Processing deer

Does anyone here process thier own deer? If so I have some questions.

1) after you get it skinned and quartered, how long do you wait before trimming and packaging it. I’ve heard to let it sit in the fridge a few days and drain the blood off of it to make it more tender and taste better.
2) I live in the city, what do I do with the carcass. I normally just drive to a secluded area and dump it, but I feel like there may be a better way.
3) is there an easier way to remove membrane from meat or does it just take a lot of time and knife work.

Thanks again.
Jesse


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1) To me, three to five days is an acceptable ageing time before packaging/freezing/canning. Longer is better, I've aged venison and pork for as long as 15 to 18 days. Most say that's way too long, but the beef/pork etc. that is sold at the grocery was aged thirty days before the USDA inspector would let it be processed at the packing plant.

2) I have no experience in city.

3) That silver skin can be a pain, but I don't know of any tricks. I generally try to fillet it off, just like fish skin.

Good Luck and Hope I helped a little!

Shadboy gives some excellent suggestions above and I would like to add a few. Make sure your quarters are as dry as possible when you put them in the fridge to age/drain. Some people want to wash off their meat before hanging but too much water can cause spoilage even in the refrigerator. Excess moisture in your meat can encourage mold or bacteria growth. 3 to 5 days in the cooler is sufficient, up to a week is common. Try to rotate your quarters and any trimmed meat as even airflow around the meat will facilitate the aging process. You can actually leave all the outside “silver skin” on the meat while aging and it will help to protect the quarters. Trimming this outside layer off when doing final processing is made easier if it has dried and thus protected the inner musculature.

Carcass disposal was never an issue for me also. Check with an established local processor and just ask if he/she would be able to point you in the legal/ correct disposal direction.

Removing the larger tendons and ligaments of the meat is also not an easy task. If you are grinding your deer meat for burger and adding beef/pork tallow to the grind most of the smaller and thinner membranes and tendons will go mostly unnoticed in taste and texture. Paramount to final processing is removing all visible deer FAT from the meat. It will affect the taste more than the “silver skin” ever will. Another hint to removing any unwanted gristly parts is to make sure the meat is very cold when cutting/trimming and your knife is super sharp. Several swipes on the old butchers strop during processing will make the whole endeavor easier and quicker. Good luck on your harvest.


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I put mine in one the big white coolers cover with ice and about half box of salt drain every couple of days rinse off meat and move meat around and re ice/salt usually always do that for a week have went long as 10 days . I always keep the cooler out of direct sunlight . most time when I’m finished unless it’s a real strong buck during rut you can’t tell the difference between it and ground beef.the meat will be almost white before you grind it. been doing this the last 15 yrs with no trouble and have gotten several folks to start eating deer meat that used to wouldn’t eat it . As far as the carcass I don’t live in the city so disposal isn’t a problem.

Thank you for all the replies everyone. This is my 4th deer I’ve done myself and I learn a little more every time. I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can about it.


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My dad had two friends,they were identical twin brothers,never married,and pooled their money to become self made millionaires a few times over,They dressed like hobos,lived in a ramshackle house,and ate some wicked things.When they shot a deer,they would hang it,skin it,And would never package it,if they wanted meal,they would go to the garage,hack off a chunk,and into the fry pan it would go.
Many a time there would be a few deer hanging from different hunts,I've seen green fuzzy mold growing on the inside of the rib cage of the deer,their opinion of perfect tenderness,not ideal in my eyes.

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Originally Posted by Yaker

they would hang it,skin it,And would never package it,if they wanted meal,they would go to the garage,hack off a chunk,and into the fry pan it would go.
Many a time there would be a few deer hanging from different hunts,I've seen green fuzzy mold growing on the inside of the rib cage of the deer,their opinion of perfect tenderness,not ideal in my eyes.

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Think I would have to pass on a meal of that..

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Originally Posted by mcdye

Think I would have to pass on a meal of that..

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Same... lol.


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Originally Posted by mcdye

Think I would have to pass on a meal of that..

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X3! I bet it’s fork tender though!


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Originally Posted by shadboy

1) To me, three to five days is an acceptable ageing time before packaging/freezing/canning. Longer is better, I've aged venison and pork for as long as 15 to 18 days. Most say that's way too long, but the beef/pork etc. that is sold at the grocery was aged thirty days before the USDA inspector would let it be processed at the packing plant.

2) I have no experience in city.

3) That silver skin can be a pain, but I don't know of any tricks. I generally try to fillet it off, just like fish skin.

Good Luck and Hope I helped a little!

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Deer do not carry fat in the muscle tissue like cow and pork do. Ageing does not help deer meat in my opinion

I leave mine in a cooler. I will take mine to the cuts of meat I want, roasts, steaks, etc and then pack it in ice. I drain the water off every day and add ice as necessary. I keep it in a cooler 5-7 days and then wash it and vacuum pack it. To me, this is not an "aging" process, but ice water will draw all blood out of the meat hence the white colored meat mentioned above. To much blood in meat gives it a bad taste.

As far as disposal, put the parts you want gone in a trash bag and freeze them until trash day and then put in your collection bin to be picked up. No different than any other waste.

I have shot them in the am and processed in pm straight to freezer. I have let them hang weather permitting, I have put them in cooler for a few days. Have not noticed a difference in taste on any method. Silver skin is a slow process no matter what. The MDC or DNR here says put carcass in bag and into dumpster. I sure do not like carcasses dropped on my property. When my son was young I let him learn how to handle a knife by putting him in charge of burger meat on carcass. Them bones were cleaned off like the buzzards had got them.

Weather permitting I hang my deer for a week. Most times I don't skin it right away. I think ageing helps a lot. If weather isn't cooperating I use a fan to keep it cool. Bucks in rut are all ground into burger. I never never add any other meat to my deer. Except when making sausage. Water isn't good for deer. I just wipe the blood off and go.
To me the key to great tasting deer starts when I get it down. I get it field dressed as quickly as possible, place it belly down to drain. Add some ice or some kind of cooling package to the chest cavity. Get the heat out and get it cooled down as quickly as possible. Everyone has their own ways but this always worked for me.

Ageing has a profound effect on all meat, including venison, and it has nothing to do with marbling (intermuscular fat content). Aging occurs at temperatures above freezing and below 40 F. When temps are at or below freezing, muscle doesn't change much, so if muscle is immersed in ice, very little ageing can occur. Temperatures above 40 (remember the old saying "life begins at 40"?) will allow bacteria to thrive and your hard earned venison will quickly rot.
Shortly after death, muscle fibers begin to shorten and become rigid. We call this rigor mortis. Butchering and freezing during this time makes your venison dinners tougher than they have to be. Rigor mortis lasts for about a day and then the muscle fibers begin to relax. Ageing begins when rigor mortis ends.
Collagen is the substance that makes meat tough and it is in all red meat. The levels of collagen increase with age. This explains why an improperly aged dinner from a six year old trophy buck is tougher than a that of a yearling. It also explains why ageing affects meat from mature animals more than younger deer. Venison contains a lot of the same enzymes as beef. These enzymes, given time after death, break down collagen. This breakdown tenderizes and adds a rich flavor to muscle. That trophy buck, properly aged, has the potential to provide fork tender suppers which are more flavorful than those from younger animals and that is the reason we age venison.
I hope this abbreviated explanation helps and encourages someone to try proper ageing. You'll be pleasantly rewarded!

I usually do my own. Don't really like the taste of venison so most goes to jerky or ground. Little trick a buddy taught me on the ground. Instead of adding beef fat, go to walmart and buy one of those big 5 lb tubes of the 70/30 hamburger. It is actually about half fat as you will see when you open it up. There is enough fat to do an entire deer. I grind the deer up first then run it back through the grinder mixing in the hamburger for a second grind. Works great.

Aging meat helps to tenderize it and I used to do mine in an ice pack in a huge cooler , drain water and rotate every day for 3 or more days . Never found a way to get the silver or tendons out easily , but it helps if it’s cold and firm when you carve on it a lot . Took my inedibles back to the woods sometimes and sometimes I took them to the dumpster at work as well .
Tried about a million ways and processors and in the end I have 2 I like and trust and just hand them my buck and a hundred or so and let them do it now as I have gotten a bit lazy and less poor than I once was ....lol

I've aged them,and I've put em up quickly,honestly we couldn't tell the difference.I separate the inner loin,and tenderloin for frying,and make steaks out of all I can.My wife usually makes baked steak and gravy out of the steaks,this will tenderize even the toughest tender.
I am hard to please on cutting up my meat,we always butchered and packed our own on the farm,so it old hat to continue.As far as deer go,when I'm done cutting it up,there is absolutely no silver skin,and no fat on the meat period,this is time consuming,but there are no butchers that is willing to clean it the way we like it.As far as ground deer,again,absolutely nothing but red meat,then we add either sausage,or beef fat for the perfect mix.

When I kill'em I get them home as fast as possible and hang them and clean them. I then cut all the meat off the bones and cut them up wash the meat good and put it in freezer. If it is a old or big buck I just grind it all up as they are just tuff anyway. I just keep tinder loins for steaks mostly. I use ground deer for Chile or add bacon when ground to make bacon burgers. Add some hog fat and sausage season to make pan deer sausage. Have made link sausage but a lot of trouble stuffing and smoking it. If I want tender meat I just kill a yearling size doe they are tinder. When disposing a deer carcass be kind and don't throw it to where people can see it from the road. Good to just take carcass back where you killed it in woods. The buzzards need to eat also and it will be gone in just a little while.

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Originally Posted by Jman5626

Does anyone here process thier own deer? If so I have some questions.

1) after you get it skinned and quartered, how long do you wait before trimming and packaging it. I’ve heard to let it sit in the fridge a few days and drain the blood off of it to make it more tender and taste better.

I cool mine down on ice but keep it dry usually over night. Cold meat firms up and cuts better .

2) I live in the city, what do I do with the carcass. I normally just drive to a secluded area and dump it, but I feel like there may be a better way.

Unless you have a big freezer and can freeze and bag up for trash day . lol We haul off to a place to feed varmits or bury

3) is there an easier way to remove membrane from meat or does it just take a lot of time and knife work.

By removing the silver skin/membranes it it grinds better and easier to eat too . I use a fillet knife just like taking skin off a fish

Thanks again.
Jesse


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This is the way I do it

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Originally Posted by cwright

I usually do my own. Don't really like the taste of venison so most goes to jerky or ground. Little trick a buddy taught me on the ground. Instead of adding beef fat, go to walmart and buy one of those big 5 lb tubes of the 70/30 hamburger. It is actually about half fat as you will see when you open it up. There is enough fat to do an entire deer. I grind the deer up first then run it back through the grinder mixing in the hamburger for a second grind. Works great.

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I have found Beef Briskets have enough fat or some stores will sell plain Beef Fat

Arkcrappie and I do it the same way. Ice chest for 3-5 days on ice,draining and adding ice daily, then carefully process. I have prepared roasts, burgers, steaks and chili for newcomers who, afterwards, never realized what kind of meat they had just eaten.

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Originally Posted by cricket george

Arkcrappie and I do it the same way. Ice chest for 3-5 days on ice,draining and adding ice daily, then carefully process. I have prepared roasts, burgers, steaks and chili for newcomers who, afterwards, never realized what kind of meat they had just eaten.

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Several years ago,my wife browned some bear steaks,and put them in a crockpot with mushroom gravy,that evening we took them to a church Christmas pot luck dinner.You should have seen folks attacking that crockpot,they even took bread and wiped it clean to get it all.
Afterwards the secret got out that it was bear steaks,needless to say,I was almost excommunicated by the same folks who acted like a pack of wolves on a fresh kill. Point is,proper care of wild game before packaging always pays off at the table.

I field dress my deer immediately once I get it down to start the cooling process ASAP. We have a hydrant that is gravity fed from a clean pond that I use to wash out the cavity and further get some of the heat out of the carcass. If the temp is above the 40’s I’ll get 40-50lbs it ice and lay them over the hams and inside the chest cavity. I skin the next morning unless it’s warm, pull out the tenderloin and loins, then put a cheap cheesecloth game bag on the carcass of I’m going to butcher it into steaks and roasts. I do think that hanging and aging does make a difference in steaks/chops and shoot for 5 days if the outside temp cooperates. We crock pot most of our roasts so I’m not convinced it makes sense to age them if they’re going to fall apart in the slow cooker. Aging makes no difference in ground venison so if you’re grinding for burger or jerky you’re just as well off to debone, chill, clean up and grind. Chilled meat grinds easier than meat that has been soaking in ice water and dried with a paper towel. Find a local butcher that will sell beef fat if you want to cut the venison, the 5lb 70/40 ground beef chub is a good tip if you can’t find a local butcher with beef fat. I’ve even bought clean beef fat from Sams Club when they’re cleaning up their steak cuts for packaging. I end up packaging mine straight from the grinder with no beef fat for chili, taco meat and burgers-we add other binders for our burgers but family members like the fattier blend.

There’s no real easy way to clean up the silver skin that I’ve found. I use a thin sharp fillet knife and clean up my cuts just like you skin a fish fillet. I clean as much as I can even for my burger meat because it clogs up my grinder plates. Again, I think it’s easier to trim cold dry meat versus wet deer that has been laying in ice water-just a personal observation.

We dump on our hunting property but would call the city dump and see if they’d accept a cleaned deer carcass. If so, it’s about $10 for a pickup load of stuff at our local landfill. I’m anti-dumping and hate when people dump carcasses on the road leading to the farm we hunt or in the creek that runs through the farm.

My wife's uncle has a sweet set-up for butchering in his shed. It's a rather large shed, more like a mini-warehouse. Anyway, we hook the deer up to the electric winch and haul it up and slide it down the track to the next available hanging bar. Transfer to the bar for a day or two to let it bleed out. Sawdust on the concrete floor absorbs the blood. Then it goes into a stand-up old commercial cooler. Came from a butcher shop that went out of business. Hangs until we have time to butcher it up. Since her uncles are all retired they butcher on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm usually at work.

As for the bones- multiple garbage bags and into the garbage can/dumpster for trash day. We used to dump the bones in the back 40, however other animals would scatter them everywhere. Got to be more hassle then it was worth.
I recommend mixing your burger with pork. Adds a great flavor and fat to aid in cooking.