Trimming out venison for sausage

Duckslayer100

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I remember when I first learned butchering your own deer was even a thing (don't laugh, but back in 1998 or so I literally knew nobody who cut up their own deer. It was straight to the butcher. Every time). The tide turned when we had a fella come in to Gander Mountain, where I worked, and put on an entire lesson on how to break down a deer. He had a road-kill deer, and did the whole kit and kaboodle right in our meeting area. I think we had, like, 4 customer watch, and about 15 associates including me. I bought his VHS tape and watched it about 15 times.

He did say that for better tasting venison, he recommended removing all silver skin and fat. So that's what always stuck in my head. And while I wouldn't keep a 4-inch fat cap on the rump roast like what was on my buck this year, I think having a few chunks here or there don't hurt for North Dakota deer. They eat better than most cattle in this state!

Now if'n I was hunting some northwoods rutting buck whose diet consisted of pine bows and scrub brush, maybe being a bit more meticulous to mitigate the "funk" would pay off.
 


MuleyMadness

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Id take the meat from the neck over the shoulders any day. Shoulders to me are the biggest waste of time. A lot of cutting and pain in the ass for a small amount of shitty meat. Especially the calf muscle. No chance that is going in my sausage.
 

jdinny

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Id take the meat from the neck over the shoulders any day. Shoulders to me are the biggest waste of time. A lot of cutting and pain in the ass for a small amount of shitty meat. Especially the calf muscle. No chance that is going in my sausage.

break your deer down into traditional butcher's cuts and learn to do it that way you will thank yourself.

also front shoulders are not a waste stop trimming them up. bone in blade roast yum yum..
 

MuleyMadness

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All of my deer gets ground up. I either make country style, summer sausage, brats or use the jerky gun. The old lady does not like deer or antelope roast of any kind. I have been down this road.
 

Kurtr

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the bone i roast is key or any roast in general. My old lady dont like it either so when me and the kid are eating it she is on her own.

deer roast.jpg
 
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Kurtr

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I like deer pastrami too much to "waste" the butt roasts by roasting - ha ha.

I generally have between 4 and 6 deer to work with so there are plenty of butt roast for the pastrami, another is whole bone in ham with the rear quarter that is hit on thanksgiving.
 

Allen

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That sounds like me - I wonder if I'm not WAY too fastidious on the trimming. Seems like a hell of a lot of work we put into 35lb of sausage meat.

What's everybody else think?

I've never made sausage with those skilled at making good sausage but I often wonder if they put in that kind of labor. There's GOT to be a better way!

You damn right I do!

- - - Updated - - -

Just curious here, but is my sniffer too sensitive, or what's the deal with neck meat? Even on relatively freshly downed, skinned, and deboned deer I just hate the smell of neck meat.
 

fly2cast

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I remember the days of taking forever to process a deer. I did some YouTube watching and watched Meat eater. When you know how to do it, it really shouldn't take longer than an hour for a whole deer, including packaging
 


BDub

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Several years ago I was eating some store bought braunschweiger. Ran into something very chewy. Ruined me on it. I just can’t eat that variety any more. Just the flavored stuff in the small tubes. No silver skin for me.
 

tikkalover

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I to am a picky bastage when it come to boning out a deer. Kids always call me an "over achiever" when I process a deer. Buck I did last year I got 50lbs of very clean meat off of. I use 80/20 pork trimmings when making sausage and I even over pick those. Once I get all the meat cleaned, I grind into a plastic tote and mix and mix again (by hand) and mix some more. I don't care how long it takes. Stuff and smoke the sausage right here at home. That way I know I am getting my deer and not someone else's junk meat.
 

Bed Wetter

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I don’t pet my dog for 3 days before or after killing my deer. This ensures no foreign hair touches my venison.
 

frozen4sioux

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I've done it by myself since college....sound like exactly the right amount of time that it takes and the right amount of pounds! You've done it right by those two measures. Personally, I don't make sausage...I steak out the best cuts, and or Jerky them. The small and stuff I cook as stir fry, man is it the best stir fry a guy can cook!

I don’t pet my dog for 3 days before or after killing my deer. This ensures no foreign hair touches my venison.

Id say i purposely refrain from other "hair" contamination related activities in that time frame as well...
But really the angryness an bitching I get for spending so much time and money on hunting extends that time significantly further both before and after.......
 

KDM

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I don't worry about silver skin. Hair, blood shot meat, glands, and major tendons are out. Example: The whole round gets cut up into chunks and ground up for sausage. I don't trim out the silver skin in any of it. I medium grind the pork and venison, mix in the spices, and then regrind at medium. Everyone that gets some of the finished product comes back for more, so I'll stick with what works for me.
 


Allen

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Stupid question here, but am I the only one who seeks out and disposes of the lymphnodes in the front and rear quarters?
 

DirtyMike

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Yep-everybody's sausage recipe is a secret...but if the beer consumption part isn't in check the recipe goes south;:;rofl
Our group of friends and family made 1800 lbs last year. The ratio was maintained.
 

Browneye

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My take is everybody has different standards on trimming and its still somewhat a free country. I trim silver skin off backstraps and cuts to be used for steaks or jerky. And u should trim out the lymph nodes if u find them. However if u butcher a beef and take it in to a professional meat processor do u really think they trim every inch of silverskin off your beef? And does it bother you on beef? Too much left in the grinding meat does build up in front of your grinding knife but I find I don't notice it if I don't trim every little bit off of meat to be ground for sausage or slim jims and the like.
 


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