Getting started with butchering- equipment and instruction

[TheCougar]

If everything goes right his fall, I'm going to end up with 3 elk in my freezer. Ive always paid to have my game processed and butchered. I'm considering trying my hand at butchering because I'm cheap. I'm trying to figure out what I need, where to get it, and how to do it. Where do you guys get butcher paper, spices, fat, etc? What kind of grinder? Is there a good book, video, or YouTube video for instruction? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[robie]

Cabelas grinder. I got the 1.5 hp grinder. Not cheap but with churn through a elk. Get the lem foot pedal. Poly bags and a bag taping tool.

Steve rinella had a good video on wrapping steaks and roast in plastic wrap then butcher paper.

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[mfllood3800]

Lem pproducts offer everything you will need as well. Sportsman Warehouse carries them, heck even Amazon

I get fat (only for pork sausage and brats flavoring I do) from local butcher shop. I do NOT add fat to any of my burger meat- not needed, don't do it

There are videos, but you should really hook up with someone for the first time. There is a lot different things I haven't seen covered in videos. They may be out there, but I have watched one in years.

My wife and I cut up our elk and have for years. We take 2 or 3 days to do an elk. We never hurry. We make little burger meat. Double wrap everything, and do sausage for breakfast and brats.
The Lem line of grinders like the Cabelas comes with the needed items for this. But you will buy the tenderizer attachments and press etc separately.
For years we did it the old school way, but each year we upgrade and get more evolved with the times haha

After cutting steaks,chps or what ever cuts of meat we do, they drain for an hour, then get rewashed and drain again before packaging

 

[Eagle]

I have a 3/4hp cabelas grinder, but honestly, for individual use, I think 1/2hp is more than enough, even for an elk sized job.

For fat, I generally use bacon ends (ask your local butcher shop, should be cost effective) or I use back fat off the half a hog I buy each fall from a local farmer, so long as I have it and it isn't old. As a note, always make sure you're meat is still partially frozen and your fat source is completely frozen. The grinder heats up fast and the auger can clog with fat as it heats up and starts to render.

Buy spices in bulk from wherever you like, shouldn't matter much. Butcher paper can be found at most groceries, ame with clingwrap. I've been butchering my own for the last two years and have enjoyed the process. Learning to break down the back legs is not as difficult as it may first seem, just follow the seams between the muscles and you should be ok. Lots of videos on youtube can be very helpful as well.

For the most part, I like to keep backstraps whole or in larger portions, and do the same with the 4 main roasts off each of the back legs (bottom and top round, eye of round (mock tender) and sirloin). Lower back leg (shank) is either burger or used for stews like osso bucco. Front shoulders are great to leave whole for smoking, or you can portion for blade roasts, or use for burger, shank use is the same as the back, burger or stews. Neck meat and brisket is great for stews or burger, and all the trim is ground for burger. If you want sausage, take the burger and run through a second grind with a smaller plate and mix with your ground fat of choice. Lots of great sausage recipes and how to's on youtube.

 

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

My advice on equipment would be to start with good (commercial) stuff. My very first year my grinder burnt out about 15 pounds into my first deer, causing a major cluster. Later that year I burnt out a meat slicer, and then I figured out that my stuffer was too small to be of any real value. Fortunately I bought everything from Cabelas, and was able to return it for credit towards the commercial line. Here is what I have:
-Cabelas Commercial Grinder (can't remember size off the top of my head...probably 3/4). Works awesome.
-Cabelas Commercial Slicer
-LEM 10# Stuffer (works well for everything)
-Sportsman 11# stuffer (only works for meat bags or summer sausage size casings)
-LEM 20# mixer
-Meat bag tape dispenser
-VacMaster Pro 350 sealer. Love it!
-Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator
-(6) Rubbermaid Bus/Dish Tubs from Sam's Club.
-(4) Sam's Club cutting boards
-Victorinox boning knives.
-Several plastic tables.
-Jerky cannon

The last deer I took in to have processed (2009) cost me about $425 for jerky, breakfast sausage, summer sausage, and steaks vacuum sealed. That was my breaking point. Since that time I've done about 10 deer, 1-2 elk, 5-6 antelope, a ton (literally) of pork and beef. I may have spent $1500-2k, but I'm easily twice my investment ahead just in deer. Likely almost a 4-5x's return if I were to add everything up over the last 7 years.

Mixing meat (usually pork) comes from pork shoulder/butt roasts from Sam's Club. If you buy it by the case (usually around 100#), you can get it for the $1.25# range. Most of our "ground beef" gets about 25% ground pork shoulder. Most of the sausage is about 50% pork. For something like Summer Sausage or sticks I'll pick up whatever cheap beef I can find at Sam's Club, but I've used brisket frequently.

I've picked up seasonings pretty much everywhere. There is a meat market in Cumberland Wisconsin that I pass by (Louie's Finer Meats), and get a lot of it from there.

Good luck! It's a bit of work, but you know EXACTLY what you are getting. I personally take great pride in making an extremely high quality product, and a side perk is saving some money. An entire deer probably costs me $50 now with seasonings, casings, bags, vacuum sealing, etc.

 

[muddydogs]

Costco has good prices on paper and plastic wrap in bulk. Most butcher shops sell fat by the pound. There are a ton of internet sites that sell all kinds of spices or kits, cabela's has some good kits as well as Sportsman's Warehouse. Just starting out you might want to try a spice kit or two as its one less thing to worry about but in the long run its cheaper to purchase bulk spices and cases to make your own stuff.

I shot 2 elk in October last year and messed around making this or that until March. Might have had more fun with the meat then the hunt. My staples are elk burger and a breakfast sausage but with the over run of meat I made a couple kinds of smoked salami, brats, dogs and jerky.

 

[Beendare]

I do my own processing and its starts from the minute the animal hits the ground. I take great care to keep the meat perfectly clean and cool it quickly. If my knife contacts offal or anything nasty....I have the little wipes and clean before cutting anymore meat and a change of latex gloves if i'm grabbing hide....it makes a difference keeping the meat super clean.

I bone them out and separate the prime cuts for steaks and grind....I do a lot of grind. It really doesn't take more than a few extra minutes to do it right, IMO.

I grind elk with no fat...and then cook with a little olive oil. I've gotten to the point where I like the taste better that way but it can get dry if you overcook. I set up a plastic folding table and trim the silver skin and fat, put the scraps in a meat tub, cool it to almost freezing then grind.

I vaccuum seal everything and that meat can go a couple years in the freezer no problem.

I did try making some sausage without fat- its bad, you need the fat for sausage..... it tastes like flavored meat.

i have a small LEM grinder that works well.

 

[Superkodiak38]

All good info ^^^^ Just do it, is my advice. It might not come out real pretty and it will go slow but the more you do it the better you become and you know 100 % that is YOUR animal.

 

[unsuccessful]

Make sure you debone. Don't saw bone. Game fat, silver skin, and semew (not sure how that is really spelled) all add the less than desirable gamy flavor. Most important is that meat is meat no matter what it looks like. You really can't screw it up that bad.


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[Bubblehide]

Make sure you debone. Don't saw bone. Game fat, silver skin, and semew (not sure how that is really spelled) all add the less than desirable gamy flavor. Most important is that meat is meat no matter what it looks like. You really can't screw it up that bad.


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Yep, I separate every muscle and then take them out of the sheath. The smaller stuff I get as much as I can off and grind it.

 

[elkduds]

Steaks: Cut across the muscle grain, just like the ones @ the supermarket. Small muscles like tenderloin and some backstraps can be made into larger steaks w butterfly cut. Roast is a whole muscle. Keep meat clean of hair, connective tissue as discussed above. Overwashing processed meat dries it out. I wrap servings in saran before freezer paper, others say that is unnecessary. I like pork suet in my grind rather than beef suet, personal preference.

 

[camping1601]

Most things have been covered, but I'll add.
No smaller than a #22 grinder if your doing elk size critters IMO.
A #32 would really make life easier.
Don't waste time mixing your own seasonings. Buy premixed.
Learn to sharpen a knife fast or do like I do and have enough to just swap out a dull for a sharp.

 

[4ester]

Smart move doing this all yourself. Will save you lots of money and you will get a quality product.

Grinder: This is your workhorse. Get a good size, good quality. And can accept some attachments.

If you are just starting out this will be your main cost. In the future you can add a steak cuber, mixer, patty maker, foot pedal etc. These make a nice product but definitely are not a necessity right off the bat.

We do a lot of burger, so the tubes and tape machine do come in pretty handy.

Note: Elk burger + ground bacon= badass hamburgers.

We process 8+ elk a year and it can be a lot of work, but totally worth it in the end.

PS. Get momma into canning too, and you will really be setup.




Follow me on Instagram @ high_mountain_hunter

 

[Beendare]

....... and you know 100 % that is YOUR animal.

Excellent point SK!

I was in a butcher shop in Az many years ago when they were doing an elk I shot and there was dirt on a bunch of pieces. Well that just isn't possible on my meat as we bone right into good game bags. They were adamant it was my bull....that experience soured me on these game processors.

 

[EastMT]

I have worked in a few butcher shops, best I have ever seen was in Flathead Valley Mt. We always gave the customer their own meat, with the exception of sausage, and were up front that the seasoning packs came pre mixed for 100 lb batches and you can't separate it and get the seasonings to be consistent, so if you had 100 lbs you got your own back in sausage too. Highly respected family operation, awesome morals and ethics. But I have heard many horror stories from some places.

 

[TheCougar]

Yeah, year before last, I was over charged, under delivered... and they stole my game bags! Thanks for all the advice!

 

[muddydogs]

Guys can say what they want about grinders but I have this little LEM # 8 575 Watt Countertop Grinder | LEM Products that has ground up over 1000 pounds of meat, fat and pork trim most of it half frozen or better. It will grind as fast as I can shove stuff down the tube, anymore I strip my grind meat about 1 inch wide and as long as the hunk of meat will allow so all I have to do is drop the piece into the tube and let the grinder pull it in as I grab the next piece.

My buddy has one as well that has ground over 500 pounds of meat.

Grinder might be small and cheap but it gets the job done just fine and I tend to grind most of my meat for burger and sausage making.

 

[oldgoat]

Lots of good advice above, I'll just throw a couple things in that I do or don't do.

Bacon ends added to hamburger is awesome for burger actually used to make burger, but I didn't care for it in burger used for other meals like meatloaf, casseroles etc, for the burger for stuff like that I prefer to use just regular pork, they sell already cubed pork for making green chili in Colorado, not sure about stores Arizona. Pork Butt works well, the bacon just gave a super strong smoke flavor to the burger that I didn't like in the type dishes I mentioned.

Turn your grinder off when not actually grinding, keeps the motor from burning up, also don't use it to stuff sausage casings, that will burn up a cheap one in a hurry, especially cheaper ones! The colder, almost frozen the meat is when grinding the better, especially for the fat or fatty meat you add, keeps the fat from melting down from the heat generated in the grinding process.

A sharp filet knife is my favorite processing knife, but I also have a Knives of Alaska cleaver that I like for cutting steaks.

Leaving most of the meat roasts versus cutting into steaks when processing speeds up the process and cuts down on wrapping and gives you more versatility later. If I want steaks I can cut the roast up when I thaw it later to cook or have a roast if that's what want. I do usual steak out the back straps though and I cut them very thick, that way if I want thick steaks for grilling they are ready and I want thin steaks for frying I can cut them in the middle after thawing.

A sausage mixer is really nice have for mixing whatever fat you go with in the hamburger and is as named a great o item for mixing spices into sausage, it's very difficult to get ingredients mixed into sausage evenly without one! I would attempt it without one now!

 

[camping1601]

Guys can say what they want about grinders but I have this little LEM # 8 575 Watt Countertop Grinder | LEM Products that has ground up over 1000 pounds of meat, fat and pork trim most of it half frozen or better. It will grind as fast as I can shove stuff down the tube, anymore I strip my grind meat about 1 inch wide and as long as the hunk of meat will allow so all I have to do is drop the piece into the tube and let the grinder pull it in as I grab the next piece.

My buddy has one as well that has ground over 500 pounds of meat.

Grinder might be small and cheap but it gets the job done just fine and I tend to grind most of my meat for burger and sausage making.

Problem with those little grinders is time. When doing large batches, or grinding more than one time, it can take painfully long time and the meat can start to warm.

I'll also add that learning to make things like hotdogs and ground and formed bacon can save trim time on some meat pieces. When I butcher I have a hotdog pile and a burger pile of meat.

 

[cnelk]

Ive used my LEM #8 grinder alot - elk deer antelope - with no issues at all

Use vinegar to wipe down the meat as it is a natural disinfectant

Before grinding, put the alum tray, auger and throat in the freezer for awhile before you start - get it cold

Cube up meat and slightly freeze before grinding
The key is to keep the meat, grinder as cold as you can

When ready, spray a little non-stick spray into the assembled throat

If you like spaghetti, chili, use the larger screen and run the meat thru once [the ground meat will be larger chunks]
If you want hambuger type meat, run the meat thru the larger screen and then thru the smaller screen

When ready for cleanup, run a couple pieces of bread thru the grinder and that will clean the throat/auger out pretty good.

It is best to trim all silver skin from meat as it tends to clog up the screens

Its really not that difficult to do your own meat, just takes some time
Invite a friend or two over, have a couple beers and make an afternoon of it