fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
07-12-2003, 05:47 PM
#11
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: the woods of NJ.
Posts: 5,643
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
Leave the hide on it stops the meat from drying out, keeps it clean and also it insulates and regulates the temperature during the day. At night the the deer cools off. During the day the hide helps to keep the deer cool so the internal temperature doesn' t fluxuate much. By the time the deer starts to warm the outside temp. is dropping and cooling it off again. People say its easier to skin a deer while its still warm. I wouldn' t know, I have no trouble as all my deer are left with the hide on till I butcher it. That reminds me to go check make sure the knives are all sharp and ready. Who my kidding the blades and I are always sharp and ready.
07-13-2003, 10:42 PM
#13
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Saskatchewan Canada
Posts: 6,921
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
I have always cape mine immediately & if in early season where it is to warm to hang will butcher at the same time. I have found no difference in meat quality on wild game by letting it hang. However I have found the key to quality meat is cooling the meat down as soon as possible and cleaning the meat so it is free of hair and large deposits of fat. If you leave the hide on and can' t get the carcass cooled properly, the meat can rot from the inside out. I do not have a walk in cooler, as such I do my game in a garage or bush, hence my butchering process.
07-19-2003, 12:09 PM
#15
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 2,918
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
We have a Deer processor close by. We' ll field dress it, skin it out and most of the time quarter it.Then we take it for the final cutting and wrapping. We have smoked sausage made. Save the back straps,tenders. I like to get cube steak made then I have the rest grounded into burger.I can do it myself but to me it' s money well spent.Pick it up,put in the freezer and enjoy it the rest of the year.Oh yah! Let' s not forget jerky.My dehydrator makes some of the best jerky.I' m glad the season is closing in on us. My Freezer needs to be restocked.
Ruger Redhawk
Ruger Redhawk
07-31-2003, 06:19 PM
#16
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 12
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
I like to do everything myself for a number of reasons but partially religious. Finding a butcher is tough because I cannot take it to one where any pork is present. There are only a few Muslim butchers in town so sometimes they don’t have room or time for game.
I of course do the field dressing, skinning and quartering myself. The pelts I salt and put in my deep freeze and will process them later by tanning them.
The bones I boil for soup base then give them to the dogs.
The tallow I boil in water to melt then allow to solidify, my wife then makes soap out of it.
The carcass I age for about 1 – 2 weeks then I cut it myself. Get some steaks and roasts but mainly stew meat – which can later be made into ground meat.
The main difference between doing it yourself and giving it to the butcher is you get different cuts. They can do cross bone cuts whereas I cannot – but that’s fine with me. It takes a little adjustment in terms of how you cook them but not much.
In my experience I get more meat then the butcher does – they waste cuts I still consider ok for stew chunks.
So I use a fair amount of the animal but not to the point where I take the intestines for sausage – not sure I am quite ready for that yet! Although I always take the heart and liver if not damaged by the bullet.
I of course do the field dressing, skinning and quartering myself. The pelts I salt and put in my deep freeze and will process them later by tanning them.
The bones I boil for soup base then give them to the dogs.
The tallow I boil in water to melt then allow to solidify, my wife then makes soap out of it.
The carcass I age for about 1 – 2 weeks then I cut it myself. Get some steaks and roasts but mainly stew meat – which can later be made into ground meat.
The main difference between doing it yourself and giving it to the butcher is you get different cuts. They can do cross bone cuts whereas I cannot – but that’s fine with me. It takes a little adjustment in terms of how you cook them but not much.
In my experience I get more meat then the butcher does – they waste cuts I still consider ok for stew chunks.
So I use a fair amount of the animal but not to the point where I take the intestines for sausage – not sure I am quite ready for that yet! Although I always take the heart and liver if not damaged by the bullet.
08-04-2003, 06:33 PM
#17
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: albquerque nm USA
Posts: 71
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
I haven' t hunted deer or elk for a while.WE always skinned the animal as soon as we could..We would cut it up as soon as we got home.Made roasts out of the rear legs steatks from the backstrap.Made jerky out of the rest.Antelpoe is a different story.Its hot here when the season starts so you have to skin it asap.
08-04-2003, 09:20 PM
#18
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Lehigh County PA USA
Posts: 12,157
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
I had been taking it to a butcher for many years but the cost eventually became very prohibitive. Now I do all of my own butchering and do not regret it at all.
08-07-2003, 12:13 AM
#19
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Satsop Washington USA
Posts: 138
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
If I could find a good place to take it I might, just has' nt happened yet. I am a finickey bastard and have a hard time with the thought of someone else handeling my meat
I do take some of the boned out meat to a deli to get pepperoni made though.
I do take some of the boned out meat to a deli to get pepperoni made though.
08-07-2003, 01:59 PM
#20
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: South Central PA
Posts: 406
RE: fix the meat yourself or take it to a butcher?
We do all of our deer ourselves. I like being able to cut it how I want - trim the fat off as needed and make proper care is taken to keep from spoiling.
It' s actually pretty easy to do.
It' s actually pretty easy to do.
