#1720550 - 01/11/10 08:59 PM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: Football Hunter]
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browtines
8 Point
Registered: 09/22/07
Posts: 1091
Loc: kodak, tennessee
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I have the same setup as BSK.... We have a nice walk in cooler and when we kill a deer we field dress them and hang them with hide still on for at least 10 days. them we skin, debone, and process our meat. We have 200lbs of sausage meat ready to grind and I have made over 100lbs of jerky already....not counting the steaks and neck roast i have in the freeezer..... there is about 8 of us that hunt together and we harvested 15 this year....
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#1720562 - 01/11/10 09:05 PM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: Football Hunter]
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jakeway
TnDeer Old Timer
10 Point
Registered: 11/22/99
Posts: 3457
Loc: Hendersonville, TN, USA
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I have one or two buddies that I donate deer to by dropping the deer at a processor, and then they pick it up and pay for it. The stuff I shoot for me and my family I skin and debone within a day or two of killing it. Everything that isn't ground is cut into 2 to 3 pound chunks, wrapped in plastic wrap, then wrapped again in freezer paper, labelled, and frozen. I never cut through bone except for the leg bones (not even the pelvic bone).
I used to save the neck roast and ribs, but now I trim off the meat while the skeleton is still hanging, and cut it for burger.
Burger and sausage is ground and frozen in quart size ziplock freezer bags or in LEM brand burger bags. I don't stuff sausage into casings any more; too much work. I found that Bratwurst Patties cooked on the grill and served on a hamburger bun is just as tasty as a brat on a hot dog bun.
I never put venison in any kind of water, nor do I ever freeze something and then thaw-refreeze. Only have to get sick on bad meat once to really ruin your taste for it. If you've been doing it and haven't gotten sick, good for you.
This pic was end of October; I've added about 3 more deer since then. The freezer is usually empty by bow season, though last year I found a roast that was slightly over 2 years old. We cooked it like normal and it tasted just as great as the fresh ones.
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#1720619 - 01/11/10 09:28 PM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: bowriter]
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Boone 58
16 Point
Registered: 06/23/04
Posts: 13558
Loc: Food Plot
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Ditto, D.A. gotta be the expert.
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#1720825 - 01/12/10 05:48 AM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: BowGuy84]
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medwc
8 Point
Registered: 11/09/08
Posts: 1254
Loc: Clarksville, TN, hunt FCKY an...
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I process my own as I get them and I too normally take 4 or 5 deer a year. Most is made into some kind of ground burger. Takes me about 3 hours using just knives, hand grinder , and a vacuum sealer.
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I hunt Ft Campbell, LBL and a secret location in Mont. County. I am a Bow Hunter without the attitude.
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#1720908 - 01/12/10 07:22 AM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: medwc]
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hpdi200
4 Point
Registered: 08/23/09
Posts: 395
Loc: Seymour, Tn.
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I process my own also.What I do is I skin them, then quarter them up,and put it in plastic bags and let cool for a day or 2 in a coolor of ice. Then I cut the back strap up in butterflies,or just cut them in half for the grill.the tenderloin i leave whole.The rear hams I debone,then cut up in steaks,kabob meat,fahita meat,and also little bitty peices for chili meat,and also to put in baked beans.In all about,40 minutes to skin and quarter one up for the cooler,and around 2 hours to process,and rap up to freeze.I like doing my own for 2 reasons,1st. it is free,2nd. I get what I want excactly,and I know it is clean and done right.I have done 4 this year for myself,quartered 2 of them up for friends,who later processed them theirself,and I dropped 1 off at a processer for another friend who did'nt want to do the meat hisself.so 6 of the seven deer me and my son killed this year were not taken to the processer,hopefully this coming weekend he will make it # 8 on the youth hunt for our total this year.By processing the 4 that we kept for ourselves this year we saved $260 dollars.That will buy alot of ammo. lol.
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#1720922 - 01/12/10 07:36 AM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: hpdi200]
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BowGuy84
10 Point
Registered: 09/16/07
Posts: 4861
Loc: Nashville, TN and Louisville, ...
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Thanks for the ideas guys, Id really be interested in more detail on the brat burger idea...never heard of that. As for freezing the hams then thawing I havent had one bit of problem and it seems to help tenderize them. If I ever do have an issue I guess Ill change.
I started this bc to be honest in my first year of teaching I lost a deers hams bc I let it spoil I was exhausted during the week and we got some warm weather and blah blah blah.
Now I can prepare and utilize all the meat I have and not risk wasting anything.
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#1720924 - 01/12/10 07:37 AM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: hpdi200]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25328
Loc: TN
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I have access to a walk in cooler as well and it makes it convenient for sure. I simply skin them, cut out the backstraps, vacum seal, and freeze them separately but each is whole. I keep a few hams whole with bone in for smoking, and the others I debone with the deer hanging. I will keep a few of the biggest neck roasts, and I have a buddy/processor grind me whatever amount of Burger/Breakfast sausage I need per year. I also have some Brats with hot pepper cheese in them done each year, as well as some slim jims with cheese and salami/summer sausage.
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#1721738 - 01/12/10 05:31 PM
Re: How do you deal with large amounts of deer meat?
[Re: BowGuy84]
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jakeway
TnDeer Old Timer
10 Point
Registered: 11/22/99
Posts: 3457
Loc: Hendersonville, TN, USA
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... Id really be interested in more detail on the brat burger idea...
Pretty simple. Go to Bass Pro, Sports Authority, or any store that sells LEM meat processing stuff. Get the package of Bratwurst flavor spices, which is good for 15 pounds of meat. (Uncle Buck's brand at BPS is the same as LEM.)
Go to meat counter of grocery store and see if they have pork trimmings. Usually I get it free, but once I had to pay $1.49/pound for it, because they were going to make sausage out of it themselves. (I asked the meat man about the freezing/rethawing. He said it was only an issue if you leave the meat sitting around too long or get too warm after thawing. They freeze pork trimmings for a few days, then thaw them just enough to get them through the grinder, then immediately refreeze the sausage.)
I get about 4 pounds of pork trimming and 11 pounds of venison. (It can be chunks from quarters, but it can also be brisket, flanks, legs, etc.) I run 4 or 5 chunks of venison through the grinder, then a chunk or two of pork, until all the meat is ground.
Put it all into a large pan and add the spices after mixing with one once of water per pound of meat. Mix thoroughly and put into quart size zip lock bags. (Approx 1.5 pounds per bag)
Thaw and cook on grill just like a hamburgers, but instead of garnishing with lettuce, tomatoe, etc, I just put on mustard, ketchup, and onions.
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