Arkansas Paul
Member
That's the best way. At deer camp if someone who actually camps kills one, its backstraps and fried taters that night. Don't get any better than eating backstraps off a deer that was alive a couple hours before.
Meat Processing
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That's the best way. At deer camp if someone who actually camps kills one, its backstraps and fried taters that night. Don't get any better than eating backstraps off a deer that was alive a couple hours before.
der Teufel
Member
Here's a list of some potential places in the Austin area. I don't have any experience with any of them. I don't know if any of them make jerky, but you could call and ask.Where do you guys go for processing your game? Local butcher? Do it yourself? I'm hoping to get my first deer this season in the Austin, TX area and I've never had to process game before. Do you all just quarter it and keep it on ice?
I'm a big fan of deer jerky myself, is it costly to get deer processed into jerky? I miss being a kid and not having to worry about any of this.
http://www.yellowpages.com/austin-tx/meat-processing
MCgunner
Member
I've done my own my whole life. I used to have the sausage made, but do that myself, now, too. I keep it iced down in a 120 quart ice chest several days and then butcher. To each his own, but I never have gamey meat. The meat bleeds out and bleaches white with lack of blood...good as kosher. I do the same with pigs (not kosher), but it's mostly out of laziness as if the pig is under 200 lbs, the meat'll be good, not gamey like venison can be if mishandled.
I have a LEM grinder that's about 10 years old, cost 100 bucks at Academy and is still going strong. It'd done quite a few deer and untold numbers of pork. I have a stuffer plate for it and stuff my own sausage. I mix it with pork fat from bacon ends (which is getting more expensive). Most wild hogs are pretty lean and deer are always too lean just to stuff without some pork fat. I like my sausage fatty, prefer 60/40 pork fat to venison, but 50/50 is okay. I have caught hogs that were pretty fatty, but generally I mix it with 50 percent store bought fat, the lean ones. Stuffing your own sausage saves you a BUNCH of money. Last time I had any stuffed was about a dozen years ago and it was $1.10 a pound! THAT was price without smoking. Smoking is extra. OUCH
I will also make breakfast pan sausage to go with our eggs (we have chickens). I like to add maple to it, WOW, great for breakfast!
I will jerk some, but jerky doesn't last around here. I used to do it on a wood smoker at very low heat, but that's a hassle. I succumbed to a dehydrator, works well. I add mesquite flavor from a bottle. Don't jerk pork, though, have to cook that at high heat to be safe.
Anyway, on a deer, I'll cut the rump for roasts (crock pot), cut out the tenderloin (first meal) and back straps. I'll grind or jerk any and everything else. On the pigs, I cut out the ribs, amazing when smoked, otherwise, same as deer.
I do the same with pigs (not kosher), but it's mostly out of laziness as if the pig is under 200 lbs, the meat'll be good, not gamey like venison can be if mishandled. I have a LEM grinder that's about 10 years old, cost 100 bucks at Academy and is still going strong. It'd done quite a few deer and untold numbers of pork. I have a stuffer plate for it and stuff my own sausage. I mix it with pork fat from bacon ends (which is getting more expensive). Most wild hogs are pretty lean and deer are always too lean just to stuff without some pork fat. I like my sausage fatty, prefer 60/40 pork fat to venison, but 50/50 is okay. I have caught hogs that were pretty fatty, but generally I mix it with 50 percent store bought fat, the lean ones. Stuffing your own sausage saves you a BUNCH of money. Last time I had any stuffed was about a dozen years ago and it was $1.10 a pound! THAT was price without smoking. Smoking is extra. OUCH
I will also make breakfast pan sausage to go with our eggs (we have chickens). I like to add maple to it, WOW, great for breakfast!
I will jerk some, but jerky doesn't last around here. I used to do it on a wood smoker at very low heat, but that's a hassle. I succumbed to a dehydrator, works well. I add mesquite flavor from a bottle. Don't jerk pork, though, have to cook that at high heat to be safe.
Anyway, on a deer, I'll cut the rump for roasts (crock pot), cut out the tenderloin (first meal) and back straps. I'll grind or jerk any and everything else. On the pigs, I cut out the ribs, amazing when smoked, otherwise, same as deer.
RetiredUSNChief
Member
I haven't made any deer jerky, but beef jerky I've made a ton of.
My in-laws got me a dehydrator for Christmas one year, but I've yet to use it. It's too much like work to break it out, set it up, then clean it all afterwards. I simply use the oven.
I put the top rack all the way at the top and the bottom rack all the way on the bottom. Then I line the bottom rack with foil to act as a drip pan.
After marinading the sliced meat for 24 hours, I'll poke a round toothpick through a corner, then hang it from the top rack in the oven. You can hang a TON of beef strips this way, and very efficiently. Certainly far more than any dehydrator without having to buy lots of additional plastic trays.
Prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon to give it about an inch air gap to circulate air. Set the oven at about 160 to 170 degrees F, or as low as possible if it won't go that low.
How long it takes is a function of meat hydration (longer if marinaded) and thickness of the slices (longer when thicker).
When done, open the door, ease the top rack out, hold a pan under the jerky and run a finger down each row to knock them all off the rack onto the pan. Pull the toothpicks out as the jerky is cooling, then immediately pack in a sealed container, like tupperware, for about a day. This will allow the moisture to be evenly distributed throughout all the jerky in the container.
Clean up is as simple as pealing the foil off the bottom rack and throwing it away. No dehydrator trays to mess with at all!
My in-laws got me a dehydrator for Christmas one year, but I've yet to use it. It's too much like work to break it out, set it up, then clean it all afterwards. I simply use the oven.
I put the top rack all the way at the top and the bottom rack all the way on the bottom. Then I line the bottom rack with foil to act as a drip pan.
After marinading the sliced meat for 24 hours, I'll poke a round toothpick through a corner, then hang it from the top rack in the oven. You can hang a TON of beef strips this way, and very efficiently. Certainly far more than any dehydrator without having to buy lots of additional plastic trays.
Prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon to give it about an inch air gap to circulate air. Set the oven at about 160 to 170 degrees F, or as low as possible if it won't go that low.
How long it takes is a function of meat hydration (longer if marinaded) and thickness of the slices (longer when thicker).
When done, open the door, ease the top rack out, hold a pan under the jerky and run a finger down each row to knock them all off the rack onto the pan. Pull the toothpicks out as the jerky is cooling, then immediately pack in a sealed container, like tupperware, for about a day. This will allow the moisture to be evenly distributed throughout all the jerky in the container.
Clean up is as simple as pealing the foil off the bottom rack and throwing it away. No dehydrator trays to mess with at all!
MCgunner
Member
I put mine on ice in a 120 quart ice chest and have kept it in there for a week before, no problem, nice and cold and the ice water leaches out the blood. I reckon it's hotter down here, well, was in Corpus at least.
I've done it in the oven and it works well enough. I just find the dehydrator easier. Wife wanted it for drying veggies and mushrooms and stuff, but it worked for jerky last season and I still have one bag left to jerk. I should do that soon, I guess.
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