Accessories for processing

[TheCougar]

I’ve got enough tags this year to warrant making the jump into my own processing. Yesterday I began purchasing equipment. I don’t want to go overboard, but I also know that having the right tools can make a job that much faster and more enjoyable. I got a Lem MaxVac250 Vacuum Sealer and bags, and I plan on picking up a LEM 3/4hp big bite grinder. My wife already has a meat slicer. I don’t plan on getting a sausage stuffer this year - we aren’t big into cylindrical meat products. Basically turning elk and deer into as many steaks as possible and everything else into burger. I’d like some thoughts on the accessories - knives, cutting boards, cleaning equipment, etc.

Knives: looking for recommendations on a 2-3 knives. I’ll be getting some combination of 5-6” Victorinox flex or semi-flex boning knives. Looking for recommendations on what I should get here.
Sharpening: I’ve got a high-end set of Wusthof knives that has a steel, so I’m assuming I’m good here.
Cutting boards: we have several, but open to recommendations
What else do you guys recommend for cleaning, other items that make the process faster and better?

 

[Brendan]

Check this out:Fibrox® Pro Boning Knife

Victorinox Fibrox® Pro Boning Knife - 5.6603.15 ++ Explore the world of perfect Swiss quality online ++ Home of the Original Swiss Army knife ++ Order online ++

www.swissarmy.com

Dexter Sani-Safe is another good brand. Love the 6" curved boning knives, rarely use much else. If you're not getting a stuffer, sounds like you pretty much have everything covered.

Edit: This is probably my favorite knife. Take the Dexter logo off, put on a fancy looking handle, and it'd sell for 5X...

American Knifemaking - Knives, Cleavers & More | Dexter Russell

The official Dexter Russell website. We are a family owned American made cutlery company that's been in business for over 200 years.

www.dexter1818.com

 

[sram9102]

I really like having some starsan left over from my brewing stuff to clean everything just soak and let it dry and you are good to go. I have one big cutting board 24"x48" I believe. It's nice when you can lay out a whole quarter on the board and have space for more than 1 person working at a time. Any piece of HDPE will work as long as its textured. A handful of tubs for meat storage is also nice.

 

[UtahJimmy]

Tubs for meat, giant bowl for mixing, scale for measuring portions, extra large cutting board(s)

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[Patton]

The grinder your getting is a great one. A foot pedal switch to put between your meat grinder and the electrical outlet. Weston makes a product for quickly taping/sealing 1lb bags of ground meat - save a lot of time.

Weston® Heavy Duty Bag Neck Sealer

The Weston® Bag Neck Sealer quickly and securely seals bags of meat, nuts, fruit, vegetables, baked goods, and snacks for freezing or dry storage.

westonbrands.com

Foot Switch, Foot Operated Pedal Controller Power Switch Woodworking Machine Control, 5-ft Cable with Piggyback Plug, Deadman Style - - Amazon.com

Foot Switch, Foot Operated Pedal Controller Power Switch Woodworking Machine Control, 5-ft Cable with Piggyback Plug, Deadman Style - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[Blinginpse]

Dont forget about dexter knives. They are good too. Set your price range on a grinder then buy the step above. The grinder with a bigger motor will make life alot easier. We got 1 with a 3hp and it just makes it all easy

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[TheCougar]

What length and flex of knives should I be getting? 5 or 6” and stiff, flex, or semi-stiff?

 

[Bearlodge10]

+1 on tubs and scales. These help us out a lot when we process especially in making sausage and other cured meats. picking up cheap coolers to keep ground meat in or to use for with brines is a good bet as well. I usually buy a couple packages of the thin cutting mats from Walmart to go with on hunting trips. If they aren't used at camp they get used for processing there.

 

[NJDiverDan]

A few of my essentials have already been called out.

Ground Meat bags , taper, and the stuffing tube for your grinder makes quick work of burger vs. putting it in vac bags.

Foot pedal for the grinder.

I have a large 2' X 3.5' cutting board (just a sheet of 3/4" HDPE) that I ordered. It is nice to have a big enough board to put a whole quarter on to break down.

Butcher paper, not to wrap the meat but to cover the table under the boards. Makes for faster clean up.

I use these RADA boning knives.

Amazon.com: Rada Cutlery Carving Knife – Boning Knife with Stainless Steel Blade and Aluminum Handle, 11 Inches: Boning Knives: Kitchen & Dining

Amazon.com: Rada Cutlery Carving Knife – Boning Knife with Stainless Steel Blade and Aluminum Handle, 11 Inches: Boning Knives: Kitchen & Dining

www.amazon.com

They are cheap so I have about 6-10 of them sharpened up ready to go. As one gets dull, I just grab a fresh one. Sharpen all the dulled ones back up at the end of the night.

Oh, one last tip, keep stale bread, bread ends, hamburger rolls etc in the freezer. Use them to push the last bit of meat through your grinder. Just add the frozen bread like you would meat and it will push the remaining meat out. My #32 has about a pound and a half in it (including the meat bag stuffing tube) when it stops actually pushing.

 

[loggerchas]

I use a small (4") very flexible fillet knife and a large stiffer (8") fillet knife" for deboning and muscle group separation, and a 10" chef's knife (slicing steaks and cubing for grind/stew)) when processing. Last year I used a replaceable blade (Tyto style) knife in lieu of the small fillet and that worked well. For the fillet knives I've been using cheaper Rapala brands when WallyWorld has them on sale after fishing season is over. Used to insist on rubber handles but since I've started wearing the heavy black nitrile gloves am not as picky on that end but does make sanitation and clean-up easier.

With any knife - sharpness is often more important than the blade style itself. I find a ceramic "steel" to be the ticket when getting a quick new edge during the cutting and then hone when complete for the next critter that is invited to the processing party.

The large restaurant size white cutting boards from Sam's are great - I cut them in half with a skill-saw to make them a usable size. Process quarters on 1/3 the table, cut meat on other 1/3. bowls on final 1/3. Keep a trash can with a contractor's bag handy for disposing on bones and such. (Most of my critters come out whole on the game cart or quartered bone-in.)

I cover the entire kitchen table with a split contractor's bag for easy clean-up.

5 medium bowls on the edge of the table: loin, steaks, stew, jerky, grind, waste. Kid handles the grinding as we go and we package the other cuts at the end.

A fan in the cutting area seems to keep any flies that find their way into the house off the meat and is a welcome breeze during the job.

We pre-package all meat for our family of 3 with no leftovers. Typically get about 50 meals from an average mule deer and a couple packages of jerky cuts for later processing.

We mix pork fat or a fatty pork shoulder with our grind meat (20%ish). I pick it up year-round and vac seal and freeze ready for use. They are always out when you need it the most.

Double bag and seal contractor bags with zipties when done, keeps odor/flies down in the dumpster when cutting meat on Sunday and trash service comes on Friday.....

I wear out an entry model vac-seal about every 2 years but work them hard through the year. Sometimes it really helps to put meat in bags in the freezer to par-freeze before sealing if the meat is overly juicy. I always pay attention to flattening the packages of any cut/grind when sealing - makes stacking efficiently in the freezer much easier.

Kid pre-labels packages for each cut of meat with year-who-species-cut (e.g. 2019 CTC Deer Loin). Make sure the kid grabs a Sharpie and not black washable Crayola marker - mystery meat for the next year if you fail in that little experiment.

Filled tags get put into a Ziploc securely taped inside of the freezer.

Process 2 deer and usually a cow elk per year with that rig.

As others have said - the grinder is key. Have been too cheap to buy a high quality grinder so always pick up smaller $5 garage sale grinders (1970's Oster models seem the most durable) and have an extra in stock when one craps out. (Burnt up the wife's super-duper Kitchen-Aid mixer one year with the grinder attachment - replacing that cost more than my Kifaru...…)

 

[TheCougar]

I use a small (4") very flexible fillet knife and a large stiffer (8") fillet knife" for deboning and muscle group separation, and a 10" chef's knife (slicing steaks and cubing for grind/stew)) when processing. Last year I used a replaceable blade (Tyto style) knife in lieu of the small fillet and that worked well. For the fillet knives I've been using cheaper Rapala brands when WallyWorld has them on sale after fishing season is over. Used to insist on rubber handles but since I've started wearing the heavy black nitrile gloves am not as picky on that end but does make sanitation and clean-up easier.

With any knife - sharpness is often more important than the blade style itself. I find a ceramic "steel" to be the ticket when getting a quick new edge during the cutting and then hone when complete for the next critter that is invited to the processing party.

The large restaurant size white cutting boards from Sam's are great - I cut them in half with a skill-saw to make them a usable size. Process quarters on 1/3 the table, cut meat on other 1/2. bowls on final 1/3. Keep a trash can with a contractor's bag handy for disposing on bones and such. (Most of my critters come out whole on the game cart or quartered bone-in.)

I cover the entire kitchen table with a split contractor's bag for easy clean-up.

5 medium bowls on the edge of the table: loin, steaks, stew, jerky, grind, waste. Kid handles the grinding as we go and we package the other cuts at the end.

A fan in the cutting area seems to keep any flies that find their way into the house off the meat and is a welcome breeze during the job.

We pre-package all meat for our family of 3 with no leftovers. Typically get about 50 meals from an average mule deer and a couple packages of jerky cuts for later processing.

We mix pork fat or a fatty pork shoulder with our grind meat (20%ish). I pick it up year-round and vac seal and freeze ready for use. They are always out when you need it the most.

Double bag and seal contractor bags with zipties when done, keeps odor/flies down in the dumpster when cutting meat on Sunday and trash service comes on Friday.....

I wear out an entry model vac-seal about every 2 years but work them hard through the year. Sometimes it really helps to put meat in bags in the freezer to par-freeze before sealing if the meat is overly juicy. I always pay attention to flattening the packages of any cut/grind when sealing - makes stacking efficiently in the freezer much easier.

Kid pre-labels packages for each cut of meat with year-who-species-cut (e.g. 2019 CTC Deer Loin). Make sure the kid grabs a Sharpie and not black washable Crayola marker - mystery meat for the next year if you fail in that little experiment.

Filled tags get put into a Ziploc securely taped inside of the freezer.

Process 2 deer and usually a cow elk per year with that rig.

As others have said - the grinder is key. Have been too cheap to buy a high quality grinder so always pick up smaller $5 garage sale grinders (1970's Oster models seem the most durable) and have an extra in stock when one craps out. (Burnt up the wife's super-duper Kitchen-Aid mixer one year with the grinder attachment - replacing that cost more than my Kifaru...…)

Lots of good tips there, thank you!

 

[Ucsdryder]

Where is everyone buying their meat trays? Looks like Cabela’s used to carry them but not anymore. Amazon are pretty expensive compared to what Cabela’s used to charge.

 

[UtahJimmy]

Where is everyone buying their meat trays? Looks like Cabela’s used to carry them but not anymore. Amazon are pretty expensive compared to what Cabela’s used to charge.

Local restaurant supply store will have a bunch of options.

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[Sekora]

Sounds like you got it pretty much covered as others have said. I went to a local butcher supply store and bought my knives and a sharpener. He talked me out of expensive knives as he had cheap boning knives on special for $5 a piece. I think they are 6" blades. I bought 2 of them and a good skinning knife off of him along with a cheap sharpener. I have been using them for over 10 years now with no complaints.

 

[TheCougar]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the inputs and advice.

 

[farmer14]

Cougar I am in the same boat (enough tags to warrant the cost of processing equipment). I picked up LEM’s grinding accessory kit that includes foot pedal, tape dispenser, bags, brushes, spray. Tried it yesterday and The foot pedal is well worth it if you’re solo. The brushes are a nice touch. Havent used anything else yet. Good luck this year.

 

[NJDiverDan]

SAMs club has food lugs.

 

[omegadef]

I usually only process deer and hogs, but I would get a much larger grinder than the bigfoot. I have that and its the next thing to get upgraded. Grinding takes more time than anything else, especially for sausage. The poly bags and a sealer goes a long way.
If you ever plan to make sausage get everything capable of handling 25lbs at a time.

Waltons is a great place to buy grinders and such. Good sausage seasonings too, especially the blue ribbon bratwurst.

Walton's | Everything but the Meat! | Meat Processing Supplies

Everything but the Meat! – Sausage Making Supplies – Seasonings and Spices – BBQing and Grilling – Meat Processing Supplies for Home and Commercial Processors

www.waltonsinc.com

 

[2ski]

Where is everyone buying their meat trays? Looks like Cabela’s used to carry them but not anymore. Amazon are pretty expensive compared to what Cabela’s used to charge.

LEM sells them. Pretty much LEM sells everything a person needs other than knives. Everything mentioned in this thread.

 

[NEWHunter]

I like to wear a cut resistant glove on my left hand when processing. Every so often I slip or get a bit careless and I’m glad I have it on.