Processing venison

[JNRBRONC]

While responding to another thread, I thought this topic probably deserved a thread of it's own. I will admit up front that this is a passionate topic for me so be prepared for a lot of opinion and bias.
Still with me? I think a lot of hunters probably take their deer to a local locker and based upon the quality of what they have gotten back in the past, they place an order for summer sausage or other "speciality" products the locker offers. Why is this?
For years, I took the time to butcher all of my venison. I exerted great effort to remove all fat, sinew and connective tissue from the meat. Then, I would take a cooler full of pure red meat to the locker to have them grind it into burger and quick freeze it. I had nothing added. Why add beef fat to a great lean, healthy protein source? I got MY venison back.
Well, along came kids and other issues that made butchering our own a hassle. I took a few deer to the local locker. We noticed a dramatic down turn in quality. The lockers (somewhat understandably) are trying to do it fast as they charge a flat rate rather than by the hour. Trimming out fat and sinew are less of an issue for them. If you opt for "speciality meats", they will hide the venison "twang" with pork and spices (both of which you pay for). Most times, with speciality meats, you don't get your venison back. The locker freezes all deer received for sausage so a bulk batch can be done later (wonder why you get your sausage in Feb/March?). You get your poundage back rather than your deer.
It seems the tone of this post is anti-locker. This is not my intent. If any locker has an issue with this, offer to follow my venison butcher guidelines at their current costs. I doubt there will be many takers.
Venison can be great table fare with the proper field care, proper aging techniques (not needed if ground to burger), and proper butchering. It comes down to the trade off between time expended versus dropping it off at the locker.

Also, that big mature rutty trophy buck is going to be hard to make tasty steaks from. Marinades would be in order, sausage might be better in this case. Does and fawns make better table fare (IMO).

 

[NWBuck]

I'm alot like you...used to do it all myself, but now time is an issue and much of it goes to the locker. That being said, I very much enjoy what we get from our locker. My family can't wait for the summer sausage...it's their favorite. I too used to insist on 100% ground deer until I realized I couldn't get them to stick together on a grill. Turns out that's why the locker wanted to add beef tallow in the first place. Now I always make sure they DO add the tallow. I'll also say that it makes a difference WHEN you take your deer to a locker. Take one in now, after the first gun season, and you run the risk of poorer quality because they have so many to do. Take a fat doe in during the October archery season and I am always well pleased. I'd still like to do all of my own, but the reality is, I just don't have the time. Good Eatin'

NWBuck

 

[Littlefeather]

I prefer to do my meat myself. I always felt ripped off after I gave the locker $120 and got a grocery sack of meat back. I took Monday off and butchered two deer and let the meat soak in water over night. Last evening, I weighed the meat and put it into bags; one of them scrap and the other roasts. I plan on mixing the scrap with cheap hamburger and turning it into burger. I went in with two other guys and bought a 3/4 hp grinder from Cabela's. I can grind 10 lbs. of meat in a minute.

I weighed the roasts and marked the weight on the freezer bags so when I make jerkey out of them, I will not have to guess how much to take out. I have one other deer in the freezer that I am going to turn into sausage.

I would suggest going in on a grinder with a couple other people. You only use it for about 10 minutes a year but it saves you a ton of time and money. It will more than pay for my share this year in what I saved from the locker.

I have a smoker/grill on a triler that I can smoke 25 lbs. of sausage or 15 lbs. of jerkey at one time. In a long day, I can do two batches.

In the end, I will have about 60 lbs. of burger, 30 lbs. of jerky (pre-drying weight) and 50 lbs. of summer sausage. I would guess that to cost in excess of $250 at a locker. I think even with the initial investment and my time, I am stil money ahead and I have control over the quality of meat.

 

[150 Class]

Get to know you butcher and tell him what you want and expect. He will do a good job and give you quality meat.

I never mix beef with my deer burger. The deer tastes just fine as is and is so darn lean, it would make little sense to me to add any beef. My wife agrees and prefers deer burger over beef.

As for making the sausage and other specialty products, I will agree that most lockers do them in batches and you don't get back your deer but do get your poundage back. But, that is not the case with all lockers. If it bothers you, ask and find the locker that will give you back your meat.

I do process some of my meat into these specialty products every year but never to hide the taste of the venison. Quite plain and simply I do it because it tastes good! It is fun and easy to share and to take to work or other places and again, it tastes great!

Call me lazy if you want but I spend enough time with this habit that I don't want to spend more doing something that I don't like doing which is the processing part. For me, this is time better spent with the family.

 

[bugs11]

I bone out all the meat. Front shoulders go into the grind bowl. Backstraps are cut about an inch thick, my wife pounds these out flat and makes them into the best oven fried backstap steaks you've ever tasted. The hind quarters are made into roasts, cut up into cubes for stew, cut into smal strips for fajitas and stir fry or simply sliced into steaks. Any scraps go into the grind bowl.

I used to grind with beef scraps from the local Fareway, but not anymore. For burgers on the grill I mix in finely diced onions and bell peppers, a handful of regular oatmeal, some olive oil, and an egg. Mix everything up real well, let sit an hour or so, make into patties and grill. Sometimes I make sausage burgers, mix in the pre-made breakfast sausage spice and 3-4 tablespoons of freshly roasted caraway seeds.

I better stop, I'm getting hungry...

Oh yeah, the tenderloains are sliced longways and grilled. Had a set of tenders last night from the big doe I popped last weekend.

 

[1arrow]

Well I guess I am an odd ball. This year I did everything myself, from start to finish. I am lucky I have some down time to do this plus I can't afford to take two or three deer to a locker. Just got done last night grinding up my last deer (so far, hopefully not) I totally understand why you would take it to a locker but I cannot describe how it feels to do everything by myself

Just my 2 cents.

 

[SaskGuy]

I cannot remember ever taking a deer to be processed. I've done them myself since I started hunting. At first it was mostly trial and error in boning the entire deer out to be ground up and made into sausage, which my uncle did in his smoker.
After high school I went to college to become a retail meatcutter, which I did for a couple years before going back to University. The knowledge I gained as a "butcher" was extremely helpful towards my own game processing. I can completely none out a deer, cut the backstraps into chops, tie roasts from the back end and get all extra into the grind bucket in 30-45 minutes, that is bugger all.
I use my neighbours grinder to grind the extra into ground deer, some of it goes into sausage or jerky, which I make myself, the extra is wrapped up as ground deer.
I'm not saying that all lockers are bad as they are not but another valuable lesson learned working as a butcher was how some processors treat "your meat". I will say that not all do this but some do, and one in one too many. It is true that alot of time your meat is simply thrown in with others meat. Some of these people may not have taken the care you have taken, hair is often present, fat is too often not trimmed away, sinew is left in, many butchers do this simply because of the time factor involved with getting your meat as good as possible. Then it is all ground up and made into whatever specialty products they have orders for. They do not do your sausage, then somebody else's. It is all done together and chances are you will not be eating the deer that you harvested when your order comes back from the processor.
I want to be sure I'm eating my deer, and that a good quality job has been done on it. That is why I do it myself, from start to finish. It takes very little time for the end reward. Nothing is taken away from time spent with my family, my wife is one hell of a sausage linker!!

 

[bushman]

Just a quick tip for those doing thier own cutting. My family and I have always cut up our own deer. The trick to getting all the hair off is to hit the quarters with the burnz-o-batic before cutting them. Do it really fast just to burn the hair and not the meat.

 

[FurDog]

[ QUOTE ]
For burgers on the grill I mix in finely diced onions and bell peppers, a handful of regular oatmeal, some olive oil, and an egg. Mix everything up real well, let sit an hour or so, make into patties and grill.

[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds good Bugs - going to have to try that.

I had the luxury of taking monday off and cutting and packing steaks and roasts. My scraps go for stew meat, as I don't own a grinder, but after reading the post about Cabelas, I might invest in one.

 

[Kat]

I can’t even imagine having someone else butcher my deer, I’m way to picky about how I want it done. No one showed me how, I just learned by looking at books with pictures. 1arrow is right; there is a great feeling of satisfaction that comes from butchering your deer yourself. Yes it’s hard work, but to me its all part of the hunt.