Processing deer meat

[rickell]

my husband will be deer hunting soon, he gets one almost
every year. he seems to have most of it processed into summer
sausage which is very good, but it is way to much. what are other
parts of the deer we should have them process instead of so much
sausage? what is the best way to cook it?

 

[pdswife]

Paul's been hunting for many years and has yet to bring me home a deer ... He did meet a man who'd just shot one last year though and.. he gave him the liver and the heart.

\The heart I just boil in water ( or water and a little beef broth) with onions, celery, carrots, salt, pepper and sometimes a little garlic. Slice thin and enjoy!!


The liver I slice and then coat with seasoned flour
and brown in veggie oil. Served with grilled onions!!! SO SO GOOD!!

There are other hunters on board here that will pop in with other ideas.
I can't wait to hear them. Paul will get a deer this year. He's going to Alaska for a week so... he'd better bring one home!!!

 

[Andy M.]

I'm not a hunter, but:

I would use the hardest working muscles; the legs, hips and shoulders; for the sausage. Save the premium cuts for roasts and such. With beef the saying is, the farther away it is from the hoofs and horns, the more tender the meat.

 

[Gretchen]

Oh, yes. Take the backstrap and have the loveliest tenderloin roast you will eat. Take the rump or chuck and freeze for sauerbraten or pot roast. It is a real waste of fabulous meat to just make summer sausage.
You can even make breakfast sausage.
Grind the meat for use as "hamburger" in spagetti sauce or chili. Slice some thin and marinate and dry for jerky.
Cut the tougher parts into stew meat.
Venison is SO lean that you may need to add some pork or beef fat to it for use.

 

[Robo410]

chops, loins, etc can be grilled rare on a young animal, or stewed if the beast be older. Venison makes a fine chili be it ground or cubed, and a good stew with root veggies and red wine and thyme. Many like to make jerky from the flank. It can be a fine chew!

 

[bubba_sybo]

I got one last year and "processed" her myself. I thought if I shot it I should at least know how to finish the job and get it to the table myself. As we cut all the steaks, and roast and what not all the little scraps went into a bag to be made into burger. It was basicly anything that was to small go into the stew meat bag or anything to fatty to trimmed by hand.
Being a city boy and a first timer it took me a little longer than expected. Uncle Al had to go somewhere so I finished on my own at home. I was sposed to keep adding to my burger bag and bring it by to use his grinder when ever I got everything all finished up. Well, his broke a few days later and I didnt know anyone else that had one, so i just threw it in the freezer.
Folks here were real helpful with recipies, and I found some on my own. I got creative at times, but I never had any inedible disasters. It took alot of trimming and cutting, but I tried to be patient and not waste any meat. I was so glad! I kinda learned deer fat dont taste to good, neither does the silver skin, or anything else white, silver ur generally untidy. I became something of a suregeon.
By the time it was all gone I was staring at the bag of "burger", feinding for some venison. Once it was defrosted I realised I had thown some really nice hunks of venison into my burger. Stuff I had never thought I would trim up. Then I also trimmed alot of the smaller stuff, It took awhile but I finally got to the point where I was happy.
Someone here suggested that I "iron chef" it, a food processor might have worked just as well. That is take two knives and cross cut until I got similar results to that of a grinder. Browned it in a frying pan and made a huge pot of chili. Everyone loved it.
It was alot of work, and I dont know if the do it yourself approach is for everyone. It would have been nice to have the option of making some burger with the tougher cuts or the ones that were a pain to trim, but i cant imagine I would have had more than a couple pounds. So, I would suggest asking your processor be a little more forgiving with the burger bag and leave some of the middle of the road stuff out for stews and chilis and whatever inspiration you might find after working with it a little. If it gets scary well help u through

 

[Gretchen]

Bubba is right about the fat. Do not let a bit of it in your house/freezer. Deer eat acorns, for one thing and it gets in the fat. It also becomes rancid very quickly.
I cut up a whole deer (fortunately a doe=smaller) one time. Fortunately I had the LLBean Fish and Game cookbook to guide me. Uncle brought it to us as he was leaving town. It was so clean I could have eaten a meal right off of the flesh.

 

[Walt Bulander]

Venison

Our group averages 6 to 10 deer in our two day open season.

We butcher them ourselves as a group effort (We cool it on the beer, etc. until the sharp knives are cleaned up and put away. The tenderloins go on the grill when we're getting close to finishing)

We bone out everything that we're saving, trying not to get any bone marrow on the meat (doesn't taste good). Necks and rib meat are usually discarded as not worth the trouble. Remove and discard all tallow!


The best cuts of meat to save from the sausage pile are the loins and the sirloins.

We cut the boneless loins into approx. 1 lb. pieces (leave the silverskin on, for now), vac pack and freeze. When it's time to cook one (perfect for 2 people), thaw, fillet off the silverskin, marinate in red wine and garlic overnight, brown thoroughly and finish in a 400 degree oven to med. (135 degrees on a probe thermometer), let rest, and carve into medallions.

Meanwhile deglaze the pan with some red wine, add some mushrooms, and reduce to a pan sauce.



Sirloins make good stew, stroganoff, chili, etc.

 

[mudbug]

I have nothing to add to this post except to say that Walt has the most perfect name for a Lake Wobegon resident. I can just hear Garrison Keillor telling a Walt story about deer hunting.

Walt, you're not by any chance a Norwegian bachelor farmer, are you?

 

[Walt Bulander]

I just re-found this thread, after being off-line for a while - too busy!

Mudbug,

The last Norwegian bachelor farmer, I knew, is in the nursing home. Fortunately, his brother got married, and had smart kids, who rent it out, so we still hunt on their land.

The whole Norwegian farmer thing in Minnesota is basically history. The batchelors strangely had very few kids. The ones that married, had above average children that were too smart to be farmers (or perhaps, too dumb to suceed at it).

I'm just finishing up freezing the ground meat from the 9 deer we got this year. We cut all the loin roasts and sirloin, etc. that anyone wanted, then my hunting buddy, designed and built a grinder around a big hand grinder and an old washing machine motor. Fills a 5 gal. pail in about 10 minutes!

I have to freeze in batches (thank heaven for the old beer fridge) and will quit at 72 lbs.

 

[mudbug]

Sheesh, Walt! 72 pounds of deer meat ought to get you through a ton of Luther League dinners this winter (and spring, summer, fall....).

I'm not really making fun of you. Love the sturdy folks who populated our middle states.

 

[Walt Bulander]

It's not just for me (share about 8 ways)

Us retired folks just get stuck with all the work!

 

[mudbug]

That's cuz you are the ones who still know how to do it. Time to teach those above-average children some new skills..................

 

[Walt Bulander]

No, these are all good, hardworking guys (and gal).
We have skinners, loin folks, front quarter folks, hind quarter folks, trim cleanup folks, etc. It's almost a party!

But, the young ones, under 40, are mid-career people (we're proud of them), that have to get back to their work lives.

Us old guys, clean up. (and drink the beer they forgot to take)

 

[mudbug]

Glad to hear it, Walt. Obviously, some of the precious knowledge has been passed on successfully. You must have fine young people up in your neighborhood.

You old guys are wise in waiting for the excess beer.

I'll bet you are all good-looking, too.

 

[pdswife]

Paul got three this year. We decided to butcher them ourselves.
It's darn hard work! We've decided to take the last deer to the butcher.
He'll be able to do the jerky, sausage and ground meat that we can't do at home. Thank goodness. I'm tired of cutting.