Deer meat question

[RedCloud]

I butchered my buck here at the house on Tuesday night last week. I put the meat in my fridge that night. On Wednesday I cleaned the meat of as much fat as I could and reluctantly called the processor I used a couple years ago. I took the meat to his shop deboned and cleaned up of fat to have a 5# log of summer sausage, 2# of deer sticks (kind of like a slim jim) and the rest into burger. Total it was only 40# of scrap meat. When I dropped it off I told him it had been in my fridge for a total of 2 days. He told me that he would have it done by Monday or Tuesday this week. It is now Thursday and I still haven't been called to tell me it is done. He has a walk in cooler but here is my question.

How long do you guys think that meat will be good if not worked and frozen ?

The reason I was reluctant to take my stuff to this guys is the fact the doe I took there a couple years ago was made into the deer sticks and summer sausage. It was all frozen when I went and picked it up. I took some of the deer sticks out of the freezer and as soon as they thawed out it was stinking and rotten. Had to toss all of it. Summer sausage only stayed good for a couple of days in the fridge. BS but with very few people that process up this way I'm kind of stuck unless I want to drive over an hour away. The place I use to take deer to on occasion stopped doing it several years ago because they lost money having to shut the shop down and ONLY do deer. I guess the hog and beef market was far better for them to stick with.

Guess I will be looking into a new place to get my stuff done next year or just go out and buy a good burger maker with a sausage making attachment and do that myself too.

Pisses me off ya know lol.

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Amish place down somewhere that does good work...the lady in L-ton does good too.

 

[RedCloud]

Amish place down somewhere that does good work...the lady in L-ton does good too.

What's the name of that one. The only one I know over that way is Miller Meats ? The guy I took mine to is also in L-ton. Woodville Taxidermy where he does processing as well. I think he should just pick one line of work and stick with that lol.

 

[uglykat26]

does the amish guy outside of johnsville still do deer

 

[RedCloud]

does the amish guy outside of johnsville still do deer

I don't know. I can't call him to ask if he is or not or what his hours of operation are lmao. Dang the Amish anyway lmao.

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

Yea the Amish guy on 93 does a lot of people's.

MaryAnne's Meat in Lexington, Redcloud. She does good work. Yellow shop/barn right behind Decker's at the cross section of 42/97 in town. Don't have a number for her.

If you're gonna whack multiple deer a year and since you've got Dante, you could probably find a good deal on a grinder come end of season.

 

[uglykat26]

in my early deer wacking days before i learned to cut deer myself i always took mine to the guy on 93 , very quick turn around and does real good job

 

[RedCloud]

Yea the Amish guy on 93 does a lot of people's.

MaryAnne's Meat in Lexington, Redcloud. She does good work. Yellow shop/barn right behind Decker's at the cross section of 42/97 in town. Don't have a number for her.

If you're gonna whack multiple deer a year and since you've got Dante, you could probably find a good deal on a grinder come end of season.

Thanks Huck. I will check her place out when I get my doe. I know right where Decker's is lol. I spent some time wondering the couple of streets in L-town on Friday nights after the football games. Had a buddy of mine move over there freshman year and i spent a lot of time over there.

 

[Jackalope]

This is why I don't take mine to a butcher. They are all about batches.. I guarantee that meat you trimmed was thrown in the kitty with everyone else that wants sausage and jerky.. If the butcher deboned them I guarantee he spent zero time trimming fat and silver skin. Plus the other guys deer could have been gut shot drug through a creek, and sat in the bed of the truck all day in the sun.


I use a kitchen aid mixer with a grinder attachment.. Plenty powerful to grind deer even on medium power. You can get sausage stuffer attachments also.... Plus its an easy sell to the wife.. As she also gets a nice mixer..

 

[RedCloud]

This is why I don't take mine to a butcher. They are all about batches.. I guarantee that meat you trimmed was thrown in the kitty with everyone else that wants sausage and jerky.. If the butcher deboned them I guarantee he spent zero time trimming fat and silver skin. Plus the other guys deer could have been gut shot drug through a creek, and sat in the bed of the truck all day in the sun.


I use a kitchen aid mixer with a grinder attachment.. Plenty powerful to grind deer even on medium power. You can get sausage stuffer attachments also.... Plus its an easy sell to the wife.. As she also gets a nice mixer..

My wife would only use that to make mixed drinks lol. God knows she can't cook and if it wasn't for me we would have all starved to death long ago lol. Good idea though and one I may be looking into soon.

The reasons you mentioned and the fact you never get the amount back you took in is why dad and I started butchering our deer years ago.

 

[jagermeister]

This is why I don't take mine to a butcher. They are all about batches.. I guarantee that meat you trimmed was thrown in the kitty with everyone else that wants sausage and jerky.. If the butcher deboned them I guarantee he spent zero time trimming fat and silver skin. Plus the other guys deer could have been gut shot drug through a creek, and sat in the bed of the truck all day in the sun.


I use a kitchen aid mixer with a grinder attachment.. Plenty powerful to grind deer even on medium power. You can get sausage stuffer attachments also.... Plus its an easy sell to the wife.. As she also gets a nice mixer..

Exactly.

Adam, do yourself a favor and get your own grinder... any grinder... the bigger the better, but whatever you can do. I know they are not cheap, but trust me it will pay for itself very quickly. I bought a cabelas 1/2 hp commercial grade grinder in 2007. I had over $100 in club points saved up, but the price of the grinder was something like $275 I think. I know that sounds like a lot, but at $50 a pop, that's only 5.5 deer ground up. And $50 is on the cheap end... I know of some processors that charge close to $100 to do a deer. I've ground up over ten deer with mine so far, so it's paid itself off, and then some. Also, making your own jerky and snack sticks is a piece of cake dude. I don't know what that guy is charging you, but I guarantee it's higher than what it would cost to do it yourself. All you need is a pack of jerky seasoning from LEM, a 20-dollar jerky gun, and an oven... wahlah... all the deer jerky and snack sticks you want brother.

 

[RedCloud]

Exactly.

Adam, do yourself a favor and get your own grinder... any grinder... the bigger the better, but whatever you can do. I know they are not cheap, but trust me it will pay for itself very quickly. I bought a cabelas 1/2 hp commercial grade grinder in 2007. I had over $100 in club points saved up, but the price of the grinder was something like $275 I think. I know that sounds like a lot, but at $50 a pop, that's only 5.5 deer ground up. And $50 is on the cheap end... I know of some processors that charge close to $100 to do a deer. I've ground up over ten deer with mine so far, so it's paid itself off, and then some. Also, making your own jerky and snack sticks is a piece of cake dude. I don't know what that guy is charging you, but I guarantee it's higher than what it would cost to do it yourself. All you need is a pack of jerky seasoning from LEM, a 20-dollar jerky gun, and an oven... wahlah... all the deer jerky and snack sticks you want brother.

He weighed it because I asked him to and he told me $31.50 give or take a dollar or two. Price isn't bad but this waiting BS and not knowing what you get ticks me off to no end. I remembered a couple years ago when I didn't have the time to do it and took my doe over there why I stopped messing with those guys. I figured with all of it pretty much done this year that he could get back to me pretty quick, I guess I was wrong and now I have to wonder what and who's deer will be going in the batch. I will be getting one for the house so I can do the shit myself after this one is done. All I had was an antique hand grinder. Been there done that one many times over the years and don't ever care to do it that way again lol.

 

[jagermeister]

He weighed it because I asked him to and he told me $31.50 give or take a dollar or two. Price isn't bad but this waiting BS and not knowing what you get ticks me off to no end. I remembered a couple years ago when I didn't have the time to do it and took my doe over there why I stopped messing with those guys. I figured with all of it pretty much done this year that he could get back to me pretty quick, I guess I was wrong and now I have to wonder what and who's deer will be going in the batch. I will be getting one for the house so I can do the shit myself after this one is done. All I had was an antique hand grinder. Been there done that one many times over the years and don't ever care to do it that way again lol.

I hear ya man... hand grinders fuggin blow! Did it once, never again.

I never have time during the early season to make jerky either, which is why I wait until things slow down a bit. I use all ground meat for my jerky and snack sticks, so it's as simple as pulling packs out of the freezer when I'm ready. Thaw it out, mix in the seasoning and cure, squirt it onto some oven racks and cook it. I made some damn good goose jerky last season like this, too. Everyone at the New Year's Eve party thought it was better than the deer jerky.

Getting back to question about the meat still being good... I believe summer sausage takes a while to cure doesn't it? I've always heard it has to hang for several days, and you scrape the mold and shit off it as it cures. I don't know man, I've never made SS. Hopefully he's at least got the snack snicks frozen for you, though. One occurrence of rotten nasty jerky would have been the last time for me.

 

[RedCloud]

I hear ya man... hand grinders fuggin blow! Did it once, never again.

I never have time during the early season to make jerky either, which is why I wait until things slow down a bit. I use all ground meat for my jerky and snack sticks, so it's as simple as pulling packs out of the freezer when I'm ready. Thaw it out, mix in the seasoning and cure, squirt it onto some oven racks and cook it. I made some damn good goose jerky last season like this, too. Everyone at the New Year's Eve party thought it was better than the deer jerky.

Getting back to question about the meat still being good... I believe summer sausage takes a while to cure doesn't it? I've always heard it has to hang for several days, and you scrape the mold and shit off it as it cures. I don't know man, I've never made SS. Hopefully he's at least got the snack snicks frozen for you, though. One occurrence of rotten nasty jerky would have been the last time for me.

I know he said he had to put it in the smoke house. I'm guessing that's for the SS but maybe he does the deer sticks in there too ?

 

[Huckleberry Finn]

I use a kitchen aid mixer with a grinder attachment.. Plenty powerful to grind deer even on medium power. You can get sausage stuffer attachments also.... Plus its an easy sell to the wife.. As she also gets a nice mixer..

I didn't know that attachment existed. Good to know!

 

[Beentown]

I didn't know that attachment existed. Good to know!

Yep I have it TOO and love it!

 

[Jackalope]

All I had was an antique hand grinder. Been there done that one many times over the years and don't ever care to do it that way again lol.

Then all you need is a piece of plywood, a setscrew pulley, an electric motor, and a small belt.. You're in business

 

[RedCloud]

Then all you need is a piece of plywood, a setscrew pulley, an electric motor, and a small belt.. You're in business

Trust me. The thought has crossed my mind lol.

The wifes grandparents had one setup like that in their garage. I never seen it since her grandpa had passed away before we got together but I have heard the stories.

 

[DJK Frank 16]

The grinder will help, but if you are after consistently tasty jerky and summer sausage, I would recommend finding a good meat place. I've dabbed into all of it, grinding, slicing, shooting, dehydrating.... if you can make two batches that are consistent you are better than I am. I can't believe they were busy enough this early to let your meat sit and rot.... what the hell do they do during the rut... or gun season?

 

[RedCloud]

The grinder will help, but if you are after consistently tasty jerky and summer sausage, I would recommend finding a good meat place. I've dabbed into all of it, grinding, slicing, shooting, dehydrating.... if you can make two batches that are consistent you are better than I am. I can't believe they were busy enough this early to let your meat sit and rot.... what the hell do they do during the rut... or gun season?

He told me he had 13 deer hangin in the cooler when I dropped mine off. He got a late start on the butcher shop do to a death in the family and he had just put everything back in the day before I dropped my deer meat off to him.

The thing that pisses me off is he told me it would be done by MONDAY or TUESDAY. I'm sorry but if there is a possibility that it might take longer, don't give a guy an estimate on day to have it or at least call the guy and say something. No phone call no nothin. I will be calling tomorrow. At this point I'm about to tell him fug it. You keep that rottin crap.