DYI butchering questions

[crappyice]

I just finished separating and deboning a doe I recently arrowed in Westchester. This is really my first time butchering my own deer.

I have about 9 lbs of scrap meat that I plan on turning into ground meat. How careful do I need to be with these parts? Do I need to remove all/most the white sinewy bits and fat? I only ask because I have seen various videos where they take huge cuts of scrap and hold it up as meat to be ground with a lot of sinew and fat. Do they pick through that or just grind away?

Also, what the hell is that thin slim over many of the roasts? That $hits nasty. Can it be removed easily? Does it need to be removed?

[tony m]

That s*it is nasty?

wtf? Le's eat some insects and get into a real groove.

Time is money for the processor guy. Grind away. You can put more time into it yourself. That is cool, I do.

Bad tasting meat, from a deer that had good looking guts, is usually do to people hanging deer to be cool.

Get the hide off pronto. Since I don't have control enough to age meat, mine is dragged to camp, hide off, cut up, and in the freezer. You know, celebrate the food chain.

Now have fun!

[Lawdwaz]

You can do as much or as little trimming as you want. I'm sure most commercial butchers don't spend much time trimming and you don't hear of too many people dieing of venison sinew/fat/muscle death from consuming it!

I do a pretty fair job a trimming mine. I'd say. I think it makes for a better tasting grind.

That clear snotty stuff won't kill you either but you should try and scrape it off.

[Lawdwaz]

Another thing, kudos to you for getting into it. YOU control the entire process now. Nobody elses shiit deer will be ground with yours, at the very least.............

[moog5050]

I learned to butcher from an actual butcher and he highly recommended removing as much silver skin, connective tissue and fat as is possible, even for meat that will be ground. His view was that those parts tend to make the meat taste gamey or can cause bad texture. I have listened to him on all my deer this year and have yet to have gamey meat. Its worth the extra effort if you are doing it on your own. I am sure most processors don't do it, but after all that time hunting, why not spend a few more hours to make the meat as good as is possible.

[verminater71]

I learned to butcher from an actual butcher and he highly recommended removing as much silver skin, connective tissue and fat as is possible, even for meat that will be ground. His view was that those parts tend to make the meat taste gamey or can cause bad texture. I have listened to him on all my deer this year and have yet to have gamey meat. Its worth the extra effort if you are doing it on your own. I am sure most processors don't do it, but after all that time hunting, why not spend a few more hours to make the meat as good as is possible.

I agree 100%, Kudos to the butcher, most will not waist the time

[moog5050]

I agree 100%, Kudos to the butcher, most will not waist the time

Agreed on the kudos. He is a friend and a hunter. I was amazed at how quickly he could butcher the deer clean and how much meat it yielded. Years of practice. He was like a butcher ninja. lol Takes me twice as long and I have less yield, but practice makes perfect. I will not have my deer processed after learning from him. Honestly, I have not had one bad/strong tasting piece of meat from any of the deer I took this year.

[landtracdeerhunter]

The cleaner the meat, the better tasting it will be. Get rid of the membrane and fat. And the snotty stuff too.

Edited December 28, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[dbHunterNY]

i agree with what's been said... i do all mine. i have since i started hunting and even helped my family members before i could take my own deer. i think i have a good idea what you're talking about. make sure you get the hide off ASAP and then feel free to let it age in a controlled 35-37 degrees. then when you cut it up any of that can be scraped off. it's not really slime but a membrane that's a little slippery and what not.

[Danny]

cleaner the better, plus that sinew and fat is a PITA when it clogs up the grinder...

[nycredneck]

I have butchered a couple and really don't have the time it takes to do it properly. My yield is not great and it takes me forever to process the whole deer, if I was better at it maybe I would not mind so much but the only way to get better is to keep doing it, so catch 22. Wish I could watch some pro butcher for a couple of deer then I could learn a few tricks. Youtube is ok but not like watching someone in person.

[adkbuck]

I remove as much fat, silver skin and sinew as possible except for stew meat or shanks. In the case of stew meat and shanks (ie venison osso bucco ,,,an wonderful treat) the silver skin and sinew is melted away after 3 or 4 hours of stewing and actually adds to the flavor to the stew or osso bucco. Bon appetit!!!

[landtracdeerhunter]

I have butchered a couple and really don't have the time it takes to do it properly. My yield is not great and it takes me forever to process the whole deer, if I was better at it maybe I would not mind so much but the only way to get better is to keep doing it, so catch 22. Wish I could watch some pro butcher for a couple of deer then I could learn a few tricks. Youtube is ok but not like watching someone in person.

Their are some good videos on butchering your own deer. Team Fitzgerald taught me.