concern. 5 years ago it didn’t cost much so it was worth it. Now it costs $75-$100 a deer and last years deer had so much silver skin I couldn’t understand why I paid $100
 
.308 Norma said:
Our Kitchen Aid mixer is at least that old, and it still works great. We have a sausage-stuffer attachment too. But we tried that once and didn't like it. We might try it again if we get an elk this year.
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I have a 1970's era KitchenAid, and I've used it to grind meat and make link sausage. It's okay, but if you're making more than 5-10 Lbs it's kind of a pain. My buddy bought a relatively inexpensive grinder from Academy (about $75-80 a few years ago during a Christmas sale) and it's MUCH better. Maybe it's just because it's newer and the cutting blades are sharper, I don't know. But, it's MUCH better.
 
Arkansas Paul said:
We have an electric winch mounted to the top of our skinning rack.
Let the cable down, attach the gambrel and push the button until it is at your desired height.
Forget hanging them the old fashion way. This is 2020. lol
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It's more about being worried about people, I've had cops called before about hanging deer. Some even have had them damage property or the animal.
 
der Teufel said:
I have a 1970's era KitchenAid, and I've used it to grind meat and make link sausage. It's okay, but if you're making more than 5-10 Lbs it's kind of a pain. My buddy bought a relatively inexpensive grinder from Academy (about $75-80 a few years ago during a Christmas sale) and it's MUCH better. Maybe it's just because it's newer and the cutting blades are sharper, I don't know. But, it's MUCH better.
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I have both. Hands down, the purpose built grinder is better.

The kitchen aid deal works fine, but it’s a huge pain to do much with. After a few minutes of use under load actually grinding meat the motor heats up a lot and it can’t be good for the mixer. The attachment was like $50ish I think, and it’s a usable compromise that works for a few pounds here and there. Would be fine for grinding a few pounds for making burgers for a single meal or something similar.

The standalone grinder is a much better machine. It just works as it was designed. The academy machine is not the fastest or most powerful machine on the planet but it works and it does plenty well for processing a deer or two in a year. I suspect it would be fine for hogs and other critters as well, and it seems like a more intelligent investment because it will not be killing the motor on a $300 mixer. Mine was on sale for like $60 or $65, but even at a hundred bucks it’s a no-brainer because it’s still far less than the cost of the kitchen aid grinder attachment and a motor replacement.
 
troy fairweather said:
Anyone here still use a hand grinder,
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I have one of those as well... it’s a relic from the old days. It’s ugly and highly modified. Last time it was used was supposedly in the early 60s. It was rigged up with a old Chevy wheel and on hog killing day they would jack up my great grandpas pickup truck and put the wheel against the rear tire and let the truck sit there idling in 1st gear driving the grinder. According to my uncle who remembers it, the sausage came out at high velocity, and they had to set up plywood to minimize splash.
 
WestKentucky said:
I have one of those as well... it’s a relic from the old days. It’s ugly and highly modified. Last time it was used was supposedly in the early 60s. It was rigged up with a old Chevy wheel and on hog killing day they would jack up my great grandpas pickup truck and put the wheel against the rear tire and let the truck sit there idling in 1st gear driving the grinder. According to my uncle who remembers it, the sausage came out at high velocity, and they had to set up plywood to minimize splash.
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I'd like to try to find a old one, the resent ones I've seen are all China and are loose and don't work. I'd think something like a bike wheel on there instead of the crank may work.
 
daniel craig said:
Money is definitely a concern. 5 years ago it didn’t cost much so it was worth it. Now it costs $75-$100 a deer and last years deer had so much silver skin I couldn’t understand why I paid $100
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That’s cheap. Where I grew up used to be $60 and it stayed covered up. Butchers shop would actually close, clean out, and sanitize right before deer season and would serve hunters essentially from mid-September until new year. When that practice got shut down by FDA rule changes then the other guys got away with slight price bumps for a few years until all of a sudden it’s $150 for a basic process, and can easily be over $300 if your getting sausage, snack sticks, jerky, etc. The Amish cut deer for a while too, but last I heard they were out of the business because they had to follow FDA rules as well.
 
troy fairweather said:
Anyone here still use a hand grinder,
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I do. I bought one at gander mountain shortly after they opened. I think it is the largest hand grinder they had in stock, but I don't remember the size off hand.
At first I hated it. If you put anything in like leg muscles it immediately plugged up with gristle and you had to take it apart and clean it out every pound of meat you put through it. By the time you had trimmed stuff enough to get it to grind you had basically ground it by hand.

Since then I have re-ground the blade on my belt grinder and it works better. The biggest hassle is getting it clamped solidly to a counter top so you can crank it. I still only use it in small batches though. I freeze the meat whole and will just grind enough to make a batch of burgers or whatever when its time.
 
troy fairweather said:
It's more about being worried about people, I've had cops called before about hanging deer. Some even have had them damage property or the animal.
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Man, that sucks. I forget how good I've got it in Arkansas.

And I do have a hand grinder, and occasionally use it. But I'm not a huge fan of ground deer so I don't use it that often. That's why I use the hand grinder, and haven't invested in a nicer power grinder.
 
Arkansas Paul said:
Man, that sucks. I forget how good I've got it in Arkansas.

And I do have a hand grinder, and occasionally use it. But I'm not a huge fan of ground deer so I don't use it that often. That's why I use the hand grinder, and haven't invested in a nicer power grinder.
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It was once good here, late 90s to early 2000s it was much different then now. I remember are bus driver would stop so we could get a good look at the deer hung it trees when season was open, no the kids would curl up and need a safe space. Guess it's from being to close to NYC, it used to be a day trip to come up from the city, then half a day and so on. Now it's less the 1.5 hour drive and we have become infested.

I was give a grinder keep at my dads, it works but I'd like to restore it. My stepmothers dad gave it to use, he and his brothers used it 40-50 years ago when they hunted. I like to find a cheap grinder for home, since I only grind from one deer because I don't have the room. Dad has a bunch of freezers, is like to fill this year then I can stock up when I visit.
 
Vacuum sealer is way better than paper.
On your cuts, try to go perpendicular to the grain of the muscle. In jerky strips, cut slightly off perpendicular. This makes it tougher.
Take your time and be prepared to have a lot of are meat the first few times.;)
 
I've still got a couple old hand grinders. Typically we will process the first deer one of us gets each year just to have some freezer stock. The rest get skinned and quartered, then frozen and all done on a Saturday after hunting season ends and it's too cold for anything else.
Use the hand grinder to do one or 2 deer, all mixed to about 80:20 with beef fat or 60:40 with fresh unseasoned sausage.
Don't do steaks really, some chunks for stew and a couple roasts, with some XL cuts of hams for the smoker. Loins are left whole if going in the smoker, sliced and butterflied for all other purposes.
Everything else is ground.
Plastic wrap, freezer paper, labeled.
Hanging time depends on weather since we don't have access to a walk in.
 
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