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Processing your own deer

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
33,136
274
SW Ohio
It saves you some money and is very rewarding BUT the entire process is very time consuming and the cleanup is a bitch! Lol

That's all I have TOO say about that......
 
Time is one thing I don't have enough of right now.. Mine is at a processor. We may try to do one before Christmas during that weekend...
 
We grind at the end of the year when we need a reason to drink..so much easier and efficient. Not too much to clean up either.
 
No drinking as I had to head to work later but had I been off.....Ida hit that case of beer in the fridge like it owed me money! Lol
Oh, broke out a package of deer burger from last years deer and made a huge crock of chili during the processing! Ate some before leaving and brought a big bowl of it to work for supper tonight. Good shit!
 
We grind at the end of the year when we need a reason to drink..so much easier and efficient. Not too much to clean up either.

So you freeze all your burger makin's and thaw them and grind then re-freeze? Does that have a negative effect on the meat?

My wife bought me a grinder, and I fuggin LOVE runnin' it....it was so disappointing last nite when I only had about 5 minutes of grinding .....
I love my toys and would like to play with 'em more
I think the next one I get is gonna be all burger 'ceptin for the backstraps

And yes Ric it's very rewarding
 
I had to do 2 in 2 days!

I normally do my own, but I have never had to do more than one. I cut it into steaks, roasts and make jerkey with the rest. Thats what I did with the first one, but I currently have about 50 pounds of buck meat in my fridge that I would like to get turned into sausage. I have been checking prices, and at $2 a pound, I could just buy a grinder and do it myself.
 
Agreed it is very rewarding and time consuming TOO!! What do you all do for jerky? I grind it and shoot it, tastes great but was thinking about slicing in strips for a change... Any suggestions??
 
I have been processing my own since 1968. Have done couple past 50 deer, 2 elk, and one bear.
Missed my chance at a moose in Alaska. Shame to as I probaly won't go back.
I took 2 deer to a processor and I just perfer to do my own. And the son even offers to pay for the processing. When I ask for the money but do it myself I never see the money. Wonder why?
Frank
 
I found a great sounding venison breakfast sausage recipe on the net this morning and made about 30 pounds of it! Lol

I'll try and post the link(no pun intended) tomorrow.

In my head:
5 pounds of venison(recommends cutting out all tallow and fat)
3 pounds of fatty pork( I used pork loin with thick slabs of bacon too)
3 tbsp of sage(ground)
1 rbsp of ginger(ground)
1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
1 tbsp of ground black pepper
1 teas of fennel seeds
2 teas of salt

Mix seasonings into bowl and after grinding the meat knead it really well then lay it flat on cutting board or put something down on your counter. Sprinkle seasonings evenly over the flat(1" thick) and pat it into the meat and let sit for a few minutes then knead throughly together then package.

Can't wait to try it. It didn't call for bacon but decided I'd do what Dan would do! Lmao