Processing on your own

We do 100% ourselves.
I consider it part of the hunt. If you're unsure of how to do it, there's plenty of info on the internet.
A freezer full of elk or venison vacuum packed knowing it will last a long time is pretty rewarding.

We do 100% ourselves.
I consider it part of the hunt. If you're unsure of how to do it, there's plenty of info on the internet.
A freezer full of elk or venison vacuum packed knowing it will last a long time is pretty rewarding.

I only use my local processor for a few things that he makes really well. His link sausage, tamales and bucksticks is all that I get made there. I always hold back the backstraps and tenderloins to do my self. Then I do my own whole muscle cuts, pan sausage, general grind, pastrami, etc.

I do want to get a stuffer and better grinder down the road, hopefully sooner rather than later.

We do all ours at home. Getting started costs a little to get a grinder and stuffer etc but most of it lasts a very long time. If you get comfortable you can work stuff around other things. I’ve ground and packed 50 lb of meat on a work night after dinner no problem, even made small sausage runs similar.

Save money not paying a processor, know what you’re eating, satisfaction of a job well done and I feel close to my Opie and where I come from when we do it. Well worth it to me. Makes me happy to see the kids involved and wanting to help.

Couldn’t have said any better than this. I like cutting meat and being intimately involved with the entire process from live to the table. You don’t have to cut everything in one session. I’ll process a a part of the deer and then maybe do something else for an hour or so and come back to the cooler to grab the next portion. No hurry as the meat is only getting more aging time before I get to it.

I do my own- Muscle cuts, German Sausage, Breakfast Sausage, Jerky and ground. I do wish I had a real good boudin recipe to try.

Buddy did boudin last year it was good but really mushy . Think he put the rice thru the grinder with the meat and basically just came out almost like a paste

After taking a 230 pound buck to a processor and getting one small box of meat, with only two packages of back strap steaks I decided it was time.
We had done all parts of processing at one point or another, so we went all in.
We have been doing our own for almost 20 years. Grind, sausage, jerky, packaging, etc.
It is very rewarding and part of the comradery and hunting experience.

That's not how it's done lol.

Holler when you get ready to make some boudin.

I make the bullets we kill ‘em with too.

Didnt think so 🤣🤣 if you have a recipe id love to hear it tho . Theres some meat hanging in the freezer im going to help a buddy with this weekand and more to come soon .

I gave up on processors years ago, for a number of reasons.

Yes, it's very rewarding and with some trial & error, you can turn out a really good product.....and then you can learn and improve on that making it even better. I love the entire process. From the work during off season, the hunt, the kill, the butchering & processing, the making of various sausages & meat products, and most importantly sitting down at the kitchen table and sharing a meal with your loved ones knowing this is the deer you killed.

This right here. I used to get my stuff commercially made and from some very good producers. I got on a 9 pin bowling team in Marion and the square heads were always bringing dried sausage, cheddar cheese, saltines and sometimes pickles. Their sausage was better than mine. I asked where they had it made and they laughed at me. That was twenty plus years ago. Been making with them ever since and ever so fortunate. They had the recipe (I slightly bumped up the red pepper), equipment & know how and all have to do is bring some help and a handle of crown. We have a ball making it 4 - 6 hundred pounds at a time. Start at 8 and get done about 2 or 3. I know of others who routinely go out and make 20- 40 pound batches and I admire them.

As some on this forum are aware, my sausage is good, really good. It just is what it is. It is quite heart warming for people obviously enjoying it and asking where I had it made. Some find it hard to believe it is "home made".

Considering I cut up one deer for steaks and then make hamburger and the various sausage products from five or six more deer each year, I save in excess of a thousand dollars each year and obtain what I perceive to be a better product. This cost savings isn't even the real difference as commercial sausage makers either cannot or will not cold smoke their dried sausage and yes, it makes a difference. I have seen chiding references to my "complete the circle" assertions and fully accept others don't have access to a set up or just don't get it.

This just doesn't sound right Hud.....NOT AT ALL since 99% of the folks on this board are male.

Seriously though, the link you gave me last year was damn good. The seasonings in it were great.

This right here. I used to get my stuff commercially made and from some very good producers. I got on a 9 pin bowling team in Marion and the square heads were always bringing dried sausage, cheddar cheese, saltines and sometimes pickles. Their sausage was better than mine. I asked where they had it made and they laughed at me. That was twenty plus years ago. Been making with them ever since and ever so fortunate. They had the recipe (I slightly bumped up the red pepper), equipment & know how and all have to do is bring some help and a handle of crown. We have a ball making it 4 - 6 hundred pounds at a time. Start at 8 and get done about 2 or 3. I know of others who routinely go out and make 20- 40 pound batches and I admire them.

As some on this forum are aware, my sausage is good, really good. It just is what it is. It is quite heart warming for people obviously enjoying it and asking where I had it made. Some find it hard to believe it is "home made".

Considering I cut up one deer for steaks and then make hamburger and the various sausage products from five or six more deer each year, I save in excess of a thousand dollars each year and obtain what I perceive to be a better product. This cost savings isn't even the real difference as commercial sausage makers either cannot or will not cold smoke their dried sausage and yes, it makes a difference. I have seen chiding references to my "complete the circle" assertions and fully accept others don't have access to a set up or just don't get it.

I'd like to meet you and you kids someday Red.

Stop bragging and share that recipe! We are all waiting for it.

Growing up in New Braunfels, many families make processing/sausage making an event. While we no longer have the old timers with us, I have started doing it with my boys. Even built a small smokehouse I use in my residential neighborhood backyard. I was spending $500-$800/year on processing and got all the equipment I needed (including building the smokehouse) for less than one year's bill at the processors. Can't put a price on the time with my kids and what's (hopefully) being passed to the net generation.

Exactly what I tell my kids, just had this conversation with them last weekend. The hunt and butchering is only part of it, I'm also teaching them how to process their game, in hopes that someday they can teach their own kids & grandkids. They started helping me make smoked sausage, summer sausage, & fresh sausage a few years ago, so far they're enjoying it.

Yes sir, we home school 4 of our 6, so I've actually been able to incorporate some "learning" as pat of the process as well.

Seriously

Who has a good link for simply butchering a deer? Nothing fancy, just simple cuts...for a first timer!

Ahem . . .

Who has a good link for simply butchering a deer? Nothing fancy, just simple cuts...for a first timer!

there's nothing to it - just follow the muscle edges:
-

I have a good processor I trust to give me my deer and not someone else's. That makes a big difference. One thing I did notice when I processed one this year and had him process the other: I got more steaks and backstrap meat from mine. I don't know if that means I'm spending more time at it, making steaks out of cuts that are marginal, or what. He ends up with more ground venison, so I suspect I'm using stuff as steak that he puts into grind. Plus he has better grinding equipment and likely can grind cuts I'm having to spend a lot of time cutting tendon and silverskin out of. I suspect I toss more than he does.

Not sure if this has been posted already. This is very similar to what I do but there're some small differences that appear to speed things along.