Deer Processing Questions?

[WMAn]

Lord willing, I'll be processing my first deer on Saturday morning. Here are a few questions:

1. I want the hooves to use for making venison stock. What's the best way to remove them? Most of the processing info you find says to remove legs and arms at the joint from the shank down and discard. Is it possible to skin all the way to the hooves and remove all the hide? Is there a better way to remove the hooves?

2. I want to do a leg roast. To butcher a leg roast, do I remove the leg at the hip joint and leave the femur (round) and tibia (shank) attached?

3. I want to do a saddle roast. Am i correct that to do this I will make a cut across the carcass just past the last rib and just in front of the round (hip) and then remove the flank on both sides?

4. Have you ever tried butchering a deer similar to a beef cow, that is saw straight through the spine and split the carcass in half? I interested in butchering some chops. Since I want a saddle roast, the way to do this seems to me to be: remove shoulders and legs, remove saddle roast, use saw to split brisket and spine along rib cage, use saw to cut through the ribs 2/3 of the way from top to bottom, and then split ribs into chops. Thoughts?

5. Can you remove a deer tongue by skinning the lower jaw and pulling it through? This is the way I find tongue removal demonstrated on beef and pork.

 

[WMAn]

Poser,

1. With the long ankle, does it get really hard to remove the skin all the way to the hooves? I'm afraid the skin may be thinner/stretched tighter just above the hooves and thus very difficult to skin. But, I don't know; this will be the first time I've ever skinned a deer. If I can't skin all the way to the hooves, do you think I could saw the hooves off just above them, where the hooves meet the skin?

2. Yes, I want the entire leg as one roast. I think I am going to follow the method for butchering a lamb leg roast described on page 88 of Basic Butchering, figure 5-12E. I have a recipe from the LL Bean Cookbook for a Roast Leg of Venison, Unmarinated. The recipe calls for a 6 lb leg, which I'm having trouble conceptualizing the average size of a deer leg.

3. Good point on the Saddle Roast. I guess this is another example of how when it comes to hunting for meat and hunting for antlers. You can sometimes kill two birds with one stone (mature buck = bigger cuts of meat and larger antlers). I hope I have the opportunity to get a deer large enough to produce a saddle roast because I have a recipe for Saddle of Venison Mt. Desert that I want to use for Christmas dinner.

4. That's what I thought, but I have a number of recipes for venison chops and only one specifies loin chops so I assume the rest are rib chops.

I also have a recipe for Venison Transmontana that calls for 1 breast venison, boned. I'm trying to figure out how to do this. My thought is to saw the lower part of the rib cage (tips) off as one piece before I split the upper rib to cut chops and then do something similar to a rib roll with the breast meat.

Is the pic you posted for the saddle roast from Afield?

 

[mike243]

They use to make glue out of horse hoofs to make glue with, do you have a published recipe for deer hoof stock? I would think it would be similar. good luck, I use a set of limb pruners with 2' long handles to cut the lower parts off the legs, makes skinning easier

 

[WMAn]

mike243,

I do have a recipe. The hooves instead of being the main ingredient in the stock are just another ingredient. They'll go into the pot along with bones, root vegetables, and maybe a cut piece of antler. I do the same with chicken feet in my chicken stock.

The reason I am going to use the hooves and have used chicken feet is both are rich in gelatin. It's probably the same reason horse hooves were used to make glue. A chicken stock that includes feet will take on the consistency of jell-o, when cooled in the refrigerator.

 

[mike243]

Cool.let us know how it works out.a lot of stuff sounds bad but is just the opposite when you try it lol.some things I will never eat but looks like poser will eat any thing that dosent eat him first lol

 

[Inkstainz]

It sounds like it should work....let us know

 

[WMAn]

The recipe for the breast meat is actually for antelope and can be used for venison so I don't think size is the issue. The issue may be figuring out what the recipes author is referring to as "breast meat."

The book the recipe is from makes no reference to the breast in its diagrams for butchering deer. Basic butchering refers to the area below the ribs and between shoulder and legs as breast on both lamb and deer; it does not distinguish between breast and flank.

The recipe calls for using a knife to cut diagonal lashes 1/8" deep across the breast, apply an herb paste, roll the breast, tie with butcher's twine, and roast.

 

[TheRealSpurhunter]

Really interesting ideas your attempting. I love reading about this stuff.

 

[booche]

There are a ton of videos on youtube on processing deer. But something I like to do is take the whole neck as a roast. You will have to cut it in half to get it in a large crockpot or dutchoven, but man is it worth it. Just season and cook like a beef roast with all those good root vegetables and celery and onion and garlic and man I am getting hungry thinking about it.