# Who processes their own game?



## NVDuckin (Apr 18, 2016)

I really want to do my own this year, I feel like it's something that I should learn how to do.

Can anyone recommend me what I would need to purchase? I'm guessing a meat grinder and a vacuum sealer would be the main items.

I plan on hunting around on youtube for a guide, but if someone knows a good "how-to" video that would be great.


----------



## nocturnalenemy (Jun 26, 2011)

Did my own for the first time this year. I've helped on other animals before, but only as an assistant. 

Get a good boning knife, and some freezer/butcher paper. I used the Victorinox 6" Boning knife for around $20. I don't think a vacuum sealer is necessary as the freezer paper will keep the meat for 6-12 months. I haven't done the grinding yet, but I'd imagine that's where the vacuum sealer would be beneficial. 

I would have liked a nice big cutting board, but did without this year.

Youtube will have a ton of videos on the how to. Watch a couple and find someone that can describe exactly what they're doing, not just showing what they're doing. I found a great 4 part series but I'll have to do some searching to find it again.


----------



## nocturnalenemy (Jun 26, 2011)

Found it.


----------



## Idratherbehunting (Jul 17, 2013)

I grew up processing the animals we got. Mostly deer. A good knife, saran wrap and freezer paper is about all you really need. If you want to do some bone in cuts, you may need a meat saw, but you can do it without. And ground meat can be measured and wrapped in plastic wrap and freezer paper as well.

Buy real freezer tape instead of masking tape, even though they look the same. The adhesive on the freezer tape sticks to butcher paper much better than masking tape.


----------



## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

I do my own when I get one.

I cut mine up with my field knife, fillet knife, and various kitchen knifes. A hand crank meat grinder is the only thing I think I bought to do my first. I vacuum seal some things now, but most just get two layers of coated butcher paper.

If you youtube Scott Rea he has some really cool ways to cut up a deer.

Only advice I have is to NOT grind the shanks. Do this to them instead and you can thank me later.


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

In our family we've done the tight, double-wrap freezer paper method for red meat for as long as I can remember. I've never had an issue of freezer burn on a package either, and some packages have been discovered in a dark bottom corner of the freezer +5 years after wrapping them. They might take on some other funkiness at that point, but not freezer burn! Still edible, but a stronger marinade was certainly called for!

I like to have a few knives at hand: 1 flexible boning knife (8" is plenty for most cuts), 1 rigid boning knife (8"), and a sturdy chef's knife or meat cleaver for heavier break downs. I will bust out a 14" flexible scimitar for certain things like stripping the silver skin off the entire backstrap of a bull elk in one go, but that is just because I already have that knife anyway. 

As for a grinder, if you (or your wife) happen to have a kitchenaide, the grinder attachment for it is pretty great actually. I prefer to do more roasts and stew meats when I cut my own as I can always grind them up down the road if I need more burger, so that kitchenaide has never been overwhelmed with my grinding sessions. The most I've done through it in one go was ~40lbs off my bison in 2012.


----------



## NVDuckin (Apr 18, 2016)

Awesome info! Thanks.

Any brands of grinders I should stay away from? Looking online, almost all the reviews are hit and miss. Would I be good to go if I swing by Cabela's and pick one up?

Or should I just pick up something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Gear-Cast-Grinder-Pulley/dp/B014T48USG/ref=sr_1_38?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1480374768&sr=1-38&keywords=meat+grinder


----------



## nocturnalenemy (Jun 26, 2011)

http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/30250-100-meat-grinder-review.html


----------



## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Wow Johnnycake a 14 in scimitar? Now thats a knife!!

All I use at work is a 8 in boning, and a 10 inch for steaks etc.


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Thanks to Dunkem I now have that boning hook used in the deer processing video, really like it.


-DallanC


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

NVDuckin said:


> I really want to do my own this year, I feel like it's something that I should learn how to do.
> 
> Can anyone recommend me what I would need to purchase? I'm guessing a meat grinder and a vacuum sealer would be the main items.
> 
> I plan on hunting around on youtube for a guide, but if someone knows a good "how-to" video that would be great.


I recommend checking out some of the threads in the Recipes Section for meat cutting and wrapping tips.

The only thing I can add to what's been posted is you shouldn't put the liver in the same bag as the tenderloins.

Good luck,

Uh......PM me if ya have trouble skinning the tongue.

.


----------



## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

NVDuckin said:


> Any brands of grinders I should stay away from? Looking online, almost all the reviews are hit and miss. Would I be good to go if I swing by Cabela's and pick one up?
> 
> Or should I just pick up something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Gear-C...&qid=1480374768&sr=1-38&keywords=meat+grinder


Print yourself a 20% off Harbor Freight coupon and pick up their little grinder (http://www.harborfreight.com/electric-meat-grinder-99598.html)... I've used mine for about 5 years now and it grinds meat as fast as I can stuff it down the tube.

Print off a second coupon for the significant other and pick up a simple kitchen scale while you're there (this is the one I use: http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-scale-95364.html). Being able to precisely measure and portion out your ground is a huge plus especially when making your own jerky or snack sticks.

Besides a vacuum sealer I also use a dehydrator, a meat slicer, and a smoker. I borrowed my brother-in-laws small jerky gun this year and I think that will be my next purchase (but bigger than his of course).

As far as cutting I have a good sized cutting board. Something like this https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-15X20-Cutting-Board/13397990 works great for smaller game like deer and antelope but I would like to get a bigger one for processing larger game like elk. And I use a 6" filet knife along with my hunting knives to cut it all up.


----------



## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

The lamb shank video needs to go in another post for easy search. Looks amazing!

I use a few old cheap old rapala filet knifes. Maybe 9 bucks each at walmart. Have a cheap pull through sharpener to keep them going. Bought a few big cutting boards from cabelas and a big meat grinder. We make a lot of hamburger. I also bought a vacuum sealer from cabelas and a meat slicer. My kids and wife help butcher so it doesn't take long to do the job. 

Think of it this way everytime you pay a butcher it's going to cost you at least a 150 bucks. A lot more for an elk. Instead of giving it to the butcher and getting nasty hairy meat with nasty fat your in charge of the quality and have plenty of money to buy the proper tools. 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

We bought a $100 cabelas grinder this year, its been great.

I have a Harbor Freight grinder sitting in a box somewhere, its only been used a few times. I'll dig it out and see if anyone wants it for a $20 or so.


-DallanC


----------



## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

swbuckmaster said:


> The lamb shank video needs to go in another post for easy search. Looks amazing!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


I'm making it again this weekend. I'll put up a post of the finished product. Man, it's SO good.

If you're interested in other ways to cook shanks instead of wasting them, check out the honest food website. He's got a couple more recipes that are/look fantastic.


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Dunkem said:


> Wow Johnnycake a 14 in scimitar? Now thats a knife!!
> 
> All I use at work is a 8 in boning, and a 10 inch for steaks etc.


What can I say? That 14" scimitar used to be really handy when filleting 50-70lbs king salmon each summer--but our group lets those fish go now (when we can catch one) and stick to eating the 15-40lbers mostly. But the knife still comes in handy when somebody decides to kill a +100lbs halibut.


----------



## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

Hey Johnny I've got 3 12 inch and 1 14 inch knives that I used when we processed our own fish, the 14 inch took a beating cutting halibut into steaks, :fencing:


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Shanks?

see page 8 here:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/650-bottled-meat-8.html#post1380265


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Yeah halibut steaks are rough on steel--I don't like to do them too often for just that reason! much faster to just fillet off the 4 loins and be done with the flatty


----------



## NVDuckin (Apr 18, 2016)

Well you convinced me to order that same $100 grinder from Northern Tool. Now we wait for it to arrive...


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*big knife*



johnnycake said:


> What can I say? That 14" scimitar used to be really handy when filleting 50-70lbs king salmon each summer--but our group lets those fish go now (when we can catch one) and stick to eating the 15-40lbers mostly. But the knife still comes in handy when somebody decides to kill a +100lbs halibut.


I use to fish Lac La Ronge in Saskatchewan. They commercially fished the huge lake for walleye, whitefish and lake trout. The local Cree Indians worked the fish processing plants filleting fish. They also filleted fish at the outfitters camps, including ours. They used a huge knife, kinda like a roast knife, and could fillet a 4 lb walleye, rib cage and all, in less than 15 seconds.

.


----------

