You are correct about apples to oranges. Fresh ring and pan sausage are not cooked and should weigh whatever or close to the amount quoted...50lbs deer to 50lbs to pork should have approximately 100lbs back, IMO. In this case its very likely someone could take 28lbs of boned meat and get back 40 or more lbs depending on what was done. Having jerky, buck sticks or dry sausage processed is different. Seems likely to lose that much weight if that much water is lost. Though it didnt sound logical when we got our meat back. Normally we do jerky and dry sausage ourselves but sometimes we want something different or dont care to mess with it.

I'm sure there are lots of people who drop off deer and never come pick them up.

But think about this how many deer do they process a year? I'm sure they do it as fast as they can so they probably don't spend a lot of time getting meat from parts like the ribs and the neck bones. They may keep a lot of that and go back and do some more trimming on slow days.
Heck even if they did rip off 1 pound from each deer processed they would have PLENTY of meat for specialty products.

We have several hunter on our lease that thought they were gitting ripped off so they started taking deer to different processors. They STILL get back about the same amount of meat and STILL think they are getting ripped off.

I'm sure they have plenty of meat around without having to rip you off.

They had better be able to prove it's from an exotic, or they risk being out of business over a small sale.

The one processor who has the really good venison burger mix will tell you straight up that it is deer meat. The only thing is that his prices are the same as advertised. (processing fees)
The problem is he has a large chest frezeer at the front loaded only with his burger mix (which by the way is extremely popular). I actually talked to a couple of guys from Arizona (grandfather and grandson)who bought 100 pounds of this mix in addition to their deer they had brought in for processing.

Ok, wife took my quartered deer in. They weighed 2 hams and 2 shoulders with bone in. The total weight was 37 lbs. Had it ground up in burger. Got it back today. She had them package it in 2 lb packages. Put 17 of them in the freezer. Doin the math, comes out to 34 lbs. Time they trimmed it off the bone and all, I believe I got every bit of my deer.

You also got some pork fat added to your mix. 100% deer burger is almost impossible to eat. I own 8 different meat markets and I can tell you that liquidation can be as high as 10% before your meat is every processed. Anything dried such as snack sticks, jerky or dried smoked sausage will lose another 40-50% during the curing process. A lot depends on the pork/venison ration. I personally prefer 60% pork added to my sausage.

37lbs of leg quarters will yield about 29lbs of grind.

X2

Did he come to one of your six stores?
If not, how do you know what he got?

We eat 100 percent deer burger quiet often by the way. Why is it impossible to eat?


I do agree on drying reducing weight, and that many overestimate the weight of their deer, and even more so the hogs.

I decided to process my own deer after spending $600 to have three deer processed three years ago. Went to the bargain cave at Cabela's and bought everything I need with all bells and whistles like 20 lb sausage stuffer and stuffer motor over a 2 year period and can do mine with style now.

100% venison is impossible to eat? I think you're cooking it wrong.

The only meat that our processor sells is the meat that does not get picked up by the end of the season. He charges a $75 fee when you drop the deer off for skinning and processing. When you pick up your deer, you pay any additional costs for sausage, jerky,etc. He will usually wait until at least one month after the season closes before he sells off the leftovers in order to give everyone a chance to pick up their meat. After he feels everyone has had plenty of time, he will sell off the left overs at the cost the original owner would have had to pay. According to him, it is illegal to sell wild game. You are paying for the processing.

Bottom line is that you are dealing with people, no matter the service. I do not think you can group all deer processors in one group and label them as people that rip you off any more than you can group all members of any profession into a group and claim that they are ripping you off. You have to find someone that you trust and then stick with them if they do you a good job until they prove themselves otherwise.

As a positive testimony for any of you in Houston, yesterday I brought 2 doe hams into Pete's Fine Meats on Richmond in the Galleria area and just wanted it ground into burger. I always de-bone the meat before I drop it off, and they actually do give me a break on the processing fees.

They took me in the back and let me watch them run it through the grinder, packaged it and gave every ounce of it back in less than 10 minutes.

Have never had a single bad experience with them, and I drop off 3 or 4 deer every year.

Conclusion i have is going forward we are going to do all jerky, salami and smoked sausage ourself. WAAAY too much weight lost for the $$. Fresh ring,chorizo and pan sausage will still go to the processor if we decide since it gives you the most for your money. It seems there is a ton of confusion when it comes to your end product when you pick it up. Id bet 95% of the confusion and bickering is because of the weight loss after cooking and 99% of the processors do a fairly good job and are honest.

I can't imagine using a processor that doesn't give you the weight of the animal at the time of drop off.

My processor has his scale and an overhead rolling rack right at the front door. They pull your deer off the truck, saw the legs off, winch it up, and weigh it right in front of you, then it's slid down the hall to the coolers.

For the first time, we ordered something other than just cuts of meat. My wife wanted a doe processed into jerky this year (everything but the backstraps) so I knew one would be very exspensive. Probably wont do that again, but I was told up front what their guesstimation as far as weights would be, so I don't feel as though I got ripped off.

We did get screwed on the order though. They turned all of it into very spicey jerky which is not what I ordered. Wife can't even eat any it's so hot.

Rickey, pan sausage and chorizo are some of the easiest to make yourself. I made both this year. Nothing to it. Mix up your cubed venison and pork, I use 35%-40% pork butt, seasonings, garlic, and put it through the grinder.

i agree, we NEVER had fat added to the ground meat when we used to have it taken or processed. now we do it ourselves & NEVER add fat. prefer it that way cause its better. great for tacos/burritos, chili. if we make burgers then add just alil bit of ground beef but not much.

[/quote]Rickey, pan sausage and chorizo are some of the easiest to make yourself. I made both this year. Nothing to it. Mix up your cubed venison and pork, I use 35%-40% pork butt, seasonings, garlic, and put it through the grinder. [/quote]

I agree on the pan sausage, that we normally do also. There is a place in SA that makes the best chorizo and fresh ring so i dont mind letting them do it for us from time to time. Personally, id rather take the easy way out

When I started taking deer to the processer I did not know really what to expect, I got backstraps, the hind quarters cut into steaks the rest was ground, never really thought about getting ripped off. Well a friend use a place in Garland that made really great hot links, but you could only get 10 lbs per deer. It was pooled meat, yeah ok, then later I found out he did not even do the hot links but sent it out to be done elsewhere. I did not get the amount of meat I was use to but whatever. I went there 3 years and the last year I went, I did not get hardly anything back and the ground I got was rancid. The following year I went to Kubys in Dallas, I got a ton of meat back, really surprised, me it was kind of costly though. The last time I went to Kubys, I had the entire deer made into Summer Sausage and their Fajita Sausage, the Fajita sausage was so so but the Summer Sausage was great. I got like 40 sticks. They did a great job but the cost was getting to be a bit too much. I took the dive and bought a 1 hp grinder at cabelas, a 5 lb sausage stuffer at Northern, a few meat lugs, found a great Texas based meat smoking web site and have not looked back. I think processers are like car mechanics, it’s hard to find a good one, and even harder to find a cheap good one.

I know the guys that run own my processor....honest fellas and great friends.

Selling GAME MEAT w/o a license is against the law.

No pork fat added. Did have 10% of BEEF FAT added. That's what's usually in hamburger meat!!! And the only reason we add fat is to give it some "juice"!!!

was it in springtown or in between springtown and azle?? Not to say names? Mine was short as well i weighted my summers sausage and all my meat combined...i was shorted. Good product though i have to say that! But i will not go back.

Guess i could of said, i paid for 20lbs of summer sausage and got 14.5, At $3.50 a lb that is almost $20.00.

Several years ago I killed a mule deer the first day of season in Colorado, I gutted it and hung it up, plenty cold. Next day I took it to town and had it processed. When I picked it up it was boxed and frozen. I put dry ice in the box and came back to Texas, when I started putting it in my freezer I found someone else's tag in the box, the meat was so gamey that I threw it away.
Lesson learned.

Well I asked the guy at Kubys 3-4 years ago how many deer they did a year and he said..."between 7,000 & 9,000" now imagine if one out of 100 didnt pick their deer up??????


and oh yeah the people who own Kubys own their own deli!!!!! wonder where the left overs go??????