Who does their own butchering?

[Mmtobias]

I am looking at doing my own butchering as wait times at butchers seem to be getting longer and prices are only going to go up. Where did everyone learn their skills and other then some butcher knives, saw, grinder and slicer, what else is good to have?

Thanks.

[omega50]

Not sure when the next class is scheduled.
If you ever get stuck and have an animal down pm me and I can show you just enough to be dangerous with my equipment.:budo::sHa_shakeshout:


http://www.afga.org/events/Hunters-Butcher-Class/97d84b3b27a60c094153969eac9be2cf/

[mulecrazy]

It depends on what you plan to make. If you are like me and it is mainly jerky and sausage then all you need is a couple knives, a grinder, a sausage press, a meat slicer, and a dehydrater.

Best thing to do is go in with a buddy(s) and pick up all the stuff together to spread the cost around.

If you plan on shooting a couple deer a year then no need to go with the best of the best. There are some good "how to" videos and books out there to help you get your feet wet. One of my favorite weekends of the year is our annual sausage making weekend. We all get together and hammer our 500-800lbs of sausage/smokies in a couple days.

[Au revoir, Gopher]

It had been a long while since I had last butchered an animal, so I picked up The Ultimate Guide to Butchering Deer (http://www.amazon.ca/Ultimate-Guide-Butchering-Step---Step/dp/1616083212/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358786028&sr=8-2) by John Weiss.

Equipment wise, you need a boning knife and a good steel; a meat hook can be useful to keep your fingers out of harms way. Supply wise; plastic wrap, butcher's paper and tape. If you need a meat saw, a hack saw will work, or the Dewalt cordless meat saw (http://www.dewalt.com/tools/cordless-saws-reciprocating-saws-dcs380b.aspx) works too.

ARG

[Andrzej]

I do my own.
Learnt from DVD and YouTube.
I don't use meat saw, all my cuts are boneless and with CWD spreading it is safer to leave spinal cord and bone marrow intact.
Grinder is crucial as the best meat cuts need to be squared so you have prime trim pieces that are best used in ground meat at time of processing.
I like 6" boning knife Victorinox flexible.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/deercuts.jpg

and my own butchering
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1099.jpg
those round ones are #5 Sirloin Tips yummy steaks
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1097.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1098.jpg

Once you butcher your own then you will make your own...
Elk sausage, deer sausage and on the right pork only ham sausage.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/B288C289-EFCE-4A9D-A90C-F95ADCFA5F56-1444-0000027D938A424F.jpg

[ex811]

One of the Sponsor's on the form, CTR, has All the equipment you'll ever need, and they offer classes for sauage making.
I originally started by learning from others and reading a few books, but now, like Andrzej said, you can buy DVD's, get info off YouTube or simply just google deer butchering.
I do keep allot of the bones in the meat...nothing like a whole bone in shoulder or hind roast when feeding a bunch of friends/family.

[Sooner]

Many moons ago, dad used his neighbor. He was a butcher by trade and had set up his garage with all the equipment to cut meat on the side. He did all our wild game. Years of watching and helping paid off and when he retired, we started doing it ourselves. Not professional cuts but we like to get as many steaks as we can, then a few roasts. If we have alot of good scraps say from a moose, we take it somewhere and get garlic sausage made. This year only i got a buck so we turned what would have been sausage meat into stew chunks. We grind our own hamburger meat. I too would like to take one of those meat cutting courses, just to see where we can improve. Try cutting up a deer first, nice and easy, doesnt take too much time and preps you for a bigger animal.

[loyaleddie]

I do my own.
Learnt from DVD and YouTube.
I don't use meat saw, all my cuts are boneless and with CWD spreading it is safer to leave spinal cord and bone marrow intact.
Grinder is crucial as the best meat cuts need to be squared so you have prime trim pieces that are best used in ground meat at time of processing.
I like 6" boning knife Victorinox flexible.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/deercuts.jpg

and my own butchering
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1099.jpg
those round ones are #5 Sirloin Tips yummy steaks
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1097.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1098.jpg

Once you butcher your own then you will make your own...
Elk sausage, deer sausage and on the right pork only ham sausage.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/B288C289-EFCE-4A9D-A90C-F95ADCFA5F56-1444-0000027D938A424F.jpg

Maybe you could follow up on the OP with said links and DVD name...I sure that would be more of a help.

[Gunfighter]

Dad taught me and handed down the tools to boot.
In the process of teaching my son.

We haven't made saugage since my uncle passed away, we will next year
Taught him to make jerky this year. Great fun to watch his knowledge grow

[Mmtobias]

The name of some good dvd's or books would be very helpful. I think I will check into the classes as well so I can get some hands on time before I try it by myself. I did get some info off the internet, but I am always a bit weary of the quality of info. Just because someone has butchered 100 deer, doesn't mean necessarily mean he's good at it!! Lol.

Thanks for all the good advise and some great meat pics as well.

[Andrzej]

DVD I have is from D&R Processing from Minnesota but as soon as I've got it their Internet store and address shut down. I called them and left message but no response so far.
I have recipe book from them and it is fantastic that's were pizza steaks are from
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/pizzasteaks.jpg

There are some YouTube presentations like deboning deer in 8 minutes try those.

[Andrzej]

Ruth from D&R just called me that Dave will call me this evening after he is back from work and will tell me how one can order from them.

I've been butchering my game for a long time but I will tell you that I've learnt most from his DVD now it makes sense.
I have his Quality Deer Eating book and it is something different.
I have many others and Dave's is only one I use.

Faux mignon

from ground venison

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/photo-1.jpg
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/Fauxmignon-2.jpg

[Mmtobias]

Great info, thanks everyone! One last question. How long do you hang your meat and do you leave the skin on during hanging or not?

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to the fall

[FallAirFever]

I have done some of my own butchering, deboned a few deer and made a few batches of jerky and sausage. For equipment I have a decent set of knives and my filet/deboning knife sees alot of use. Once you start deboning a deer it is fairly easy to see where the muscle seems are and to make your cuts. I found the DVD's from Outdoor Edge a good resource. Youtube is also a good source.

I get all of my supplies from CTR refridgeration in Calgary. They have great spice packages, knifes, cutting boards, sausage casing... they also run sausage making classes that are suppose to be great, one of these days I'd love to take one.

Besides a good set of knives if you are going to be getting into fresh sausage you will need a grinder, Cabela's and Bass Pro have good ones. Also a decent sausage stuffer makes a big difference, I went from using a hand grinder for stuffing to using a kidney style stuffer and it was a big step up. Now I wish I would have spent a few more bucks and bought a vertical stuffer instead. If you want smoked sausage you will of course need a smoker I have a decent one from Costco, it is propane and difficult to keep the temp low enough to get a good cold smoke going, I think and electric smoker would help there. With the temp too high it is easy to render out the fat in your sausage and end up with a crumbly product.

For jerky I grind mine and use a jerky gun. I end up with nice consistent texture and flavor using this method.

Good luck, I find there isnt too many things more satisfying then butchering and preparing my own game to share with my family and friends.

[Andrzej]

Good luck, I find there isnt too many things more satisfying then butchering and preparing my own game to share with my family and friends.[/QUOTE]
lead free I must add
x100

[mulecrazy]

Great info, thanks everyone! One last question. How long do you hang your meat and do you leave the skin on during hanging or not?

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to the fall

If making jerky or sausage there is absolutely no reason to let your meat hang. Hanging of wild meat used for roasts and steaks will help a little, but not like it will on a beef. They lack the proper enzymes that break beef tissues down as they hang. Rarely do my deer hang more than a couple days. many nowadays are cut up the next day or even that night. We used to hang for a week but not any more.

one tip for deer roasts. Let them soak in buttermilk overnight and it will take out most of the "wild" taste.

[Andrzej]

Great info, thanks everyone! One last question. How long do you hang your meat and do you leave the skin on during hanging or not?

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to the fall

I leave skin on but we don't age deer, it is eviscerated ASAP after was harvested and the next day is butchered and meat placed in the freezer.
Unless it is in Saskabush that it is frozen solid by the time you get home.

Skin on or off depends on size of game and weather.

It is very easy to ruin meat on Elk if not skinned in warm September weather.

[HunterDave]

I was given a VHS away back and I set up a tv and vcr in the garage with the remote in a ziplock bag. I played the video and paused it after each sequence, rewinding as required. A deer is pretty fast and easy to learn.

I have made my own sausage in the past but I like taking my trim into the butcher to get it done. I still make my own jerky though. None of that is particularly hard to do, just time consuming.

How long that I hang my deer depends on the weather but the hide always comes off as soon as I get it home. If it's warm with flies then I have to do it right away. If it is nice and cool with no flies then I'll let it hang until it's convenient to butcher it but no longer than about a week. If it's cold enough for it to freeze solid I might try to debone it right away and refrigerate the meat or, I'll let it freeze and bring it into the house over night to thaw and I'll butcher it the next day.

Once you de-bone your first deer you'll ask yourself why you've been spending all of your money getting someone else to do it. It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes taking my time. :)

[Cal]

I've done my own butchering ever since I started hunting and just learned through trial and error. Pretty much all you need is a couple good knives and a grinder. My knives are nothing special, I use a nice Victorinox carving knife for most of the cutting, a Mora for deboning, and a Rapala fillet knife for more delicate trimming. I bought my grinder for $100 at Crappy tire, its ground up about 6 moose and over a dozen deer, still going strong. Over the years I've invested what i save in butchering costs in equipment like a dehydrator, smoker, and vacume sealer so I can make my own sausage and jerky.

Heres what I've learned through trial and error.

Cut across the grain.

Seperate all your muscle groups before you even start cutting, its better to make a bunch of smaller roasts and steaks than to try and make big ones by leaving the muscles togeather. I made this mastake quite a bit in the early years. Then I figured out how much better it is to eat 3 small but excelent steaks rather than one large gamey steak with a couple tough strips of gristle running through it.

Trim as much gristle and sliverskin as possible, much of the wild flavor comes from this.

Make butterfly steaks out of muscles too small to make regular steaks, its crazy how much this can even out your steak to burger ratio on a deer.

Make hamburger jerky, you need to use good cuts of meat to get good jerky. Although I love jerky I would never sacrifice a good steak to make jerky. Hamburger jerky lets you make good jerky and keep your steaks.

Some cuts of meat are just not much good for anything besides grinding, dont make a bunch of steaks and roasts out of marginal cuts that your just going to hate eating later. On a deer I make all my steaks out of the hind quarters and backstraps, most of the front quarters just dont make good eating unless ground. With moose i may take some roasts of the front.

[Cal]

Great info, thanks everyone! One last question. How long do you hang your meat and do you leave the skin on during hanging or not?

Thanks again everyone. Looking forward to the fall

I let hang as long as practical, I'll leave deer a couple days and moose a week if the weather is right and I have the time. If I shoot a deer Saturday I'll butcher it Sunday if theres any doubt over my work schedual conflicting with butchering the animal should I leave it longer. They always taste good.

I usualy skin my animals the same day I shoot them simply because the hide comes off so much easyer. I let them cool over night and then wrap them in shrink wrap for the aging period. If i need to bring an animal home quartered I usualy leave the skin on untill i butcher it, again they always taste good.

And lastly dont wory too much about messing up your meat. I'm pretty sure I've made every mistake known to man while handling my meat and I've never had a bad one yet, I think it would take borderline negligence or complete stupidity to ruin an animal.

[jkav]

I butcher my own as well -- and am living proof that there's no wrong way to do it. ;)

Boning knife, steel, bone saw, freezer paper and tape -- and a few hours. Talk about an anatomy lesson!

Best,

J.

[Nester]

Butchering space; We use an old 5' x 12' tabletop on sawhorse legs, few spotlighs above the table, propane heater under the table, garbage cans for garbage trim, table for wrapping and quality control :)


Taught by my father back in the day and now do our own. Everyone who shoots an animal with us, butchers with us. Lots of hands make it a good day.

[a little redneck]

Got my first elk and butchered it as well. Unlike a deer if you're butchering it yourself you'll need to quarter it, and work on a big work surface such as saw horses with plywood. I enjoyed the experience and would do it again. I did the hanging (for skinning) and butchering in my cargo trailer.

I'd recommend using a vacuum sealer to seal the meat before refrigerating it. Vacuum sealing will prevent freezer burn and limit shrinkage.

I'll be signing up for the ctr butcher course this fall. I believe SAIT also offered a course last year. Grind the meat as you need it and only mix in either beef or pork when you're close to eating it. If you grind in fat earlier it'll age quicker.

Have fun!

[a little redneck]

Also I let it sit sealed in the fridge at 4 degrees for 14 days. I only let it hang long enough for the rigor to come out before butchering it which takes 48 - 72 hours after the kill.

[Big Daddy Badger]

Lots of stuff on u-tube...
I learned from my dada and uncles.

We've always done our own meat, bacon, sausage etc.

All you really need is a good knife... a strong table and some freezer paper.:)

[vcmm]

I have done my own for years. Nothing to it once you get the hang of it.:sHa_shakeshout:

[big-buck-slayer]

I have watched few videos and agree the one from outdoor edge is the best I've watched.

[omega50]

Also I let it sit sealed in the fridge at 4 degrees for 14 days. I only let it hang long enough for the rigor to come out before butchering it which takes 48 - 72 hours after the kill.

Pre rigor meat has a much more generous water uptake and I would encourage you to make your sausage immediately and enjoy enhanced yields and quality:)

[Donkey Slayer]

We have been doing it for a few years now. I picked up a DVD from Wholesale Sports. The DVD was made by K & K meats in Edmonton. Very good video. Every year we watch the video, pause, cut, video, pause, cut, etc. After a few years, you can breeze trhough the video fairly quickly.

We basically just do the cuts of meat and hamburger. We take the hamburger meat to the local butcher to double grind, takes about 5 mins and only about $30 for a moose.

Equipment, couple of tables, knives, cutting boards, plastic containers, DVD, sharpeners, bleach solution for knives, paper wrap with dispensing stand, tape, magic marker, latex gloves, cover the tables with 6 ply vapor barrier plastic, radio, scotch

[Sooner]

All our game hangs for a week if we can. Skin on if we can. Makes for nice soft meat when cutting it up. We found if you skin it in the field, by the time a week is up, the outer edge has dried and you now have to trim it away. We ususally skin it the night before we cut it up.

[BobM]

I bought this book in Cabellas in the states and it has very good recipes and shows how to butcher an animal. It is printed by Creative Publishers. As far as hanging game if it is a young animal overnight is good enough older animals a week.

[a little redneck]

All our game hangs for a week if we can. Skin on if we can. Makes for nice soft meat when cutting it up. We found if you skin it in the field, by the time a week is up, the outer edge has dried and you now have to trim it away. We ususally skin it the night before we cut it up.

I'll be leaving the skin on as well for my next critter. Although the animal was tarped, if I didn't take the tenderloins out when gutting they would've been all dried out after the long drive home. I spent a considerable amount of time picking hair off of the areas I skinned.

[a little redneck]

All said and done my cow elk yielded 243lb of deboned meat. Allot more work than anticipated but well worth the effort. I would butcher an animal this size again in a heartbeat.

[Moults]

Those cuts look exactly the same as I learned from a DVD by Chef Milos Cihelka. It's a stoney wolf production. Best 10 bucks I ever spent. With a little patience and care, the meat is 10 times better than what a butcher will do for you. I've had people tell me that the whitetail steaks I fed them were the best steaks they ever had, beef included. Well worth the effort of learning to separate each muscle group according to tenderness. It takes a long time at first but after a while the speed picks up. Enjoy!


I do my own.
Learnt from DVD and YouTube.
I don't use meat saw, all my cuts are boneless and with CWD spreading it is safer to leave spinal cord and bone marrow intact.
Grinder is crucial as the best meat cuts need to be squared so you have prime trim pieces that are best used in ground meat at time of processing.
I like 6" boning knife Victorinox flexible.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/deercuts.jpg

and my own butchering
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1099.jpg
those round ones are #5 Sirloin Tips yummy steaks
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1097.jpg

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/IMG_1098.jpg

Once you butcher your own then you will make your own...
Elk sausage, deer sausage and on the right pork only ham sausage.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/Andrzej77/B288C289-EFCE-4A9D-A90C-F95ADCFA5F56-1444-0000027D938A424F.jpg

[a little redneck]

Those sausages look great.

[dan1]

Thinking of getting into this this year. Wondering if anyone has any experience using the manual grinder/stuffer combos? There's one at Cabelas for approximately 70$ and wondering how this would work from your experiences?

[Andrzej]

Those sausages look great.

Thanks

"Dan1
Thinking of getting into this this year. Wondering if anyone has any experience using the manual grinder/stuffer combos? There's one at Cabala's for approximately 70$ and wondering how this would work from your experiences? "

I have Cabela's 1.5 HP #32 grinder but it is very heavy and only used when I am home.
I just got from CTR Refrigeration in Calgary 179$ electric #12 grinder that is much easier to move around and clean, for smaller jobs. I think that this would be good starter and then useful in the kitchen even if only used for grinding venison.
All grinders come with stuffing tubes.
Manual will work too. Are you 20 or do you have 16-20 y looking for good workup?
Reason for doing your own butchering is not only to save money but to being in control of your meat quality.
I am allergic to lead so I use venison shot without it and you not sure that you get your own meat unless you process it.
Sometimes becomes a hobby.

Start with manual. That's will get you going.

Andrew

[SimonB]

I butcher my own as well -- and am living proof that there's no wrong way to do it. ;)

Boning knife, steel, bone saw, freezer paper and tape -- and a few hours. Talk about an anatomy lesson!

Best,

J.

X2

[a little redneck]

I get hungry every time I look at this thread! I picked up the 3/4 hp Cabela's grinder... was really eyeing the 1hp because of the reverse. So far have been pretty happy with the 3/4hp, it grinds much faster than I thought, and the foot pedal attachment is a must have.

For everyone that butchers, do you use the stuffer attachment for the grinder or do you have a dedicated sausage stuffer? If you do what are the advantages of a dedicated stuffer?

[Piker]

I follow a lot of forums dealing with sausage making etc. and the general consensus is a stuffer even a 5lb. is way better than a grinder. I know because I use one and do 250 lbs. a year. Much easier and better texture. Piker

[Andrzej]

I think think that with stuffer you have better control over texture of final product as somebody mention already and this is very important.
Lots of recipes call for different class of meat to be grounded through particular plate to create proper texture and if you use grinder for stuffing this is mashed and my impression is that smaller grinders will mash meat more then big ones.

If you get manual stuffer make sure you get steel geared one.
I've got with plastic gear first and it failed on first stuffing job.
CTR refrigeration has 5 lbs with metal gear for like 150 but they also sell 15 lbs with steel gear for 299 on sale.

For some sausages I use grinder for stuffing but my grinder is #32 and I am stuffing 2" chunks of ham pieces for ham sausage that I want to be slightly tenderized.

Hope this helps

[Tech]

Learned from my father, uncle, and grandfather. All I ever use is my filleting knife and a hand grinder. Steak, stew, hamburger, and jerky. Not too worried about getting fancy. That picture is about right, just break the quarters down into individual muscles, use your fingers to feel your way into the seperations if your not sure where to cut.

Sight low too, sucks having the backstrap or tenderloins blow to hell.

[rancho-non-relaxo]

Halfords hides in Edmonton has everything a new butcher to a professional butcher could hope for and they will ship.
Go big on your grinder and you will not regrett it.
If you are doing lots of sausage get one of the large (11 pound) presses and it takes all the work out of it.
Princess auto and Peavy mart are 2 places to look for saws and grinders and they come on sale from time to time.
Good luck and have fun

[WkndWarrior]

We have been doing it for a few years now. I picked up a DVD from Wholesale Sports. The DVD was made by K & K meats in Edmonton. Very good video. Every year we watch the video, pause, cut, video, pause, cut, etc. After a few years, you can breeze trhough the video fairly quickly.

We basically just do the cuts of meat and hamburger. We take the hamburger meat to the local butcher to double grind, takes about 5 mins and only about $30 for a moose.

Equipment, couple of tables, knives, cutting boards, plastic containers, DVD, sharpeners, bleach solution for knives, paper wrap with dispensing stand, tape, magic marker, latex gloves, cover the tables with 6 ply vapor barrier plastic, radio, scotch



I also learnt from this same VHS tape. Good tips on calling moose as well. Deboned my elk in Blackfoot this year by myself. I would have been out in one trip with a larger sled. Pic is of my meat sled.

[laynemark]

I have been doing all my own butchering, cutting, wrapping and sausage making for the last 5 years. I started with youtube, and found a link "willys country meats." this guy puts you through the process very well. I bought the dvd that he puts out. CTR in Calgary and Edmonton have all the stuff you need to get rolling. Just a hint though, take your time.

[bergman]

I taught myself, from books, talking to other hunters and just trying it for myself. I have never paid for a butcher.

Equipment I use:
Good long knives (most from thrift stores, but good quality german or japanese blades)
Large cutting boards - 3 or 4
Food grade bucket or large bowl to hold trimming for grinding
Meat grinder
Lots of freezer ziplocs, mostly med size, b/c freezer paper and me had a fight
Butchering book to review before the season.

I hung my first deer in 4 degree C in a garage, and haven't hung any since. I usually butcher the same day (due to lack of fridge space) - I know people have different opinions on it, but ity has never influenced the flavour on my animals.

What DOES influence flavour is any fat or bone left in the meat. The most important thing for flavour is to get ALL the white out that you can - bone, fat, especially, and as much sinew/silverskin as possible.

And to very carefully make sure you get ALL the hair off the meat before you butcher.

I also do not cut up steaks until they thaw out. I leave them as roasts when I freeze them. Prevents freezer burn better that way.

Just my 2 cents. Give it a try