Hey guys! I am thinking about starting to process my own meat. I have a friend that is trying it and well i think it would be a good idea for me to try and also a good experience, so my question is what do i need? What tools or machines do i need to be successful. Also any of you out there that process your own meat how do you go about it? Like storage or anything like that. Any info yall think i might need just go ahead and say it! No such thing as to much information. Thanks in advance guys! (or gals)

Your own game meat or all meat?. I do my game meat deer and hog because the cost to have it done has gotten way out of hand. A couple years ago I had processed 50 lbs of doe at Cinnamon Creek Ranch. Half salami with jalapenos and half seasoned chili meat......$270. I said that's it.... bought a medium sized meat grinder with the various sized grinding attachments and sausage stuffer from academy. Sausage bags and meat bags completed it.
Shot and processed a 120lb hog this year and it was excellent. Watch some Youtube vids they will provide everything you need to know.

Equipment depends largely on what all you want to make.

We make sausage, summer sausage, burger, steaks, snack sticks, jerky, and im sure some other stuff im leaving out.

Tools
-decent knives
-cutting boards
-grinder
-stuffer
-ice chests
-vacuum packer(not necessary but nice)

We make all of our cuts boneless so no saw. We gut skin and quarter the deer, let it chill on ice or hang if its cold enough. Then debone, being carful to make the cuts we want out of the backstrap(loin), tender loins, and the round in the back legs. Most of the rest just gets trimmed for fat and large sinew/tendon and froze in gallon bags to grind at a later time.

The specific cuts are vacuum packed and trimmed all the way and finished cutting when thawed and used. When we have time we thaw frozen meat for grinding and making sausage.

+ a good scale.
Although it's not required - I prefer a hopper mixer instead of hand mixing. It seems to get the seasoning more evenly distributed.

It's a costly investment to get started, but you break even VERY quickly.

Yes break even comes quick. It does require some effort and trial by error to get it just how you want, but that is fun to me.

You can mix seasoning with meat before you grind it and almost don't need to mix it at that point, but we always still give it a hand mix.

In my experience I recommend several smaller batches as apposed to 1 large one!

growing up in the '60s, we did 100% of our own processing for everything up to beef but had a local slaughter house that we used for beef. Back in those days, we didn't do any grinding that I recall early on, everything went to steaks or roasts with any left overs into stew or chili meat (not ground). Doing this, all you need are a couple of good knives (we used our hunting knives mostly), a large table and/or cutting board and butcher paper (and tape). That's the simpliest route.

in the late 60s, dad got a medium sized grinder that was hand crank (that got old fast!!!) and later bought a large grinder and rigged up an electric motor/belt/pulleys mounted on a 2x10 (dad added a kill switch after getting his finger caught in the grinder ). We had a couple of large metal wash basin sized pans that all our trim meat went when processing and stored in a separate fridge or freezer until we had enough for a grind. We did hamburger & chilli (used brisket or bacon for fat) and lots of varieties of sausage (both pan & link) from feral or domestic hogs. Dad got pretty good with mixing spices and recipes. He started off with a small keg of sausage seasoning that came from a meat market down in San Antonio but later mixed his own. This was all prior to vacuum sealing days and everything was packaged for the freezer in butcher paper labeled with a magic marker and sealed with masking tape.

it can be done on the cheap to get started and then build up by adding other things as you get accustomed to processing your own. You might keep an eye on Craigslist for grinders as someone might be upgrading to a larger size or fancier unit. Or you might find a medium to larger hand crank unit (<$50 Walmart) and then buy pulleys and a small electric motor to build up your own similar to above for relatively cheap. It doesn't have to be pretty!

a spare refrigerator / freezer comes in very handy too so as to not take up space in your kitchen unit.

a couple different grades of whet rock and a steel come in handy too.

You will also need a couple of tables at different heights...a shorter one for the grinder, mixer, stuffer, etc. and a taller one to use the cutting boards on. Nothing worse the spending a few hours stooped over cutting...kills my back for a couple of days. Think ergonomics and comfort when selecting working heights. You won't regret it!

^^^ very true!!!

My wife's Kitchaid attachment seemed to work. Took quite a while to cut all the skin, fat, ect off.

We just processed a couple deer at a time but we'll do it again. Used it for hamburger meat. Never made sausage out of it. Sounds like it will be something to try next time.

cabelas has sales on their grinders and other processing tools all the time. I love the 3/4hp commercial grade Grinder. Saves me lots of time over the $100 model I used to have.

x2 We have the 1-3/4 hp model. Ground some meat with my inlaws and my FIL said dam you got a whose your daddy grinder when I carried it in

Good advice from the guys here.
That big Cabelas grinder is awesome, we love it. We do 4-6 deer at a time and we can hardly get that thing warmed up.
I have got to where I use a fillet knife for cutting up deer, a personal preference.
As stated, a taller table is a big plus. I went down to the plastic supply and bought a sheet of 1/2" thick HDPE cutting board material. I throw it on my 44" tall work table when we are processing. Nothing like a 4ft x 8 ft cutting board. When done I carry it out and hose it off, easy.
Something to think about if you have the facilities; we hang (age) our deer from 1 week to 3 weeks. Nothing like aged venison, awesome.
We will team up with a few guys that are processing deer and do several all at once. Four guys can usually do four deer, cut into steaks, ground, vacuum packed and in ice chest and cleaned up in about 2 hours. And ice chest full of beer helps.
Depending on the crowd, we will continue on making sausage from there.
It is very rewarding.
With a lot of processors not giving you back your own meat (a few still do) at least you know what you have.
After getting questionable meat, I asked my processor about it and he admitted that I may not be getting my meat. I had shot many young does and come to find out I may have been getting old buck meat that was gut shot and found the next day. I want my deer.

one tip:
Hind-Quarters; I bone most of them out as 'whole-muscle roasts' ; awesome cooked low+slow as a potroast with veggies added towards end.
Easy enough to cut across a roast if you want sinew-free steaklets for chickenfrying, etc.

Being a little lite in the bank account this past year, we bought the 1/2hp grinder from Gander even though the reviews were mixed. We made sure the blades and dies were cold as well as the meat being partially frozen. Did a 50/50 mix of venison and brisket and that thing cranked out about 20 pounds like a champ. We couldn't do near as big of batches as the larger models, but if you're on a strict budget, it works great!

After starting with grinders that were loaned to us small and then medium (medium was a huge improvement over small) my buddies Dad gave him the 1.5hp largest one they make from Cabela's I highly recommend getting the largest one you can afford. That thing will grind deer and hog faster than you can stuff casings. We get our hog fat at Brookshire's for free. I also have gone to a filet knife for most processing it's just to easy. The rest has been covered here. It's fun coming up with your sausage recipes but the prepared ones are really all you need.

Watch for a #32 hand grinder, most were made so that hey can be converted to use an electric motor. We have had ours for about 30 years, still works fine without a motor on it. It is big enough that it takes 2 people to operate, one stuffing while the other cranks, switching off keeps it from getting too bad to crank.

You don't want to process by yourself, that gets old in a hurry, it is hard work by yourself. 2 or 3 people and you have a good crew it becomes enjoyable, the lies and cold beer will also "flavor" the sausage. Quality equipment and a little know how and soon the processing will be done before you realize you got started. Our equipment is about 50 years old, I got it used and it still works good today.

Did a cow elk in mama's kitchen a few years back. Regularly do 2-4 deer every year except last year was just 1. Lot of satisfaction goes into processing your own. But make no mistake about it even with great tools its time consuming work. A couple of the big cutting boards they sell at Academy, a descent grinder and good knife are really all that's needed. I like the Rapala filet knifes personally. They work well for boning out in my opinion. I now use a vacuum sealer but I've also had really excellent results with just butcher paper and press n seal. Get after it you'll enjoy it.

Hey guys first of all thank you all for the help. Just a little update for yall, im still in the hunt for a good grinder and as much as i would love to get one of the cabelas commercial grade grinders i just think thats a little much for me right now. I only say that because im a nooby, once i get more experienced i will definitely upgrade. I have my eye on the Cabelas Delux Grinder. It looks like a very good quality starter grinder for the price. 750 watts seems pretty good to me. If anyone has any information about this grinder please let me know! Or any thoughts about it again let me know! Is 750 enough? Yall can either PM me or reply on here. I honestly would prefer PM but if yall wanna share with anyone else who looks at this post also then by all means post on here!

Been processing my own for 50 years. Was always an expense that I felt too much to bear especially when you dealt with several kills annually. Unlike many of you I have not graduated to the grinding and mixing process. Upgraded several years ago to vacuum packing as it surely improves long term storage. My routine is primarily Steaks and stew with a periodic roast. Have had the pleasure of others sausage mix and have been quite impressed. Will be looking for a grinder in the near term to improve my end product not that anything I have done previously wasn't very good.

For small batches of meat,a cat litter box(new one)works good.