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Can I Butcher?

Patriot said:
I want to butcher my own deer so I can take more does and have plenty of venison and not worry about paying a butcher. I have no friends who hunt let alone butcher or show me how. I’ve watched YouTube videos and it doesn’t look too tough, I have some questions though:

1. I can’t find a GREAT DIY video for newbs. Any suggestions?

2. Do I have to have an expensive meat grinder or will the $100 one I saw in the bass pro add get me by? Should I buy once cry once? Or is it ok to use cheap equipment if I’m only doing a handful of deer per year?

3. Do I have to have a vacuum seal or can meat last over a year in nothing but a zip lock?

4. Can I just skip meat grinding and only butcher steaks? I don’t want to waste a lot of meat bc it’s not fair to the animal. But can I substitute the excess cubes as little cubes for frying or something or do you have to use that type of meat for the grinder?

Sorry for all the questions. I’m just trying to figure out if I can teach myself to butcher on a budget without wasting meat.
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1. Scott Rea is a British butcher and has great YouTube videos.
2. I like to have a grinder, use it to grind up all the little pieces and make my own sausages. Not a must, but if you get one, don’t buy cheap, you’ll spend more money later by getting the better one... buy the best you can afford.
3. Using a household vacuum sealer do s the trick for me. Air is the enemy... get it out, one way or another.
4. Again, I use the little stuff to make sausages, even more, I make stock out of the bones. Now that is good stuff when making a sauce for the venison.
 
You can do it, not as hard as you think. I place my deer quarters in a big ice cooler [ chest ] . Check on the ice every now and then cut and vac seal when time allows . I have a friend that adds 50% ground hamburger to his ground deer meat adds enough fat to make it all stick together. Good luck
 
I grind about 70% of every deer. We haven’t bought ground beef in 6 years now. A good grinder is worth the investment. The nice thing about grinding is that your cuts don’t have to be pretty!
 
Good for you. I have never understood why people pay to have that done. One deer and you have paid for your equipment.

If you plan on grinding I use the bags below. Grind your meat right into the bags then twist and tie. If you are going to make burgers you will have to add fat for it to hold together. Some use beef or pork tallow, I buy the cheapest bacon I can find and grind it up about 1lb per hind qtr.

LEM Products Two Pound Wild Game Bags (100 Bags) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005QJJNIU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JADMDbAMFW2S9
 
I like easy and good eating. Venison is not bred to be tender so tends to be a little tough. After fooling with grinders and the mess, I have decided that the only truly exceptional venison I have eated is in stews. I have a pressure cooker and throw whole muscle groups in and cook an hour with some added beef fat dripings from cooking hamburgers. Open it up and break the meat apart with a spoon. It will be tender. If not cook it another half hour at 15 psi. Open up and add carrots, celery and onions or whatever vegetables you like in stew. Cook another half hour at 15psi, open it and eat. I am making some as I write this.
 
Buy once cry once. Get a good grinder and a good vacuum sealer. It takes long enough to break a deer into table fare, don't suffer over a crappy grinder, or a slow vacuum sealer. you can wrap in plastic and freezer paper, but if you can afford it get the sealer. Take as much of the silver skin as you can. I alternate year by year on how I process. Some years I grind more some years I do more roasts and steaks. The beauty of doing your own is doing what you want when you want. You will want to make your own sausage too. I don't case my sausage I keep it in the ground form just like the berger. Look for recipes on line. I'll check out 4or5 recipes and then select the common ingredients and add the ones that sound good to me. I've been told I make some mighty fine sausage. LEM has all the processing equipment you will ever need. Tag sales you can find things like knives, bulk containers, and cutting boards to supplement what you already have. I won't lie it's a bit of a PITA but the product that you turn out is worth the hassle. You can do it.
 
If you have netflix the Meateater series has a pretty good episode. I am fully self taught from online (vids and articles). A bit of a learning curve, and your first one will take a long while to get complete, but you second will be much easier and quicker. Start with a small doe or button buck, depending on what is available.

+5 on getting a decent grinder. Take it from me, the cheap ones are not worth the trouble.
 
I had a gander mountain brand grinder I bought used for 50$ (new was 100) it was just fine for a couple deer a year. Learning how to break down a kill is with the effort. Even if you screw up a cut, you can still grind it. Kind of a win/win. I do about 10 feet a year for myself and family. Depending on what your doing is only a couple hour job. Dont be afraid of it.
My tips....
The cooler the meat the easier the cutting.

My favorite knife is a black handled Rapala filet knife, cheap easy to sharpen and also a worksharp sharpener.

Silver skin is chewy try to remove as much as you can

White fat tastes bad, remove it

The bearded butchers have a decent YouTube video also.
 
Pooh said:
The cooler the meat the easier the cutting.

My favorite knife is a black handled Rapala filet knife, cheap easy to sharpen and also a worksharp sharpener.
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Frozen solid is a pain to butcher though...

Filet knives are great for trimming silverskin. And sharp is critical.
 
You can always defrost a cut and grind it just before use. I suppose I lucked out with my cheap grinder. I’ve had it 10 years at least and loaned it out several times. Always gets the job done.


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I’m going to go for it.

How long does meat last if I vacuum seal? Does it last longer vacuum sealed than if I do freezer paper and ziplock bags?
 
Also what’s the cheapest DIY option for a butcher block? Should I just buy a foldable plastic table?
 
For years I used a cheap grinder and it worked fine. You can cut your deer into steaks, roast, and save the meat you would grind and make stew out of it. I like a vacuum sealer myself but you don't have to have one if wrap the meat right it will last.
 
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I shot a deer last week in the hot weather. There were flies on the deer even before I found it in the woods. I knew it had to be butchered within a day or I would have a maggot factory. I hung it in my backyard tree overnight and got up at 7AM and started cutting while it was still cool. Yellow jackets and flies were everywhere. I cut the back straps and tenderloins off and stuffed them into plastic shopping bags. I then cut the legs off and deboned the meat and stuffed it into plastic shopping bags. All the while yellow jackets and flies were my constant companions. As it got hotter, it got worse. Yellow jackets don't seem to want to sting when there is a constant supply of fresh meat available, a good thing. The last thing I did was cut the layer of muscle over the ribs and after that the carcass was pretty clean. I got 5 plastic shopping bags stuffed full of meat and put them all in the refrigerator.
The next day I got up early and using a hand ax cut up the carcass and leg bones into 1 to 2 foot pieces and put them in garbage bags and into the trash can. I didn't get back to the shopping bags in the refrigerator for 2 days when I washed and separated the meat into meal sized portions and placed in gallon freezer bags. I think I got at least 20 bags of 2 meal portions for cooking day and then leftovers the next day. I didn't cut the abdominal muscle off the deer since when I have done that on squirrels before that meat tasted terrible. I probably should have tried it with the deer. Anyway, that is my actual experience complete with flies and yellow jackets which most people don't mention. It was not bad just cut off anything that looks like meat and get it in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
 
Sounds like you did a good job. Only thing I would recommend, is in warm weather do not hang deer over night. De-bone immediately and place in a cooler with ice over night if you are strapped for time. Better if you have room in a refrigerator de-bone and lay whole muscle groups on large trays or plastic food totes covered with toweling and let deer age for 4 or 5 days flipping and toweling off any moisture on the meat daily before final packaging. Your meat will be more tender. I'm a stickler for removing all silver skin and fat from the whole muscle after aging. I've been processing my own deer for almost 30 years. Good luck on your next self butcher. I learn something new every time I do it. It's just like hunting, learning how to do things yourself is a huge reward.
 
How is the taste of the abdominal muscle? Should I have cut it off for consumption?
 
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