I started with a #22 Grinder 10 years ago (photo heavy)

[Roy68]

After years of taking dad's, my brothers, and my harvests to the processor; I bought a #22 Cabelas grinder, poly bags, and a taper 10 years ago.

My plan at the time was to grind my own burger, package my own steaks & roasts, and take my trim in to the processor for sausage / restructured jerky. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. That very same year, a cousin asked us if we would take him on his first deer hunt. 7 days later we had 6 deer hanging. Man did we learn a ton that first year in processing, as it took us almost 4 days. That was the 4 of us and my wife helping. After that we still took meat to the processor.

(1st year for my grinder. I jumped in neck deep)

(My brother and I boning the deer out. Dad and our cousin were cleaning, final cutting, sorting, & trimming in the house)

(2nd grind on burger, because that is what we read as being SOP. So that's what we did. Doesn't work well when the meat isn't soft frozen. We now, no longer grind 2x)

Every year since we have processed no less than 6 deer and some times as many as 10. Our average is 8 deer a year, and sometimes an elk or two. Ten years later and we have grown our owned equipment. We have greatly increased our efficiency, and no longer use a processor. So far this year we have processed 7 deer in 2 days with 3 people. That was starting with whole carcasses.

(This year's buck. 46# in this tub; back straps, tender loins, and 1/2 of the round only. I boned 100.7# of meat of of this buck)

Here are couple of pictures of my processing equipment now.

• #22 Cabelas Grinder (10 years old this year)
• Foot pedal switch for the grinder
• 11# Sausage Stuffer
• 12mm, 16mm, 22mm, & 38mm stuffing horns
• Mundial Knives _ curved & straight blade boning _ Don't slip out of the hand, cheap, and easy to keep sharp
• LEM manual meat mixer
• Large HDPE cutting boards
• Meat hooks used when boning
• Silicone spray _ Use it on the grinder, stuffer, and associated parts. This a must when doing this kind of volume IMO
• 15" wide butcher/freezer paper stand (I buy 1000' rolls)
• Freezer paper tape holder
• Poly bag taper & cutter
• Digital scale with 300# capacity
• Cabelas 80L Commercial Dehydrator (not shown, bargain cave buy) will hold 25# of Jerky easily
• Smokers (not shown)
• Thermoworks Chef Alarm with air temp & meat probe (used for smoking and curing)
• Several meat lugs (actually restaurant busboy lugs) fit in my coolers and freezers
• Fatigue mats for standing on. A guy's back and legs appreciate it.

Here is list of what we make in regards to deer:

• Burger
• Roasts
• Steaks
• Whole Muscle Jerky
• Snack Sticks
• Summer Sausage
• Fresh Sausage
• Italian Sausage
• Chorizo

Things I've learned that I think are important to know for the beginner or the guy that's just starting:

• When dealing with whole carcasses, learn how the animal is put together so you can bone them quickly and efficiently.
• A good Grinder is paramount, and get the biggest you can afford with a foot pedal switch.
• Stuffing poly bags with burger off a grinder is ok, but it is horribly slow IMO if you are doing more than 25#
• If you are going to make stuffed sausages, sticks, or restructured jerky at higher volumes; then buy a stuffer.
• The dedicated stuffer was a game changer for us ...I can't say it enough...
• Take your time and make sure your meat is clean and trimmed accordingly! Attention to detail makes for a good product.
• Sort your meat by keeping large muscles and meat with lots of connective tissue separated. This organization allows you to plan what you are going to make in product. It also keeps your dinner guests from having a bad experience
• Due to our pickiness on the cleanliness and sorting of meat, I only grind one time for burger now.
• I will still grind twice for snack sticks and summer sausage. Soft freeze the meat between grinds
• When making whole muscle jerky use the biggest pieces of meat that you can. Cut your pieces across the grain.
• A slicing knife is wonderful for cutting whole muscle jerky slices. I have an 18" long one
• Always work with soft frozen meat when possible. The only time I don't is when mixing meat seasonings for sausages, and then it is very cold.
• If using/adding fat for sausages (I prefer pork fat), keep it frozen until you need it. If it warms up much it is miserable to grind; like working with snot.
• Keep your grinder parts ice cold. This includes the plates, knives, auger, throat, throat nut, and meat tray.
• Keep your grinder plates & knives paired up, because they will wear into each other.
• Keep your grinder plates flat and sharp. I do this every couple of years.
• Use silicone spray prior to starting, during, prior to storing your equipment. It makes for easier processing & cleaning.
• Butcher / Freezer Paper works just fine. Buy the heavy duty paper, wrap it tight, and keep your freezer organized.

I am by no means an expert in this or pounding my chest. I've been at it long enough now that I wanted to share my experiences and some of what I have learned. I hope it is helpful.

 

[Clarktar]

After years of taking dad's, my brothers, and my harvests to the processor; I bought a #22 Cabelas grinder, poly bags, and a taper 10 years ago.

My plan at the time was to grind my own burger, package my own steaks & roasts, and take my trim in to the processor for sausage / restructured jerky. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. That very same year, a cousin asked us if we would take him on his first deer hunt. 7 days later we had 6 deer hanging. Man did we learn a ton that first year in processing, as it took us almost 4 days. That was the 4 of us and my wife helping. After that we still took meat to the processor.

(1st year for my grinder. I jumped in neck deep)


(My brother and I boning the deer out. Dad and our cousin were cleaning, final cutting, sorting, & trimming in the house)


(2nd grind on burger, because that is what we read as being SOP. So that's what we did. Doesn't work well when the meat isn't soft frozen. We now, no longer grind 2x)


Every year since we have processed no less than 6 deer and some times as many as 10. Our average is 8 deer a year, and sometimes an elk or two. Ten years later and we have grown our owned equipment. We have greatly increased our efficiency, and no longer use a processor. So far this year we have processed 7 deer in 2 days with 3 people. That was starting with whole carcasses.

(This year's buck. 46# in this tub; back straps, tender loins, and rounds. I boned 100.7# of meat of of this buck)



Here are couple of pictures of my processing equipment now.

• #22 Cabelas Grinder (10 years old this year)
• Foot pedal switch for the grinder
• 11# Sausage Stuffer
• 12mm, 16mm, 22mm, & 38mm stuffing horns
• Mundial Knives _ curved & straight blade boning _ Don't slip out of the hand, cheap, and easy to keep sharp
• LEM manual meat mixer
• Large HDPE cutting boards
• Meat hooks used when boning
• Silicone spray _ Use it on the grinder, stuffer, and associated parts. This a must when doing this kind of volume IMO
• 15" wide butcher/freezer paper stand (I buy 1000' rolls)
• Freezer paper tape holder
• Poly bag taper & cutter
• Digital scale with 300# capacity
• Cabelas 80L Commercial Dehydrator (not shown, bargain cave buy) will hold 25# of Jerky easily
• Smokers (not shown)
• Thermoworks Chef Alarm with air temp & meat probe (used for smoking and curing)
• Several meat lugs (actually restaurant busboy lugs) fit in my coolers and freezers
• Fatigue mats for standing on. A guy's back and legs appreciate it.

Here is list of what we make in regards to deer:

• Burger
• Roasts
• Steaks
• Whole Muscle Jerky
• Snack Sticks
• Summer Sausage
• Fresh Sausage
• Italian Sausage
• Chorizo

Things I've learned that I think are important to know for the beginner or the guy that's just starting:

• When dealing with whole carcasses, learn how the animal is put together so you can bone them quickly and efficiently.
• A good Grinder is paramount, and get the biggest you can afford with a foot pedal switch.
• Stuffing poly bags with burger off a grinder is ok, but it is horribly slow IMO if you are doing more than 25#
• If you are going to make stuffed sausages, sticks, or restructured jerky at higher volumes; then buy a stuffer.
• The dedicated stuffer was a game changer for us ...I can't say it enough...
• Take your time and make sure your meat is clean and trimmed accordingly! Attention to detail makes for a good product.
• Sort your meat by keeping large muscles and meat with lots of connective tissue separated. This organization allows you to plan what you are going to make in product. It also keeps your dinner guests from having a bad experience
• Due to our pickiness on the cleanliness and sorting of meat, I only grind one time for burger now.
• I will still grind twice for snack sticks and summer sausage. Soft freeze the meat between grinds
• When making whole muscle jerky use the biggest pieces of meat that you can. Cut your pieces across the grain.
• A slicing knife is wonderful for cutting whole muscle jerky slices. I have an 18" long one
• Always work with soft frozen meat when possible. The only time I don't is when mixing meat seasonings for sausages, and then it is very cold.
• If using/adding fat for sausages (I prefer pork fat), keep it frozen until you need it. If it warms up much it is miserable to grind.
• Use silicone spray prior to starting, during, prior to storing your equipment. It makes for easier processing & cleaning.
• Butcher / Freezer Paper works just fine. Buy the heavy duty paper, wrap it tight, and keep your freezer organized.

I am by no means an expert in this or pounding my chest. I've been at it long enough now that I wanted to share my experiences and some of what I have learned. I hope it is helpful.

Great post! Thanks for taking the time to pass on what you have learned. I will be processing our deer this year for the first time. Have a grinder and 30lb stuffer. Asked Santa for cutting boards and lugs, and taper.

If you ever have time, set up a tripod camera and hit record. Would enjoy seeing it all happen.

Thanks again!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Roy68]

The weekend after we processed our deer my Wife and I butchered a 250# hog, and processed it in one day.

Broken down into the 4 primals.

Here is 1 of 4 Ham Hocks. If you buy them in a store or the meat cutter they are usually trimmed down to nothing unless you request them untrimmed.

Once we started cutting it took us about 1 1/2 hours to have it all broken down. I split the butts from the shoulder, and kept the lower shoulder in tact so I have 4 shoulders for pulled pork. We did one loin as boneless chops and the other side as bone in chops; so that left me with 3 rib racks instead of 4. Loin steaks, ham steaks, tenderloins, medallions, and 1 pork roast were all wrapped up as well. Pork bellies split in half, so I have 12# of bellies to cure & smoke for bacon.

21# of fresh sausage and brats.

Smoked Ham Hocks for Ham & Bean soup. Smoked Femurs for the dogs.

My Wife also made stock from all the bones, and those left over bones will be fed to the dogs. She also rendered the lard, and made cracklings. We literally had less than 1# of waste that went in the trash. ………..You can use everything but the squeal!

I bought the hog for $35/cwt from a local farmer for $87. I figure I have $150 at most in it with other items added in, and counting the 2 PBR’s. FWIW: I've been drinking PBR before PBR was cool. Less the head, feet, and trotters we put 115# of meat in our freezer.

The most invaluable part:
I spent the whole day with my wife feeding our family and our marriage.

 

[Roy68]

Thanks Clarktar. I've often wondered about the video idea.

Honestly I read your thread you started a few months ago, and that you were making the plunge. That is what finally motivated me to share.

 

[rayporter]

yes sir no standing around in that operation! been there.

a question, do you feel the need for the foot switch? we just turn it on and grind about a hundred pounds then turn it off.

 

[Roy68]

I do believe the foot switch is a worthy addition. It frees up both of the operators hands. When I'm operating the grinder; I'm the one that is loading the meat tray. My other hand has a knife to half pieces if too large or use the stomper (when it is required). Typically if I use the stomper it is just nudge the meat in the throat because a big piece hung up. I never use my fingers. If something happens and I need to stop the grinder right now, all I have to do is lift my foot.

A secondary reason, if you are stuffing off of a grinder then there can be lots of on/off cycles for the grinder motor. I don't think the switch on the motor is up to that task. Due to arching alone when a switch makes & breaks contact, I would rather sacrifice the foot pedal switch.

If a guy has a dedicated stuffer then you could easily forgo the pedal switch. I still use mine though for the first reason I stated.

 

[Clarktar]

The pictures of processing that hog are impressive. Are you a butcher somewhere? I am not sure I would know where to make all the appropriate cuts to have my meat come out like you did. I mean those chops etc. look like they should be in a case at a local butcher shop!

I am getting antsy to start, hopefully santa thinks I was a good fella this year. Or else I will just use some of big mommas laundry totes for my meat!!

 

[camping1601]

Really well done! I think many can learn from this.

I have the same grinder and it has been good to me for nearly as many years as your.

 

[camping1601]

Also I use a 3mm plate on mine to get a smaller grind that we prefer. No need to grind anything but hot dogs more than once.

It would slow the process down some but speed up the snack sticks by only doing it once.

Hot dogs are three times.

 

[elkguide]

Thank you for posting/sharing.

 

[Roy68]

The pictures of processing that hog are impressive. Are you a butcher somewhere? I am not sure I would know where to make all the appropriate cuts to have my meat come out like you did. I mean those chops etc. look like they should be in a case at a local butcher shop!

I am getting antsy to start, hopefully santa thinks I was a good fella this year. Or else I will just use some of big mommas laundry totes for my meat!!

Not a butcher at all. It's always intrigued me and i've always helped others with it. I have a day job that gets in the way of ranching with family.

Regarding the hog. My Wife & My family grew up as farmers & ranchers and raised all of their own food stuffs. My grandparents are in their 90's, and still sharp minded. I asked them a lot of questions on the do's and don'ts. We forwent leaving the skin on because they both said de-hairing a hog was an all day job, so this one was skinned. Honestly other than some powered equipment for the sausage part, the process hasn't changed from their time. Need a saw or clever, and a sharp knife of the right size.

Also, we retain several head of beef every year that we raise from day one as calves and then on grass after weaning. We then work with a processor, and sell our beef to "Joe Public" from wholes to select cuts. The processor is top notch in the country, and we have a good relationship with them. They answered some questions and showed me some things as well. From there we went for it. Honestly, we will from now on get our pork this way, and do it ourselves.

 

[pointer26]

Thank you for your post.

 

[Roy68]

Also I use a 3mm plate on mine to get a smaller grind that we prefer. No need to grind anything but hot dogs more than once.

It would slow the process down some but speed up the snack sticks by only doing it once.

Hot dogs are three times.

I run it 2x through (med & fine) only because i've been worried that the texture would be too course with 1 grind. This is where I'm using the meat that has a lot of connective tissue, like the lower legs, ribs, and the neck.

With your snack sticks using a 3mm plate with 1 pass through, the texture is smooth enough then? Do you think it would be fine enough with the cuts I'm using?

 

[camping1601]

I run it 2x through (med & fine) only because i've been worried that the texture would be too course with 1 grind. This is where I'm using the meat that has a lot of connective tissue, like the lower legs, ribs, and the neck.

With your snack sticks using a 3mm plate with 1 pass through, the texture is smooth enough then? Do you think it would be fine enough with the cuts I'm using?

I do Elk and Deer burger, breakfast sausage italian link, kielbasa, chirizo, balogna, chopped-formed bacon, and snack sticks all in one grind with the 3mm plate. Myself and even more so the wife are very picky about the texture. I have never wished for a better grind. If your happy with the 3/16 for your normal grind I think you'd be more than happy with the 3mm for balogna and sticks. Also to me it seems the cured stuff is much more forgiving with the grind. I don't know if it's the curing process or the fact that those products are smoked low and slow?

I've had compliments on the texture of the Balogna.

On a diferent note. Are those collagen casings on your sausage?

And that list of yours is great tool for others to learn from.

Again well done writeup.

 

[Roy68]

Camping, thanks for the insight there. Next time I make sticks I will do a single pass through a 3mm plate. It would be great if I can knock that 2nd pass out of my process for sticks.

I've always used natural hog or sheep casings for my fresh sausages. They've always taken a little more time for prep, but I liked them. Now you can buy natural casings with straws inserted to aid in loading onto the stuffing horn. I'm just not sure how you clean the salt off of those prior. I've noticed over the last couple of years, that guests have peeled the natural casings off. So I decided that I would use collagen casings on my brats & fresh sausages this year. As it stands now, I will not be going back to natural casings.

 

[Clarktar]

Well, I finally busted out or Grinder (same as Rays, Cabelas 22) and we ground up 7 lbs of deer with a 1/2 lb of pork fat from a buddies pig. As recommended the meat was soft frozen, and the whole process took about 1 minute! I was not sure how to get the fat dispersed through all the grind, so I would drop a few chunks of fat, then chiunks of meat, and keep staggering it like that. Once all the meat was ground, and in a bowl I sort of hand mized it all together, and we packaged up into ~1lb packages. Cooked some up that night for burritos. I only have two plates, a coarse plate which is 7mm, and a fine plate, which I think is 3 or 4 mm.

Are most of you guys using the coarse 7mm plate for ground meat? It worked fine for burritos. I guess we need to make some burgers out of it now to see if I would prefer a finer grind.

It really was so simple. Looking forward to making a big batch of some sort of sausage now.

 

[ChrisS]

I'm just not sure how you clean the salt off of those prior. I've noticed over the last couple of years, that guests have peeled the natural casings off. So I decided that I would use collagen casings on my brats & fresh sausages this year. As it stands now, I will not be going back to natural casings.

Great thread, thanks for sharing the pics.

As for the salt, all we've ever done is soak the casings and change the water a few times. If people are peeling the casings off, it may be because they are tough to chew. We now hang our sausages a few hours or overnight to dry them out a bit before packaging. This dries the casings out and tightens them up so that they should give a good snap when you bite into them.

I'm not sure where you get your casings, but we've been using Syracuse Casings for years. They're 100% US hogs processed in the US (no chinese casings).

 

[missjordan]

Very cool thanks for sharing, we bought a Cabelas 1 horse grinder this fall to process our game. We sat down and processed two elk and two deer in a entire day and was a lot of work. Also purchased the patty attachment and had lots of fun with it.


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[Slim Jim]

Great thread! I love processing my own game meats. I just processed my AZ deer on Christmas Eve. Nothing like knowing that all of your meats are done the way you want it and not mixed with someone else's game meats at the processors

 

[Roy68]

Well, I finally busted out or Grinder (same as Rays, Cabelas 22) and we ground up 7 lbs of deer with a 1/2 lb of pork fat from a buddies pig. As recommended the meat was soft frozen, and the whole process took about 1 minute! I was not sure how to get the fat dispersed through all the grind, so I would drop a few chunks of fat, then chiunks of meat, and keep staggering it like that. Once all the meat was ground, and in a bowl I sort of hand mized it all together, and we packaged up into ~1lb packages. Cooked some up that night for burritos. I only have two plates, a coarse plate which is 7mm, and a fine plate, which I think is 3 or 4 mm.

Are most of you guys using the coarse 7mm plate for ground meat? It worked fine for burritos. I guess we need to make some burgers out of it now to see if I would prefer a finer grind.

It really was so simple. Looking forward to making a big batch of some sort of sausage now.

If I'm adding fat then I grind the fat separately. If you try to add it as you did the blend is inconsistent. I have a meat mixer that I use to blend the ground meat and fat together then. The meat mixer is not necessary and doing it by hand works just fine. I run our burger through a 1/4" plate.