I'm a slow butcherer...

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I've butchered all my animals for ~15yrs, I've cut a couple thousand pounds of meat up easily. I'm aware how to get the job done, I just am slow. Despite keeping my knifes sharpe.

I'm aware if I had a whole carcass hanging to skin and then break down that would certainly save time later in terms of clean up work on quarters/meat, removing stray hairs or such on the quartered meat coming out of game bags (some is inevitable). I don't really have that opportunity so that is one area that adds time to things.

I don't like chewy stuff in my meat so I spend probably too much time cutting out thicker silver skin/ligaments, even in the trim pile. When I've had a stack of pronghorn to do at once I'll start leaving more stuff in there to expedite the process and a grinder chews it all up well but its not quite as good of a product imho so I struggle to compromise there unless I'm really in a bind. Do I just need to get over it because it takes up a boat load of time?

I've seen folks using a meat hook to rip between meat seams more quickly, that seems like one area I could potentially pick up the pace in. Anyone rocking a meat hook and thoughts if so?

Smaller animals I don't mind cleaning/deboning the quarters on a flat table but I do think if I could hang elk quarters up for that work it'd help, something I may rig up going forward.

Obviously my ramblings are kinda vague since not one has seen me butcher but what tips/tricks/tools and preferences do you all employ?

 

[EdP]

I am no speedster either and have always butchered my own kills. For deer I hang, skin, and break the animal down and put it on ice for a couple of days. From that point it takes the wife and I about 4 hrs to butcher and package a deer, including whatever grinding gets done and the clean-up. She does the grinding and wrapping and doesn't spend much time waiting on me. If we had a larger grinder and I was a bit faster we might cut an hour off. I will be interested in hearing how our time compares with others and, if so, what they do different.

 

[cowboy]

Been butchering my own plus 2 sons and now grandsons meat for over 50 years. Just keep in mind that when it comes to processing wild game, upland birds or waterfowl that you can be good at it or fast at it , but you can’t be good and fast.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I am no speedster either and have always butchered my own kills. For deer I hang, skin, and break the animal down and put it on ice for a couple of days. From that point it takes the wife and I about 4 hrs to butcher and package a deer, including whatever grinding gets done and the clean-up. She does the grinding and wrapping and doesn't spend much time waiting on me. If we had a larger grinder and I was a bit faster we might cut an hour off. I will be interested in hearing how our time compares with others and, if so, what they do different.

I feel like I'm easily double that amount of time but again I'm having to skin on the ground, quarter in the field and game bag things so that results in a fair bit of time of me looking over the surface of every quarter / piece of loose meat to pick off or cut off any hair/contamination before I even start cutting into things. I can see saving a fair bit of time if I was hanging whole, skinning vertically, inspecting that clean / whole carcass and then breaking that down because those pieces would proceed into the more rapid cutting/trimming.

From there I just end up spending a fair bit of time trimming things up and seaming things out of my trim meat.

Been butchering my own plus 2 sons and now grandsons meat for over 50 years. Just keep in mind that when it comes to processing wild game, upland birds or waterfowl that you can be good at it or fast at it , but you can’t be good and fast.

Haha, fair enough. I'm very pleased with the final product, esp. the quality of my ground meat, it just takes me quite a while.

 

[blkqi]

Takes me several hours to do a deer as well, but the yield and quality are both very high.

 

[WCB]

I see no time difference between quartered and unquartered hanging. If you take better care quartering of not getting hair on the quarters that would be a place that would save time. Also quick torch work takes care of 90% of the hair in seconds...most of the exposed meat gets trimmed anyways.

have used a meat hook a few times. keep my fingers out of the way more but don't see a need for one or it greatly reducing your time. I don't grind anything myself. But myself and my wife from deer hanging skin on to in the freezer (scrap meat clean cubed ready to be put in a grinder). Takes about 2hrs. Each backstrap is cut into 3 or 4 equal pieces not butterflied or anything. Every thing else is basically in large pieces for roasts or large chunks for other steaks etc. I do not cut to individual serving size to save time and so I can use it for multiple things if wanted. I'm not doing bone in shanks or bone in roasts etc so it goes fast. Usually once the back straps, tenderloins are out and I can get one front shoulder done I can stay ahead of my wife who just vaccum packs at that point.

Not direct right at you but some people just work slow and some work fast. I mean watching some guys gut a deer drives me nuts...I've seen people take 10minutes + and they had gutted dozens and dozens before. Same job takes myself and other guys I hunt with literally 1/2 that on a bad day.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I don’t do my grind the same day, but I can cut and wrap an elk quarter or a deer in about two hours with clean up.

Hard to say where you can save time at. I trim all the dried fascia off the quarter, any blood shot, and them break it down into muscle groups. Cut steaks/roasts and the rest in the grind pile, which are stainless metal pans.

 

[Legend]

The only way to save time is to cut like the wild game professional butchers do. Once it's ground you will never know what it looked like. But I don't want to eat all that stuff.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I see no time difference between quartered and unquartered hanging. If you take better care quartering of not getting hair on the quarters that would be a place that would save time. Also quick torch work takes care of 90% of the hair in seconds...most of the exposed meat gets trimmed anyways.

have used a meat hook a few times. keep my fingers out of the way more but don't see a need for one or it greatly reducing your time. I don't grind anything myself. But myself and my wife from deer hanging skin on to in the freezer (scrap meat clean cubed ready to be put in a grinder). Takes about 2hrs. Each backstrap is cut into 3 or 4 equal pieces not butterflied or anything. Every thing else is basically in large pieces for roasts or large chunks for other steaks etc. I do not cut to individual serving size to save time and so I can use it for multiple things if wanted. I'm not doing bone in shanks or bone in roasts etc so it goes fast. Usually once the back straps, tenderloins are out and I can get one front shoulder done I can stay ahead of my wife who just vaccum packs at that point.

Not direct right at you but some people just work slow and some work fast. I mean watching some guys gut a deer drives me nuts...I've seen people take 10minutes + and they had gutted dozens and dozens before. Same job takes myself and other guys I hunt with literally 1/2 that on a bad day.

I’m not sloppy but anyone skinning and quartering kneeling in the dirt is bound to get some hairs. I don’t trim off the entire outside unless it’s all dried up.

I work fast on sone things but this definitely isn’t one of them lol.

 

[justinspicher]

Maybe your not fast, just precise?

 

[Jethro]

After all that time butchering, perhaps you’re as fast as you’re going to get. That’s not a criticism, just an observation.

I am a slow gutter and butcher. I’m not new or inexperienced either. Just way it is. I can produce a nice product and just live with the time it takes me.

 

[Ron.C]

I take pride in butchering my own animals and enjoy the process so I take as long as is needed. The way I see it, if you aren't being paid for your time, who cares how long it takes.

When it comes to the field work, I'm only concerned about time when its hot out. I like to get the field dressing done as quick as I can to get the cooling process started.

 

[Boarmaster]

If your not holding anyone else up then what makes the difference how long you take. Bottom line is you need to be happy with the end product.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

It’s holds myself up cause it takes numerous evenings after a hunt. But I guess it comes down to trim faster with wider margins and let more sinew into the grind OR realize it’s gonna take me a long time.

 

[Yoder]

I butcher my own and it takes me forever. I think the only way to get faster is repetition. My dad was a butcher for about 15 years. He can cut up a deer in about a quarter of the time it takes me. He knows how to cut every joint and seem in the muscle almost without looking at it.

 

[schwaf]

How many knives are you using during your butchering process? While I was a butcher, I carried 7 knives in my scabbards (4 used regularly, 3 for specific tasks). I don't necessarily think anyone should need that many knives to butcher, but I found that having tools for particular situations sped up the process and resulted in much cleaner results and more usable cuts. Plus it was nice to always have sharp knives at the exact level of sharpness I needed. Sharper is usually, but not always better.

 

[butcherboy]

Using a meat hook properly can speed things up considerably. It helps in gripping large and small pieces. It will help you to pull sinew out, chunks of fat, and muscle groups quickly. Think about how hard it is and how many times you try and grab and hold onto a small tendon, sinew, fat, etc and you can’t quite grab it or it keeps slipping out of your fingers. A meat hook will hold onto it and then you can just cut right under it while pulling it out at the same time.

Use a knife scabbard to keep your knives handy with a polished steel hanging off the belt on the other side. I use 3 knives everyday. An 8” victorinox breaking knife, good for slicing steaks and roasts. 6” straight victorinox good for trimming and slicing. 6” curved semi stiff victorinox for deboning and trimming.

A whole hanging carcass is usually cleaner than a field quartered carcass. If hanging, I would break it down then debone the whole shoulder, hind leg, rib cage, etc. on the table and not in the air. This allows you to move the piece around to where you need it for the best approach. Learn to use big cuts pushing the knife forwards and backwards and flipping it around in your hand. Always stay close to the bone and there will
Be a lot less to trim off the bone once the big muscles are removed.

You can be fast and good. I did 2 elk the other day for a customer I’ve known for 30 years. It took me 6 hours to cut, grind, and wrap both elk then clean my shop. I did it on the side after hours so I had no help from employees. I cut them exactly how I would cut mine. The same way I cut WG for over 30 years. I trim most of the fat out, big tendons, etc. Don’t sweat it if some of the small tendons, ligaments, fascia goes into the grind pile. It really won’t hurt it at all. Cut small roasts instead of individual steaks. This will allow you to use them however you want at the time you cook them.

So many more things to say but this is already long enough.

 

[ritter26]

I wouldn't worry about being slow. It's a blessing to process it yourself and you get to relive the hunt a little longer.

Since I started, I'm less picky with cutting off all of the connective tissue. I've found if I do a course and then a fine grind, I don't even notice them in the meals. With a course grind only, the connective tissue is more noticeable in the meal.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I been processing deer for 50 years. Speed is not something I aspire to. Once a deer is hung and skinned I do my best work by taking the quarters into the house and sit down at the kitchen counter and bone them out. I’m not worried about saving a few minutes when I will be eating the meat for the next 10-11 months

 

[WyoKid]

If I am solo butchering, it definitely takes me a long time. But with 1 or 2 friends that take the same care as I do, it goes 3x faster. We set up so we have a processing line. One person does the deboning (if necessary), major breakdown to quarters, hair clean up, and outside silver skin and fat triming. Second and third guys takes the quarters and breaks the major pieces down into roasts, steaks and grind. They trim off all sinew, leftover silver skin and fat off. This takes the most time so having 2 here helps keeping things moving. Then the first guy wraps and marks.