Processing game at home

[peepsight]

I'm in the process of improving my set up for meat processing at home. Over the past few yrs. I've acquired what I consider to be good quality equipment and recently installed a commercial size stainless steel sink in the basement where the laundry stuff is. Anyone care to share some pics/info of their set up for cutting meat and the equipment they use? Here's a picture of the sink plus my weston grinder, Cabelas meat mixer on the stainless work table.

[wolc123]

It looks like you have most of the bases covered there.  One thing I would add (if you don't already have one) is a big, old refrigerator.   I have an old GE, non frost-free model from the 50's that does a great job of aging the carcass (1 week for a 1-1/2 year old deer, 10-14 days for 2-1/2 or older deer) at just the right temperature (around 35 degrees F).   I removed all the shelves and drawers from inside.  I skin the deer, and cut the hind quarters off.  I hang the hind quarters from hooks on the top and rest the front section on the neck against the bottom.   More often than not, over the last 10 years or so, it has been too warm to age carcasses by just hanging them inside my insulated garage (with all the windows covered), especially early during archery season.  Aging the venison allows a breakdown of rigormortis and produces more tender red meat.  Some say it also improves flavor.  

What kind of skinning setup do you have?   A small block and tackle and a gambrel to hook the tendons works pretty well. I usually saw off the front legs above the knee and the rear legs below the knee, then skin them back far enough to expose the tendons for hooking the gambrel.   When it is cold enough to hang the carcasses outside the fridge (it was for (1) of (5) that I did this year), I leave the hides on to insulate against daily temperature extremes and to keep the meat from drying out too much (not an issue inside the non frost-free fridge, but I don't know if it would be in a modern one).  I remove the hide a day prior to finishing the processing job, to split up the work load a bit.   I tried the "golf ball" /truck skinning method on a fresh-killed one this year without success.  

[bugsNbows]

Looks good. I would add that a vacuum sealer is in order. I have been using one for several years. It has been a wonderful addition to our processing attempts. 

[rachunter]

looks good!!!

i've been wanting a ss sink and table for a long time.

[peepsight]

15 hours ago, wolc123 said:

It looks like you have most of the bases covered there.  One thing I would add (if you don't already have one) is a big, old refrigerator.   I have an old GE, non frost-free model from the 50's that does a great job of aging the carcass (1 week for a 1-1/2 year old deer, 10-14 days for 2-1/2 or older deer) at just the right temperature (around 35 degrees F).   I removed all the shelves and drawers from inside.  I skin the deer, and cut the hind quarters off.  I hang the hind quarters from hooks on the top and rest the front section on the neck against the bottom.   More often than not, over the last 10 years or so, it has been too warm to age carcasses by just hanging them inside my insulated garage (with all the windows covered), especially early during archery season.  Aging the venison allows a breakdown of rigormortis and produces more tender red meat.  Some say it also improves flavor.  

What kind of skinning setup do you have?   A small block and tackle and a gambrel to hook the tendons works pretty well. I usually saw off the front legs above the knee and the rear legs below the knee, then skin them back far enough to expose the tendons for hooking the gambrel.   When it is cold enough to hang the carcasses outside the fridge (it was for (1) of (5) that I did this year), I leave the hides on to insulate against daily temperature extremes and to keep the meat from drying out too much (not an issue inside the non frost-free fridge, but I don't know if it would be in a modern one).  I remove the hide a day prior to finishing the processing job, to split up the work load a bit.   I tried the "golf ball" /truck skinning method on a fresh-killed one this year without success.  

For skinning we hang in the garage. I picked up a cheap chain falls from harbor freight several yrs. ago. It's set up in such a way that we can back the tail end of the truck in and hoist it right off the back. The garage is insulated so when the weather cooperates it holds the temp pretty good. This yr. though my buddy and I built a "cooler" off the back of his shop. We were able to get some left over SIPS panels from a job he was on. There 6 or 8 inch thick insulated wall panels and they comprise the walls and ceiling. On the inside it's lined with insulated aluminum garage door panels that we bought cheap. The space is cooled with an air conditioning unit which has a "cool-bot"  attached to keep a more even temp. The whole set up performed perfectly this yr.

https://www.storeitcold.com/meat/