I am curious how many of you butcher your own deer at home? I have done it exclusively for the past few years and wonder what others thoughts are on it. I do however take the trimmings and have those made into sausage at a processor.

Also,
I recently had antelope chops on the bone (cowboy cut) and really enjoyed. Do any of you leave your brakstrap on the bone?

I just did my first one last season and now plan to do most, if not all, myself. I can make a pretty good breakfast sausage and a friend and I are working on a recipe for smoked sausage. I want to figure out how to make a jap/cheese salami like Kubys and then I'd be set.

The first time I took a deer and had it processed it cost me over $100. I've done it myself exclusively since then. The only thing I dont make myself is the summer sausage. I just cant get it down. But I make my own butterflyed backstraps, bone-in backstraps, tenderized cutlets, burger, sausage, breakfast sausage, roasts and meat pies out of the burger. I also dont feed corn or protein at my place as I dont want the meat tainted with it.

Not to thread jack, but can anyone tell me how to debone the hams? Got two I need to cook, but dont want to tear them up.

Not reallu something you can explain. Needs to be seen more than told. Also depends alot on what you want to do with them

There is a video on you tube titeled How to debone a pork leg. Should give you the basic idea

Someone showed me years ago but the link below is the most thorough on youtube I've found.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYGBNDc_xU

We do everything ourselves. Invested $700 in grinders, stuffer, band saw, tables, wrapping paper, vacuum sealer, and knives. Plus we built our smoke house. Best investment by far. You get YOUR meat back. Not someone elses. Used to take ours to the processor 5+ years ago, but never again.

I done the butchering since 66 and it helped since my father was a head meat cutter and market manager over a private food chain. Learned all from him and it really does help out. The only thing I do differently is muscle the hind quarters out along with the front shoulders, sure makes the steaks easier to cut and no bone meal.

Got our own commercial grinder with stuffing attachments and always had great butcher knives.

I have butchered my own deer for about 10 years now. I invested a little up front to buy a good grinder, vaccuum sealer, and fillet knife. Now my only expense each year are the Foodsaver rolls. Sometimes I get the rolls at Kohls with a $10 off $30 purchase coupon.

I have tried making smoked sausage but mine was too dry.

And I LOVE knowing that I get my own meat back. I get my deer on ice as soon as possible, then keep it iced down for about 5-6 days before processing.

We do all of our own processing, always have and suspect we always will.

We make jerky, dried and fresh sausage,steaks and ground meat. On hogs I cut my own spare ribs and and we make jalapeno and cheese sausage as well.

Do it yourself. You'll find pleasure in learning something new and pride in controlling the quality of the cut. The first few deer might not be perfect, but you'll get the hang of it.

As for hams: I don't like ham steaks, so I pull all of the muscle groups off of the bone individually. I use the big roast for jerky, the small stuff goes to grind.

x2

One of the things I do with a deer roast is to cut a few slices into the roast, not quite all the way through. Then I lay a bacon strip in each pocket, fold it back into a roast, and when my wife cooks it, she starts it frozen. The bacon keeps it from drying out plus gives it a great flavor.

When you guys butcher your own, do you put the meat in coolers with ice or ice water? Do you need to change the ice and water everyday? Seems like a lot of coolers to me. Do they make one that you can fit a whole deer into?
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I don't know how that happened to my post

jdw - I start freezing different size milk jugs before I go hunting so that when I return, I can use those. I just use a very large ice chest (I have one that is big enough to hold 2 Illinois whitetails that are quartered) and I change the frozen milk jugs every day. I leave them like that at least 5 days before butchering if possible, once they stayed in ice for 7. I think the meat is tastier and more tender if they are aged.

Also, upon harvesting a deer, I immediately skin and quarter and get them on ice.

I am lucky that my wife lets me keep the ice chest in the house while aging. I put it on a furniture dolly so I can roll it around as needed.

I butcher my own, but it's very basic. I save the tenderloins and the backstrap, and the rest gets ground for jerky. I'm a deer jerky addict, and I have a lot of junkie friends.

I quarter them at my land, then leave the quarters on ice for 3-5 days in the garage. I put the cooler up on a cart, leave the drain plug open and put a 5 gallon bucket under it. I add a bag of ice every day or every other day, just depends on how warm it is outside. Once the blood is mostly drained out of the meat, I debone it, grind it, and freeze it.

I've never shot a Texas whitetail that DIDN't fit in a standard "large" ice chest, in quarters. All of my meat goes into one chest, buried in ice, rests for 2-3 days (or whenever I stop being lazy and want to debone it), then I butcher it all into baggies or vacuum bags.

If ever anyone wants some tips/help and lives on the north side of San Antonio/New Braunfels/Spring Branch/Blanco/Boerne area, I'd be happy to help, with some heads up.

Good videos.

I see alot of people on here leave their meat on ice and drain before they process it.

I have done it, but for me it is out of necesity more than anythign. Now we have a butchering station and freezer at our ranch, last season every deer we shot was in the freezer within 4hours of hitting the dirt with the exception of 1 that hung over night because we shot it late and would be there the next day.

I dont notice a difference with the deer taste at all between iced and drained and not.

matt

I haven't noticed a taste difference but there is a lot less blood to deal with when processing and even preparing to cook after thawed. Momma don't like to see blood on her kitchen cabinets.

We generally hang the carcass up in the meat cooler for a few
days while hunting..skin..debone the hams in one pc. and haul the
back straps, trim and shoulders home(bone in)..Game Warden never
had a problem identifying the meat..It only takes a couple of mins a shoulder to debone and they are mostly worthless, except
for grind and chili meat..Usually within 3 or 4 days of hanging
and laying in a chest w/ice they are drained of blood...Don

My dad and I do everything ourselves. Quarter the deer and let it sit in ice for a few days and then process it. Helps that he was a butcher for 15 years! We have a grinder, commercial tenderizer, meat mixer and sausage stuffer. We can have the quarters deboned, ground up/steaks made, and in the freezer in about 30-45 minutes. Takes a little longer if we make sausage. Also make our own jerky, pretty tasty I must say!

X2 less blood