Place to get a deer processed

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  • Slackdaddy

    My pronouns: Iva/Bigun
    Jan 1, 2019
    5,850
    No real man allows another man to handle his meat,,, just saying, process it yourself.
     

    outrider58

    Eats Bacon Raw
    MDS Supporter
    Jul 29, 2014
    49,818
    I'll say this, introducing water to meat that isn't going immediately into the freezer or oven is flirting with bacteria.
     

    LeadSled1

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 25, 2009
    4,245
    MD
    If you have to get it butchered Bucklands is better than Bowmans. I used to love Bowman’s but they are different after they didn’t do deer for a few years. We got back meat last season that had guts on the tenderloin (ours was not guy shot) and the pepper sticks seemed like they had been left out and were on the edge of spoiling when they defrost.

    When we had our farm we did our own, but now living in a great place although it has no place for hanging a deer.
     

    SavageShooter

    Active Member
    Jan 10, 2014
    644
    Arbutus, MD
    Make sure you get a Food Saver Vacuum sealer. One of the best investments I made. Really keeps the meat from getting freezer burnt. I also have a LEM grinder the best in my opinion. Good luck butchering.
     

    Jbelt11

    Member
    Sep 14, 2017
    34
    Harford county
    Thanks

    I appreciate everyone insight I am definitely just gonna do it myself. I went out and bought a decent size deep freezer and I am a bit of a knife addict so I have a lot of good blades lol I went out on Saturday and saw a few but didn’t get close enough to get one
     

    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,064
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    Do you have a big cooler or secondary fridge?

    I have a deer cooler and chill them over night in this kind of weather. The skin and break down to muscle groups and all into Meat Lugs and stacked in the basement fridge. They we can take our time processing at home. I used 4 gallon square buckets before the meat lugs, but the extra fridge is really nice to have. Keeps extra beer, really handy making sausages, bologna and snack sticks and thawing it out to make them.

    I don't use any bigger knife than a 3" blade while butchering. I go bigger once inside trimming and cutting steaks and all. Also read up on the front shoulder as it is the hardest things to process. You can leave it whole and saw through the bone for a bone in roast. Part out into prices and/or grind. Be gentle and bone out and make a large tied roast from it. Its a nice cooking roast!

    Be meticulous in fat removal!! Deer fat is waxy and awful. If you save round roast trim all the membrane makes them better. Its not as noticeable if left on when sawed as steaks. They can be a bit stronger tasting for people not used to deer with the membrane on.
     

    gwchem

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 18, 2014
    3,434
    SoMD
    I find that fat needs to be removed, and any silver skin or sinew around steaks/backstraps. But some connective tissue in the grind isn't going to kill the flavor. We don't do anything besides steaks and grind anymore. If you took a knife and tried to remove every tiny piece of connective tissue on the front shanks, you'd be there all night. I just do my best, and make sure to mix those parts with bigger, meatier ones.

    My grind mix is about 8:1 deer:bacon. Buy and freeze bacon on sale in the summer.
     

    Antarctica

    YEEEEEHAWWW!!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 29, 2012
    1,728
    Southern Anne Arundel
    I appreciate everyone insight I am definitely just gonna do it myself. I went out and bought a decent size deep freezer and I am a bit of a knife addict so I have a lot of good blades lol I went out on Saturday and saw a few but didn’t get close enough to get one

    Good for you! It will be daunting the first time around but still worth it. Plenty of you tube stuff out there. Just remember that in the end, you just dissecting it. that's the best way to approach it - peel apart muscle groups, etc vs cut through them - this gives you access to pull out the sinew/silver skin as you go.

    Also, you don't have to do all the silver skin during initial butchering. If you freeze a muscle that you want to cut into steaks, and is the right size for say a family meal, just deal with the silver skin when you pull it out.

    Most important silver skin/sinew to get out is in the backstops, because it is THICK!

    I also agree that a little connective tissue in the grind - especially if you are cutting pork into it for sausage, doesn't really matter.

    You will find that you satisfaction in learning, hunting, killing deer will go up significantly when you add processing to the list that you do yourself. You also get a hell of a lot better and a lot more meat out of it.
     

    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,064
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    My grind mix is about 8:1 deer:bacon. Buy and freeze bacon on sale in the summer.

    If adding fat I would buy pork or beef fat as its cheaper. Pork fat is $.50 pound and bacon is $3.50 a pound for the cheap stuff and $5 for the good stuff

    Her eis 4# of back fat I use for making bruanschweiger and only cost $2
    img_0702-medium-e1582315991441.jpg
     

    GutPile

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 4, 2016
    3,218
    doubt you want to make the drive, but it's worth it: M & G Wild Game Processing in Westminster. Best venison sausage I've ever had.

    And multiple in house taxidermy options. Both do great work. M&G is my go to when the wife has plans and its too warm to let them hang in the garage.
     

    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,064
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    We should have a sub-forum in here "Deer processing" and it can have all the how to cut it, store it and prepare it later on.

    Make your own sausages. this one is a good recipe. I add half pork for my wife that doesn't like game meats as much. Go 30% fat if just venison as 20% is pretty dry.
     

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    Antarctica

    YEEEEEHAWWW!!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 29, 2012
    1,728
    Southern Anne Arundel
    I recently did some pork chorizo that came out well. Next time I have venison I will do it with bambi and 50% pork. Here's the recipe (found on internet) scaled up for 15 pounds of meat. The amount of spice added was unnerving when making it, but it came out great.

    What actually went in was a slight variation of this (depending on what I had on hand) but it was good...
     

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    Archeryrob

    Undecided on a great many things
    Mar 7, 2013
    3,064
    Washington Co. - Fairplay
    What does pretty well mean? Spicy? Salty? Did you do it fresh or cured?

    Also whats with the colored cells? Paprika is blue and red marked twice.

    I am starting to switch over recipes to grams. Walmart also has this really cool measuring cup like a triple shot glass size and measures multiple tablespoons and teaspoons making life easier. Grams is much easier on the scale, but the measuring cup is helping me switch as everything weighs different based on which spice it is per spoon.
     

    Antarctica

    YEEEEEHAWWW!!!!
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 29, 2012
    1,728
    Southern Anne Arundel
    'Pretty well' - It was just very flavorful. I wouldn't call it spicy, but I like spicy foods.

    The colored sections denote the mix of 'Or' components that go together. I did to make sure I didn't do ALL of those. So pick one of the colors use those ingredients but not all..

    I did it fresh and froze it with no cure...

    I'll search for the original recipe (for 1 pound of sausage) and try to post it.

    Here it is...

    https://honestcooking.com/authentic-homemade-mexican-chorizo/

    I did it with some cayenne pepper and a mix of regular and smoked paprika (50/50)...
     

    GutPile

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 4, 2016
    3,218
    Then there is how much freezer to buy. Bigger is always better. I used to freeze milk jugs in it before. Now it seems I need a bigger one or the daughter to move out.
    119986268_10221587507249787_2415649167331641067_o.jpg

    You can fit 6 big deer in #1. More if you take a few yearlings or fawns.
     

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