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How-to Process Your Own Venison


Dark Cloud

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Very Nice DC. Excellent work.

I've done a lot of deer in my time, but never de-boned with the legs still attached. Seems like a pretty good idea.

Also done the non-gutted deboning as well. For those who haven't done this you'd be surprised at how easy it is, except you don't get those prime inner tenderloins.

Only things I do a little different is cut across the grain of the meat for making jerky - I find that the final product is easier to chew then if it's cut with the grain. Also, I don't bother removing all the fat and silver skin for meat that's goin' in the grinding pile. A decent grinder pretty much makes that stuff disappear. I do make sure to eliminate ALL talow - this can really spoil the taste of any cut.

I've spent a lot of time thinking over how much meat one gets off an animal. Many say they can recover 35-40% of the deer's field dressed weight, but I can't ever seem to do this, and I'm pretty careful about not wasting meat.

If you have a mature animal that field dresses around 150 lbs. 35-40% of this weight is 53-60 lbs. A 100 lb. animal (caped and gutted) would give up 35-40 lbs. of raw meat? I don't believe I've ever taken more than 50 lbs. of meat off even the biggest deer I've processed, and again, I'm pretty careful about not wasting meat.

I just finished a mature buck today and I'd estimate I took 45-50 lbs. of meat off a 150 lb. caped and gutted animal.

It's just a best guess, but I'd say I only average perhaps 25-30% final trimmed product. I really wish it were more. Maybe the difference is in how long I age my meat before butchering? I typically hang my deer, skinned, for 3-4 days before beginning the de-boning process. I find that aged venison is so much better than fresh cut meat. Could I be losing 5-10% of weight thru simple dehydration?

B-man, 30 minutes from carcass to raw product - that's incredible! I bet I spend 3 hours per deer from start to finish alone. Does your time include cleaning the meat, or is this just rough de-boned cuts in the tub?

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Redlantern, no, your bud is not being overly picky about taking out ALL the glands that are on a carcass. There a a few of them, right above the shoulder blade, deep into the heel of round, on the bottom sirloin and into the rump near the tri tip. There are a few of my customers who take off the gland on the lower hind leg right in the field. I cut one of them open one time and lemme tell ya, they stink to high heaven.

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B-man, 30 minutes from carcass to raw product - that's incredible! I bet I spend 3 hours per deer from start to finish alone. Does your time include cleaning the meat, or is this just rough de-boned cuts in the tub?

The 30 minutes is just skinning and deboning. I wish I could have everything trimmed/sliced/ground/smoked/dehdyrated/wrapped in a half hour!!

After the meat is in the tub(s) it goes straight into the fridge to cool/age. I always cover the tub with cling wrap to prevent any drying. I would bet that you lose all of 5% by hanging with the hide off. But it is a horse a piece, hang without the hide and you lose some meat, but removing a cold hide is no fun either. And my fridge method only works for 2 deer at one time. (unless you have an empty spare fridge, it would work for about 4-5 deer at a time).

On Sunday I am smoking some whole trimmed venison hind quarters (4-4.5 lbs each). They will have been sitting with a dry rub and liquid injected for 7 days. Nothing better than a venny ham sandwich!!!

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks BC,very nice tutorial. We do about the same way except for deboning rear quarters with the legs attached. will have to give that a try. I made some venison bacon for the first time this year. It was awesome!!

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  • 4 months later...

Thanks for the lesson. I've learned a lot, and would like to mention a twist that my friends and I have used. We don't cut the front quarters at all. We take them off the animal, remove any "nasties", wrap 'em and freeze 'em. When we have a 4-person get-together, we thaw a front quarter, wrap it in bacon, add some BBQ or other sauce, and grill the entire thing on low heat for a few hours. I suppose it used more C3H8, but it's sure been a nice way to eat front quarters! Maybe someone out there will find this useful!

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  • 1 month later...

you do an excelent job. retired butcher after 35 years and cutting deer for 10 years i haven't seen a better proccess. i also do it boneless and in a similar way. thanks for your effort and again the great presentation. oh yea i copied down that recipie also for the marinade. good luck.

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Thanks guys! I look forward to putting the process in video form this fall...

Paul, i'll send an e-mail this evening....

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  • 3 weeks later...

C3H8? Propane?

I love the idea of grilling an entire front quarter. If I can, I'll post a pic of me snarfing down a shank on my own - wrapped in bacon, and nothing else!

Use your imagination! sick

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Looks like you do a really nice job! The only thing I have to add is if you use a propane torch to singe the stray hairs off before you start cutting you wont end up having to pick them off of the meat.

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  • 2 months later...

Excellent work, Dark Cloud, and great photos!

We also cut up our own deer, usually taking our time during a Sunday football game, while drinking a few beers. It's not a difficult job, and it can be pretty fun if you have a decent meat grinder and enough people (3-5) cutting up the meat.

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  • 11 months later...

Jay....Great info as usual.....Kind of reminds me of the Paoni and Peshi clan from out east on our canadian whitetail hunt on Crow Lake...we cut and wrapped 5 deer in less than 6 hours

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the guide. Used it today in my first attempt to butcher a deer. Had a hard time cutting out the loins, and also misinterpreted your directions on the first step of cutting out the hams (the back leg). I ended up making a few extra cuts by accident. Lessons learned for next time! I did leave the big chunks in salt water to soak over night because I ran out of time before I had to go to work. Read on another website that that helps remove some of the gamier flavor from the meat.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Dang near identical to what I do. Nice job. The last pic is my favorite chunk. I cut it into steaks to fry in butter and put on toast. mmmmmmmmm

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  • 10 months later...

Great pictorial! It give a great deal of satisfaction not only harvesting your on meat but to process it as well. Thank you!

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  • 1 year later...

Good job explaining! We do it almost the same way, but I have never seen it explained as you go. Thanks for the refresher!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't waste the football roasts cutting them into steaks. Brine and smoke your own dried venison and cut it thin. Very yummy, especially with a cold one.

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  • 11 months later...

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