Butchering tips & Grinders?

[D.B. Cooper]

Lot of good comments here, but I'm going to take a different approach regarding mixing in fat. I get it, it makes the game meat more like commercial beef, but one of the benefits of game meat is its low fat/cholesterol content. Mixing in cheap commercial beef and/or fat just eliminates that benefit.

Caribou and moose have about the same cholesterol per ounce as commercial USDA prime beef. I mix ground game meat 50/50 with ground turkey breast, and it gives me a ground meat that is significantly lower in cholesterol and fat than either game meat mixed with burger, fat, etc or even the best, most expensive cuts of beef. Couple that with smaller portions at each meal and I have a pretty heart healthy diet that still includes red meat.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Regarding equipment and facilities, Ive seen some pretty awesome home butcher shops. Best one I saw, the guy bought a walk-in refrigeration unit from a restaurant going out of business and installed it in a super-well insulated room inside his detached garage. He installed meat hook racks in the ceiling. So you bring your skinned and quartered game in, stick it with a meat hook, and hang it there to age as long as you like. He also put a dedicated band saw in there and cuts up all of his leg bones (that usually get given away as a bait for trap lines) and boils them down into bone marrow broth for soups etc. (Lot of nutrients.) A coworker built something similar but cheaper. He built a super-well insulated shed in his back yard and installed a big window unit air conditioner in the wall. He hangs his quarters from the rafters and has tables and counters for all his processing equipment.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Grinders. A friend of mine bought a commercial grinder from a restaurant supply place (I think it was used in a commercial kitchen)...that thing grinds up 4-5 moose and 4-5 caribou and a few bear every year. People bring their game to him, use his stuff all the time. It' a work horse. Probably 20 years old by now, but it chews through meat really fast.

All I can say about knives (or any of this stuff, for that matter) is buy once, cry once. Wusthoff is expensive but it holds an edge a long time. Nothing worse than stopping the process to sharpen a bunch of knives. There are similar quality brands, of course.

 

[Kingcreek]

[QUOTE="D.B. Cooper, post: 12455439
All I can say about knives (or any of this stuff, for that matter) is buy once, cry once. Wusthoff is expensive but it holds an edge a long time. Nothing worse than stopping the process to sharpen a bunch of knives. There are similar quality brands, of course.[/QUOTE]
You can do everything with a victorinox 6” semi stiff boning knife for about $20. I use one along with an old butcher knife and a couple rappella filet knives 6 and 8”.
A friend of mine made a great cooler for hanging up to 4-5 deer at a time. His neighbor was moving and offered him an old chest freezer. He threw the lid away. Built insulated walls around it in the corner of his garage. Made doors for the front and put a small fan from a desktop computer in the bottom of it to circulate the cold air and hanging hooks above.

 

[Patocazador]

After killing small bucks on Monday and Tuesday morning, I called my usual processor who is/was the head butcher at the local super market. His wife told me that he is done butchering even at the store. He sustained an abdominal and an inguinal hernia at work. He's laid up for 4 months and may never return to work. Too bad especially for him.

It looks like I'll have to invest in a grinder for burger and hog sausage.

I got an abdominal hernia after they repaired my navel hernia. Even if they "fix" the hernia, the next weakest place will bust through.

 

[Chuck R.]

[QUOTE="D.B. Cooper, post: 12455439
All I can say about knives (or any of this stuff, for that matter) is buy once, cry once. Wusthoff is expensive but it holds an edge a long time. Nothing worse than stopping the process to sharpen a bunch of knives. There are similar quality brands, of course.

You can do everything with a victorinox 6” semi stiff boning knife for about $20. I use one along with an old butcher knife and a couple rappella filet knives 6 and 8”.
A friend of mine made a great cooler for hanging up to 4-5 deer at a time. His neighbor was moving and offered him an old chest freezer. He threw the lid away. Built insulated walls around it in the corner of his garage. Made doors for the front and put a small fan from a desktop computer in the bottom of it to circulate the cold air and hanging hooks above.[/QUOTE]

I've got a complete Victorinox wild game kit and the knife I use the most is the 6” semi stiff boning knife, 2nd would be the 5" lamb skinning knife.

I also use the chit out of a cheap battery op saws-all with the metal blade on.

 

[D.B. Cooper]

I've got a complete Victorinox wild game kit and the knife I use the most is the 6” semi stiff boning knife, 2nd would be the 5" lamb skinning knife.

I also use the chit out of a cheap battery op saws-all with the metal blade on.

I've always been a huge fan of Victorinox. (I was also a huge fan of Wegner until Victorniox bought them and shut them down.) The one-handed Trekker is my EDC. I have owned numerous SAKs over the years. However, their kitchen knives leave me underwhelmed.

I was unaware of the kit you mentioned until now, but that seems to be for use in the field, during the skinning, gutting, and quartering process. I can pretty much accomplish that with a hatchet, saw, and my Benchmade Saddle Mountain Skinner.

My understanding of the original question here was regarding knives to be used for the final cutting up of game meat into roasts, steaks, cubes, strips (for putting through the grinder) etc.

I tried the battery powered sawzall on a couple caribou, but was unhappy with the result. It chewed through batteries quickly, the meat gummed up the blade, and it just wasn't any easier than using a proper bone saw, which I thought gave a cleaner cut on the bone.

 

[Chuck R.]

They call it a "Field Dressing Kit", but really it's more of a butchers kit:

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-7-Piece-Master-Competition-Handles/dp/B007JTO99I?th=1

There's no way I'm carrying that much chit afield. In my backpack I carry:

"kill Kit" in a Ziploc storage bag; Nitrile examination gloves, shoulder length veterinary gloves, a couple "blue" towels, large Ziploc for the loins.
Outdoor Edge Rib Spreader
Pelvic bone saw
Bark River Highland Special knife (worn, on a drop hanger sheath)
Game bags IF quartering

In my butchering kit, which stays at home or in the truck, I've got:
Victorinox Knife roll with Lamb skinner
Skinning Tongs
Wyoming Saw (IF I'll be quartering, this goes in the pack)
Meat hooks
Game Shears
Small cutting board
Trash bags
Ziploc storage bags

When I leave for MT next week the butchering kit and 2" receiver hitch hoist is going because we'll be boning out & butchering before heading back. The hunt goes to the 22nd, so if we shoot something late we won't have time to hang out for processing AND make it back for Thanksgiving. My friend is bringing up his saws-all with a couple batteries and charger, just for taking off skull caps.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Happy Trails and have a safe hunt Chuck.

 

[Chuck R.]

Happy Trails and have a safe hunt Chuck.

THANKS.. today they're showing a high of 9 and winter weather advisory for snow. I'm adding more layers to the packing list!

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

THANKS.. today they're showing a high of 9 and winter weather advisory for snow. I'm adding more layers to the packing list!

Good idea...

 

[Larry in wyoming]

I just used the "#12" meat grinder I bought from vevor. It went through 15lbs of elk in no time. It literally took longer to weigh a batch of meat than to grind it. It was half the price of an LEM. I'll never go back to the kitchen aid.

 

[Patocazador]

I just got my .5 HP #8 LEM today. I haven't ground any meat with it yet but it certainly is a substantial grinder. It weighs about 35 lbs and seems very capable. I'll start grinding tomorrow.
If it grinds as good as it looks, I'll be very happy.

 

[Patocazador]

I just got my .5 HP #8 LEM today. I haven't ground any meat with it yet but it certainly is a substantial grinder. It weighs about 35 lbs and seems very capable. I'll start grinding tomorrow.
If it grinds as good as it looks, I'll be very happy.

Follow-up: I ground a neck, 4 shoulders, and 4 hind quarters into deer burger with beef fat added. About 17-18% fat. Mixed the meat with garlic powder, Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning and a couple of serrano peppers. Made deerburger steaks that were med-rare and simply delicious. That LEM is a 1st class winner!

 

[Axis II]

My buddy called me over the weekend and said seeing how our butcher died, no one else will do deer anymore let’s go half on the cabelas 1hp carnivore grinder. $300 a piece. I’m kind of thinking the 1hp is overkill now seeing what all you use. We both shoot anywhere between 1-3 deer a year. He has an electric hoist in the garage, steel table, giant cooler but one issue we run into is pulling the hide down far enough to get the neck meat. I have a food saver too and was gifted bags that are 7-8yo I can’t seem to keep the juice from sucking into the machine and I notice I still get freezer burned meat. What gives.

 

[Larry in wyoming]

Juice keeps the bags from sealing. I spread a small piece of paper towel in the bag sometimes to catch the juice

 

[Patocazador]

We have a sealer but only use it for sous vide. My wife wraps all the game meat in 2 layers of Glad-wrap and then butcher paper sealed with freezer tape. I have eaten deer steaks that were 4 yo and they tasted good with no freezer burn. None of our 4 freezers are self-defrosting. When we had an upright that did self-defrost, we had some freezer-burned meat.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I have been doing the cling wrap then freezer bag procedure and it keeps well.