Processing a deer

[tedicast]

Nov 6, 2009 19:25:17 GMT -5 royden said:

that sounds like an awesome job tedicast Only one deer have I ever seen end up with that much meat.

I think we are both as anal on the meat quality that goes in the packages (like you, I weigh and label everything) - big difference I see is that I am willing to waste some meat along when I am trimming and call it dog food in the name of production

On almost every deer I process, I end up with almost exactly 1/3 of the dressed weight, in boned meat. I was expecting just under 60 pounds from this deer. I don't normally bother with the neck meat, but couldn't pass it up on this deer. The neck meat boned out weighed 13 pounds. Add to the a tad over 4 pounds of pork, and it pretty much adds up to my 1/3 of the dressed weight. The deer dressed at 170. My average roast from a 90 to 100 pounds doe weighs 1 3/4 pounds. The roasts on this were over 4 pounds.

[hopesman]

When I process a deer, I'm not really concerned about the time I want the meat a certain way and I invest whatever time is required to get it that way All fat, sinew, silver skin, etc has to be gone. Having said that, I probably take 5-6 hours for a 120-140 lb deer, but it is worth it

[farmdude]

I used to process one in very little time...now though...a long time...what I used to do 10 times a day..now takes me all day to do once!!

[DocHolladay]

The fastest I have skinned and deboned was 3 deer in 45 minutes. Thats no front shoulders or neck meat. I can usually have a single deer skinned and deboned in about 30 minutes. I then let it sit in the fridge for 2 weeks to age. If I just do steaks and roasts, I am done processing in a couple hours(thats seperating cuts and packaging while watching tv). If I grind for burger or sausage, it takes about 3-3.5 hours.

[SPIKER]

It takes me at least 4 hours, and that's just cutting the already de boned meat into steaks, and stew. I also remove every trace of silver skin, sinew, and fat. I don't have a grinder, but next year I will.

So far, BT has done all the hard work, skinning, and de boning, but hopefully by the end of the season, I'll be up to speed.

At 70 bucks a pop, it's almost a necessity these days.

[tedicast]

Nov 7, 2009 11:39:26 GMT -5 SPIKER said:

It takes me at least 4 hours, and that's just cutting the already de boned meat into steaks, and stew. I also remove every trace of silver skin, sinew, and fat. I don't have a grinder, but next year I will.

So far, BT has done all the hard work, skinning, and de boning, but hopefully by the end of the season, I'll be up to speed.

At 70 bucks a pop, it's almost a necessity these days.

If I could find someone to skin, debone and process, for $70, I wouldn't bat an eyelash at it. We have 2 local butchers, 1 is at $110, and everything is deboned. That is roast, ground, steak and stew, Sausage is extra.

Another guy will do it for around 90, but he cuts on a band saw, doesn't debone.

I'll keep doing it myself at those prices!

[nkybuck]

We cut five up last night 2 of them were mostly burger that speeds up the time. We had a decent crew we were done and cleaned up in five hours. We have four more to cut tonight.

[vixenmaster]

I choose 4-5 hrs & its about 5 hrs fer me. Doesn't take long to pull back-straps & tenderloins. My time goes into the deboning & separtating the junk scrap stuff from my ground meat & sausage meat. Plus my hands cramp up so bad in the cold anymore full of arthur. Our steaks are from the loins/back-straps. Everything else is the sausage/ground meat. Better fer the old ppl gumming their suppers don't cha knowed!

[Dale]

Much like the little kid who is picking berries, it takes me a long time to finish, because I can't stop eating it. ;D

[trebono]

Between my buddy and I, we can go from hung up to parts in the cooler in about 30 minutes, often a bit quicker.

Now, from cooler to ready to eat/freeze, that's a whole different deal.
Takes me about 25-30 minutes per 1/4 for prep, and about 10-15 minutes to trim and portion backstraps. I always age the quarters for a bit before I finish butchering them, so I've never done it from end to end in one sitting, but if I did I guess it would take around 2-3 hours.

My buddy is way better/faster at the skinning/quartering, and I'm way better at the "butchering" end.