Meat Processing Cost?

[Azone]

For those that go this route vs diy, how much are you paying and what products are you getting for your money?

 

[PNWGATOR]

Figure $1000+/lb.

Steaks, roasts, sausages, burger, meals and memories of a lifetime with family and friends and I’d gladly pay double.

 

[hiker270]

Last year had an elk processed. $300 to have it cut up in steaks, loin, tenderloin, 2 roasts and the rest ground burger. It was wrapped and frozen. Not vacuum sealed but wrapped in freezer paper. I vacuum sealed it when I got home. No complaints by me, they did a nice job.

 

[butcherboy]

Big range of prices. Depending on where you are and what you have done. Average for a cow elk with nothing special could be $300-$400. Bulls will be more. Specialty items will cost more. Vacuum sealing is good but kind of over rated. It works really well if the meat is wrapped in a freezer plastic first. Bags will get brittle in the freezer and lose their seal or get fine pin holes in the bag. I prefer to wrap in plastic then freezer paper. I charge about $1.25/lb on the occasional one I process now.

 

[Azone]

Big range of prices. Depending on where you are and what you have done. Average for a cow elk with nothing special could be $300-$400. Bulls will be more. Specialty items will cost more. Vacuum sealing is good but kind of over rated. It works really well if the meat is wrapped in a freezer plastic first. Bags will get brittle in the freezer and lose their seal or get fine pin holes in the bag. I prefer to wrap in plastic then freezer paper. I charge about $1.25/lb on the occasional one I process now.

What do summer sausage and snack sticks go for per lb at your operation?

 

[Geewhiz]

What do summer sausage and snack sticks go for per lb at your operation?

3.25-3.75 where I'm at

 

[butcherboy]

SS is $4/lb and snack sticks are $5/lb. We just increased our prices. We also require a 12 lb minimum for any kind of sausage or jerky. It costs a little more but I can keep everything separate and not have to combine anything to make bigger batches. It’s hard on my equipment though because it’s not designed to do so many quick start and stops. Anything added like green chile, red Chile, jalapeño, fruits, mushrooms, spinach, cheese, etc. also costs more.

 

[DenimChicken]

Sausage is around $4 a pound locally.

Base price for cur and wrap only is $1.50 a pound with a minimum charge of around $125. Lots of upcharges for grinding, adding fat, etc. It starts to make economical sense to do it yourself really quickly. I’m trying my hand and making sausage this year.

 

[long hunter]

If I have it processed cut steaks, roasts and burger sealed and pre froze about 35 dollars for a white tail, If it's cold out I hang my own as I don't have a cooler to hang it, Same place will skin cut down the back and hang in cooler a few days for around 20 dollars, I make all my own jerky, bologna, pastrami and those sorts of things, will pay processor to make snack sticks they run around 4-5 dollars a pound. Really don't like making those.

 

[butcherboy]

Holy chit that’s cheap! I was charging $45 for a deer in 1991. Just curious, is your processor cuttin as a side job or full time?

 

[S-3 ranch]

$250

sausage
pepper cheese patties
burger patties
steaks
buck stick

 

[long hunter]

Holy chit that’s cheap! I was charging $45 for a deer in 1991. Just curious, is your processor cuttin as a side job or full time?

full time butcher. If I had a cooler, I would do my own have all the equipment. If it's cold outside I can hang one, before my parents passed, we didn't pay any one my dad and I done all the processing he had a place to hang them, but it again had to be cold out.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

The processor my hunters use up here in Alaska is charging $2.50 a pound = steaks, roasts, burger and stew meat, wrapped and frozen.

 

[butcherboy]

Dang, Idk how he can make a living full time with those prices. Does he just process WG and then taxidermy the rest of the year? Some I know back east only process WG for about a month and do 1,000 deer in a month then open their domestic side the rest of the time.

Our WG season starts in August and doesn’t completely end until about late February. I sometimes think about shutting down my domestic side and just going back to WG and then just make and sell specialty sausages, jerky, and smoked meats the rest of the year. It’s a love hate relationship with WG and domestic.

 

[Gone4Days]

I started doing my own about 20 years ago. Took the money I saved every year and invested in equipment. I have a walk in cooler, grinder, stuffer, chamber vacuum sealer, meat freezer, etc…. I like knowing how my game was processed. You never know 100% certain you get your own game back at a processor and how it was handled in the field

 

[TaperPin]

I’m probably the oddball, but I just do all hamburger. When going to get it ground I’ve already boned it out and trimmed anything I don’t want in the burger so I get a pretty good price break - somewhere between 25% to 50% off.

When I was younger it made sense to buy a little grinder and do it at home to save money, but it’s nice to drop it off and pick it up all wrapped.

 

[birdhunter17]

We do all hamburger in the fist animal. If it is a successful year with lots of meat then we do broughts and meat sticks so the cost very with our success.

 

[Roguemountainhunter]

Best cuts and ground. Get our elk done for $150

 

[mulyguy101]

Huge cost difference here in AZ depending on where you go. An elk can be 350-750

 

[butcherboy]

Dang! Some of guys are getting meat processed for a steal! lol I haven’t charged $150 for an elk in over 20 years. When I quit WG I was $250 minimum then something like $1.25/lb for anything over 250lbs. If I did it now I think I would be $1.50-$1.75/lb at least possibly more.