the first thing you need to do is oak the deer in an ice chest for about a week. drain the water and add ice daily. Keep the ice chest somewhere the ice will melt. You want to get as much of the blood out of it as possible. The real difference between a processor and home processing is the ability to hang the deer to drain the blood.
Why?????????????????^^^^^^^^^^^^We were lucky and had access to a walk in freezer, but all we did was gut it, behead it, skin it, and rinse the cavity out. Leave it hang until the next day, then process it. Don't skimp on the grinder or vacuum, buy the best you can afford.
You don't need to soak it in ice for a week, you don't need to leave it hanging for 2 weeks to have great tasting venison, I'm not saying aging etc doesn't work but the most important thing is to get it gutted and skinned as soon as you can, in my opinion it makes it a lot easier if you have a gambrel/hanging system of some sort, not expensive, a good table and water source, good sharp knife and then this is my list of priorities for processing: vacuum sealer, the best one you can afford, grinder, again the best one you can afford will make things easier but plenty of people use hand grinders, learn as you go, lots of websites videos etc you can learn from, I've done a bunch, not a pro but I enjoy it every time
Agreed, it absolutely tastes better, whether cut into steaks or ground and worth the time if you have the means to do so. When I remove the meat from the carcass, whether it's the day of harvest, or the next day, it's immediately cut into the size needed to run through the grinder, or into steaks. It's then placed in a 5 gal bucket and covered with water in the lower portion of our garage refrigerator at about 35* for 3 days, changing the water daily. Allow it all to drain before grinding or sealing up steaks.
I do the same with ducks and geese before grilling.
Another thing you need: a knife sharpener. keep the knives you use sharp. not only does it make better cuts, it's safer because you're not fighting the blade.
For the first couple, just make burger. don't worry about getting fancy cuts. get a reference chart and try to identify the cuts as you go, but don't be upset if your cuts aren't perfect. just grind and go.
Venison fat tastes yucky in my opinion. There's not much of it, but trim it off as best as you can. Lean meat is hard to make burgers with, so we add 5% suet as we grind. makes them juicy and holds them together better. same for the "silver" it clogs grinders so trim as much as you can stand to trim.
Gut on the ground, as quickly as possible. we carry 5 gallons of water into the field to wash the cavity out once we've gutted the animal. don't break the digestive system open. don't be afraid to reach up there with your bare hands and start getting organs out. It's dirty work, so bring soap and a towel to wash your hands when done. If you do break it open, anything that bile touches must be discarded, there really is no safe way to process it once it's contaminated (in my opinion). once gutted, a carcas is MUCH easier to process hanging.
bleeding burger is easy, throw it in a colander and put the colander in a bowl, covered in the fridge. I freeze burger then bleed it when I thaw it, works great.
Biggest mistake is not bringing soap, water and a towel unless you're near water. then bring soap and a towel! I know, it's probably a "duh!" moment for most guys on here, but it's something I've forgotten - ONCE. never again.
For the first couple, just make burger. don't worry about getting fancy cuts. get a reference chart and try to identify the cuts as you go, but don't be upset if your cuts aren't perfect. just grind and go.
Venison fat tastes yucky in my opinion. There's not much of it, but trim it off as best as you can. Lean meat is hard to make burgers with, so we add 5% suet as we grind. makes them juicy and holds them together better. same for the "silver" it clogs grinders so trim as much as you can stand to trim.
Gut on the ground, as quickly as possible. we carry 5 gallons of water into the field to wash the cavity out once we've gutted the animal. don't break the digestive system open. don't be afraid to reach up there with your bare hands and start getting organs out. It's dirty work, so bring soap and a towel to wash your hands when done. If you do break it open, anything that bile touches must be discarded, there really is no safe way to process it once it's contaminated (in my opinion). once gutted, a carcas is MUCH easier to process hanging.
bleeding burger is easy, throw it in a colander and put the colander in a bowl, covered in the fridge. I freeze burger then bleed it when I thaw it, works great.
Biggest mistake is not bringing soap, water and a towel unless you're near water. then bring soap and a towel! I know, it's probably a "duh!" moment for most guys on here, but it's something I've forgotten - ONCE. never again.
So two things...
I started using an electric filet knife this year and will never go back.
Secondly.... you must not walk in as far as I do to deer hunt...
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I keep the quarters and back strap on ice in a cooler for at least 3 days. Getting that blood out of the meat and allowing the meat to break down some makes a huge difference, especially if the diet is only acorns. Cut at much silver and fat out as you can, that'll mess with the taste too.
