Deer:processor or kitchen counter?
- Thread starter Rolando
- Start date
- Status
At home for sure...
I am extremely fussy in processing my meat and am only happy when I do it myself. I go after all fat with a vengeance, as many a meal of venison has been ruined for folks with a mouthful of tallow. Also, I am in control of cleanliness and storage care and temperature. Have seen too many piles of unskinned deer (some very poorly shot and/or gutted) lying at a processor's awaiting attention. (This is not to condemn any/all processors, but sometimes they are at the mercy of what people drag in to them) And in a short rifle deer season like we have (9 days) and a few hundred thousand deer being killed, they can get overwhelmed. I'd hate to think that my box of meat could contain some from some guys gutshot deer that was poorly cleaned and not skinned for several days... (Or was even cut up on the same countertop, for that matter).
I am extremely fussy in processing my meat and am only happy when I do it myself. I go after all fat with a vengeance, as many a meal of venison has been ruined for folks with a mouthful of tallow. Also, I am in control of cleanliness and storage care and temperature. Have seen too many piles of unskinned deer (some very poorly shot and/or gutted) lying at a processor's awaiting attention. (This is not to condemn any/all processors, but sometimes they are at the mercy of what people drag in to them) And in a short rifle deer season like we have (9 days) and a few hundred thousand deer being killed, they can get overwhelmed. I'd hate to think that my box of meat could contain some from some guys gutshot deer that was poorly cleaned and not skinned for several days... (Or was even cut up on the same countertop, for that matter).
Griz44
Member
I quit using processors many years ago. I take very meticulous care of my carcasses. I know when meat tastes unclean or not taken care of properly, and after several different processors did the same crap to me, I started doing my own, bullet to table. I open freeze the quarters and ice mist them to seal, triple wrap and freeze whole. When I need meat, I thaw a quarter and butcher it on out. My meat is great! I get the cuts I want and don't get any crap meat that belonged to someone else. Seems like I get a lot more meat too. A processor does not take the time to get ALL the meat off the bones. Learn to butcher. It's really easy, does not all have to be done at once, and is very rewarding.
Shawnee
member
I don't know that I am really, really meticulous but, after twice being given lousy, blood-shot, hair-riddled meat (and too little) that came from deer I knew couldn't have been from the one I had shot, I stopped using processors and started smoking everything but the backstraps. Recently I got lucky and met a fellow who will make some great sausage and is careful to make sure the stuff I get is from the venison I gave him.
i don't have time to do all my own. i will typically butcher half of my animals, and the other half goes to a trusted locker - which took me several years to find.
the locker always gets the antelope, though, because it is usually too warm out to wait until i can get to them myself.
the locker always gets the antelope, though, because it is usually too warm out to wait until i can get to them myself.
alsaqr
Member
Used to butcher my own but found it is not worth the trouble. There are several butcher shops near here and all of them do a good job. One makes the best summer sausage ever.
Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 13,146
Depends on my money to time ratio at the time I need the service (and also the proximity of processors to where I am hunting, and whether I have enough room in the pickup/ice chest to haul home an unbutchered rib cage & legs). Usually, the processor is well worth the money, to save time. I hamburger or sausage most everything.
waffentomas
Member
I process my own. It's kind of just a last, final, act of the hunt.
rswartsell
Member
PremiumSauces,
backstraps too?
Say 3 hail “Natty Bumppo" s and make a good act of contrition.
backstraps too?
Say 3 hail “Natty Bumppo" s and make a good act of contrition.
MCgunner
Member
If I had to use a butcher, I could just buy sausage cheaper. Last I had made was $1.10 a lb and not smoked. Hell, I'm supplying the venison! Nope, got me a grinder/stuffer and do it all myself. Most of it is either ground or stew meat. I make a few rump roasts and cut the back strap and tenderloin up of course. It really ain't that big a job on deer. Hogs are a pain to skin, have to skin 'em all the way down with a knife and the shield is a PITA on bigger ones. Still, I do it myself, part of the fun.
Last I had made was $1.10 a lb and not smoked. Hell, I'm supplying the venison! Nope, got me a grinder/stuffer and do it all myself. Most of it is either ground or stew meat. I make a few rump roasts and cut the back strap and tenderloin up of course. It really ain't that big a job on deer. Hogs are a pain to skin, have to skin 'em all the way down with a knife and the shield is a PITA on bigger ones. Still, I do it myself, part of the fun.
I have a really, really good game processor about 4 miles from my house. The shop has been open for 40 years, very well known. The only complaint I've ever heard about him is, his prices are high. It should also note that he is a normal "old school" butcher shop as well.
sumpnz
Member
Both elk that I've shot I butched myself. The first one I just wrapped large hunks after the other guys in the hunting party got them off the bone. Next time I did it all by myself and carefully trimmed the meat and cut it to serving size. I'll probably do that again this year if I'm lucky enough to get one.
MCgunner
Member
That wouldn't slow me down at all.
skinewmexico
Member
A guy here in town does great work, and my wife loves the meat, which she never did before. And he makes the best jalapeno bratwurst.
buck460XVR
Member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2007
- Messages
- 10,087
....kitchen table.
deerhunter61
Member
I do a little of both...I take care of the back straps and the tenderloins and then take the rest of the meat to a processor for sausage etc.
rantingredneck
Member
Here too. Guy lives 1.5 miles from my house. He does great work. Clean, meticulous, and only 65 per deer.
If I end up killing a little one I'll do it myself as the money/meat ratio isn't as good. But any decent size doe or buck goes to him. Comes back vaccuum sealed and perfect. Been using him now for 3 years. Between me, my father in law, and brother in law/nephews, we've taken him dozens of deer.
He does great sausage, bratwurst, summer sausage, salami, bologna, you name it. (all of this costs extra above the usual burger/steaks/cube steak deal, though).
Best thing is he takes them hide on. Many processors want you to skin it first. He doesn't. He'll even take them un field dressed if you so choose to bring them that way.
Old Grump
Member
Processor, since back went bad its to hard on me. Its a small shop, they are near, they are good, they are reasonable and I get 25% off their already good price because I can dispose of the carcass trash legally on my land which takes a headache from them.
ARGarrison
Member
Mostly I take mine over to a buddy's Dad place. His old garage is now refured to as the buther shop. They had in the past buthered cows and hogs. He has a stainless bandsaw, large meat grinder and even a motorized tenderizer. The only thing he doesn't have is a walk in cooler.
I did how ever leave one at a processer one year when things were rushed. It was nicly packaged, but I really wonder if I got my deer or at least the ground meat from my deer back.
I did how ever leave one at a processer one year when things were rushed. It was nicly packaged, but I really wonder if I got my deer or at least the ground meat from my deer back.
Nathanael_Greene
Member
I do all my own processing (nothing very fancy; cut, chop, and grind).
A friend in Illinois uses a pro for his deer, and he gets some very nice results--bacon, bratwurst, cool stuff like that.
I guess I'm just too cheap for that sort of thing.
A friend in Illinois uses a pro for his deer, and he gets some very nice results--bacon, bratwurst, cool stuff like that.
I guess I'm just too cheap for that sort of thing.
Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow
member
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2007
- Messages
- 13,146
No, not backstraps! No way, no how - the backstrap & tenderloins come out before the rest even goes to the processor. I don't trust the processor with my backstraps & tenderloins!
Yep, you got *someone's* deer, that's for sure. Is it a FIFO or LIFO inventory system, I wonder?
Lol, couple years ago my buddy takes a little 90 lb buck to this processor which *I* had recommended to him - $75 later, he gets back 6 tiny little packages of steaks, and that's it! Like 1/3 of a small deer's meat - it was ridiculous. Neither one of us went back to that processor.
adam_oz
Member
I do my own cuz its cheap, and i kinda like it. There is something about getting all bloody and cutting up some meat. maybe thats just me
THe only way to get the animal you shot back, is to chop it up yourself.
If you do the sausage and even the burger option, your always getting someone elses meat instead of yours. Just how life goes.
Sure i can get a deer butchered for 60 bucks, but the thing is, they wont take hideless deer, and if you want your hide back, its another 60 dollars.
If you do the sausage and even the burger option, your always getting someone elses meat instead of yours. Just how life goes.
Sure i can get a deer butchered for 60 bucks, but the thing is, they wont take hideless deer, and if you want your hide back, its another 60 dollars.
- Status
