Do you process your own deer?

[tikkalover]

I do my own. Many moons ago I bought a 3/4hp #22 Cabela's grinder/stuffer. The grinder works great but the stuffer was to slow, so I bought a 20# Cabela's stuffer. Used to have a friend smoke the sausage for me but I eventually bought a Bradley 6 rack biscuit shooter and now smoke my own. I use a couple of the bigger plastic totes, one to mix the sausage in and one to put the stuffed sausage in before smoking. Also keep some sausage in bulk instead of stuffing and smoking it all. Shrink wrap everything. I to am fussy about fat and the silver skin, Maybe to fussy. :;:huh

 

[Captain Ahab]

I haven't shot a deer in a long time

 

[guywhofishes]

#toopickytoshootcrabclaws

 

[guywhofishes]

this may sound corny but as I was trimming last night I felt a connection to the past, a connection to the timelessness of preparing food harvested from nature, I imagined the countless people who’ve done the same for centuries

then I thought about those who aren’t privileged enough to experience that connection - who just buy prepared food

I settled in and took satisfaction from my task

and it helped turn the drudgery into acceptable drudgery - ha ha ha

 

[Allen]

OK, so I actually talked with the ND Dept of Health. I was misled, it is NOT illegal for butcher shops to commingle your deer with mine.

That does it, I am officially never taking another deer to a butcher shop that won't swear on their mother's grave that they don't mix your gutshot, hung in the garage at 55 degrees for a week deer with my perfectly dressed and trimmed wild game.

 

[Bfishn]

OK, so I actually talked with the ND Dept of Health. I was misled, it is NOT illegal for butcher shops to commingle your deer with mine.

That does it, I am officially never taking another deer to a butcher shop that won't swear on their mother's grave that they don't mix your gutshot, hung in the garage at 55 degrees for a week deer with my perfectly dressed and trimmed wild game.

Yeah i think i need to start asking some tougher questions as well. One thing i have been doing is waiting until like June to take my deer in for sausage. I feel like this gives me a much better chance at my own stuff.

 

[hardwaterdriller]

I am guessing many butcher shops will keep your meat separate, grind it, mix it up, throw it in the stuffer, and make your sausage. So you technically get your meat back. But I am guessing they don't tear down the grinder & stuffer, clean it out and sanitize it between each deer. So they are not mixing your meat with others, but it is still running through equipment that processed other deer.

 

[guywhofishes]

I usually do my own, but once in a while I gutshoot or puncture the bladder or colon and make a horrible mess of things. That's when I drop it off at the shop - that way I get better quality sausage and such, even though I effed up

Cheers,

Weasel E. Bugger

 

[Account Deleted]

this may sound corny but as I was trimming last night I felt a connection to the past, a connection to the timelessness of preparing food harvested from nature, I imagined the countless people who’ve done the same for centuries

then I thought about those who aren’t privileged enough to experience that connection - who just buy prepared food

I settled in and took satisfaction from my task

and it helped turn the drudgery into acceptable drudgery - ha ha ha

Glad I’m not the only one.

 

[guywhofishes]

lol

Oh - wait - I thought you were quoting my gutshot post and saying "I do it too"

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Glad I’m not the only one.

I was also trippin balls so... maybe that helped me cavort with my ancestors.

 

[hardwaterdriller]

Another reason why I do my own processing. This is from an article in Bemidji.
http://www.myndnow.com/news/bismarck-news/deer-photo-raises-sanitation-questions/861559847

 

[NDSportsman]

What do most of you guys like to use for plain hamburger and sausage mix? 50/50? 40%? Beef or Pork trimmings?

 

[Turtle]

OK, so I actually talked with the ND Dept of Health. I was misled, it is NOT illegal for butcher shops to commingle your deer with mine.

That does it, I am officially never taking another deer to a butcher shop that won't swear on their mother's grave that they don't mix your gutshot, hung in the garage at 55 degrees for a week deer with my perfectly dressed and trimmed wild game.

Yea, not illegal. One time we got in a deer in that was so black and dried out, it looked like it was hanging for two weeks. The guy asked to make jerky out of the whole thing. I said it already looks like jerky. He didn't think that was funny. We cut it up and threw the meat in the bin.

Another time one of the guys was bringing in a doe to the cooler, he had the ass close to his face and as he came closer he started gagging. We hung it up and he vomit right there in the cooler. It was a fresh kill and warm that year, I believe 1999, so when he lifted it up some of the goobage splattered on his face. OH did I laugh. That was one of the worst smelling deer i have ever come across. Luckily I didn't have to cut that one up. We made a newbie do it.

Like I said always do your own, It can be enjoyable and give you a sense of pride by taking an animal from hoof to your table.

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What do most of you guys like to use for plain hamburger and sausage mix? 50/50? 40%? Beef or Pork trimmings?

For hamburger I like to mix about 2 lbs of bacon for every 8 lbs of venison. Makes wonderful burgers, plus it keeps in the freezer very well. Sausage I do a 50/50 mix of pork and venison. I like to make roast and stews with my hind quarters so I don't get a lot for grinding but sometimes i do meat sticks with a 75/25 venison to pork.

 

[Castaholic]

I run a small butcher shop with 2 family members and we never mix any wild game together. The places that do are just rushing to get it done and don't give a damn about quality or the customer. There are shops out there that do care and are honest. We only accept clean deboned wild game and I'm quite picky when it comes to deer coming through our doors here, and if it's hairy, dirty or just plain nasty I won't accept it. With it being 3 close family members only doing all the work, we take tremendous pride in what we do and personally know the product we make is up to our standards. It drives me crazy being lumped in with all the half ass lazy slobs that just don't care about the customer or quality of there product. It also drives me nuts when places claim its their own recipes when in fact its just mass produced seasonings with 25 different ingredients you can't pronounce. We're lucky to have our own family recipes that have been passed down each generation. So just remember, there are still places that take pride in there work and care about their customers. Sorry for the rant, this topic just gets me a little fired up.

 

[Walleye_Chaser]

Well said Cast! You shouldn't be lumped in with them. I do my own deer with pride, but in the future if I do want to take it in, what is your shops name?

 

[KDM]

I do everything from field to fridge myself. Come to think of it, I do lots of gutting, skinning, and other stuff for other folks as well. I just like to mess with deer I guess. I've seen, tasted, and heard about too many unfortunate incidents from meat lockers that I don't trust the finished product from those places. Once the meat's on the processing table, I trim as much fat and silver skin off as I can, but I don't get OCD about leaving some. The grinder seems to take care of the little things. Sausage WAS a 50/50 mix with pork, but I've been experimenting with less pork and it seems to come out just fine so that mix will probably change to a more permanent basis. The best table fare results from the highest level of carcass care starting with shot placement.

 

[Castaholic]

well said cast! You shouldn't be lumped in with them. I do my own deer with pride, but in the future if i do want to take it in, what is your shops name?

dw meats

 

[guywhofishes]

.

 

[Twitch]

lol

Oh - wait - I thought you were quoting my gutshot post and saying "I do it too"

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I was also trippin balls so... maybe that helped me cavort with my ancestors.

gol dang false morels.... either that or you fell in with chavez from young guns

 

[LBrandt]

Location for dw meats