Processing Week 2024....

[indaswamp]

Another antlerless deer for the processing day pile. I shot this one while in Kansas with my buddy during the special antlerless season after Jan. 1, 2024...about 110#.

That makes the count 16 deer for processing day. Still no hogs yet though. might be buying more pork butts to make up for it.

 

[indaswamp]

Well, another 2 deer added to the tally. Another big doe and one of the guys shot a heavy rack 9 point buck. The buck was very run down from the rut....4 1/2 years old, only weighed 140#. So that's 18 deer this season so far with only 3 days left to the season. Still no wild hogs yet.

 

[indaswamp]

Processing day has been set for February 17, 2024. That is a Saturday. The bulk of the processing will be done then but I will be smoking sausage all week then packaging.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Processing day has been set for February 17, 2024. That is a Saturday. The bulk of the processing will be done then but I will be smoking sausage all week then packaging.

I'm in...

 

[indaswamp]

So my Cousin that works at the Fire Dept. had a major surgery last week. he is home now, but has a 6 week recovery time. He will likely not be available for processing day this year. That coupled with the fact that I do not have any wild hogs this season and we've decided to forgo the smoke sausage in conjunction with processing day this year. We will make a big run of smoke sausage when he is healed up and we find a good sale on pork butts. Still....18 deer to process will be a big day indeed.

 

[Culinary Otter]

18 deer to process will be a big day indeed.

In the future, if you ever need extra hands and want help with this; I will literally fly down.

I can't even bring anything back across the border. I'd do it just because.

 

[Fueling Around]

So my Cousin that works at the Fire Dept. had a major surgery last week. he is home now, but has a 6 week recovery time. ...

Wishing the best recovery for the cuz.

The up north bucks never loose that much body mass in the rut. I guess they don't get that stupid chasing tail to remember that winter is approaching

 

[indaswamp]

Wishing the best recovery for the cuz.

The up north bucks never loose that much body mass in the rut. I guess they don't get that stupid chasing tail to remember that winter is approaching

Thanks Fueling....
Cuz got his results back. only 1 lymph node out of the 30 was cancerous. All good where they stitched him up. He is cleared by the surgeon to return to the firehouse Feb. 16th.

 

[indaswamp]

Caught a sale on pork....$0.99/# Woohoo! Did not think I'd see that price again with inflation! Backed the truck up...got 8 double packs for processing day. Also caught a sale on beef rump roast....$2.99/#. Bought 75# of that for ground blending. Will be deboning the butts and cutting into strips to freeze for processing day. Also will be trimming the large tendon out of the rump, stripping and freezing. Will be busy this week...

 

[indaswamp]

I picked up 30# of ribeye trim beef fat and 15# pork butt trim fat this morning from my local grocer butcher. Pulled out all the deer meat to start thawing, I have 57# total deer meat for grinding.

 

[Fueling Around]

So this is the weekend.
Cuz should be itching to get back on the job tomorrow and you have extra hands for the processing.
Good luck and have fun.

 

[indaswamp]

Well, I was told the wrong date for him being cleared to go back to work. It's March 16th, not February 16th. But he will be there, just can't do any heavy lifting or meat mixing by hand. Still lots he can do to help out though...

 

[indaswamp]

All in I think we have around 250# of venison to grind...

 

[tallbm]

All in I think we have around 250# of venison to grind...

I'm so glad you have help lol. Looking forward to seeing it all per usual. I love seeing this stuff and understand the effort that goes into it. I'm sure it will come out fantastic per usual :D

 

[Timber II]

Yes sir looking fwd to seeing your process! Do you boys freeze quarters or just debone and freeze in chunks?

 

[indaswamp]

Yes sir looking fwd to seeing your process! Do you boys freeze quarters or just debone and freeze in chunks?

De-bone, de-fat, all glands removed; froze in chunks that are small enough to fit in the grinder...ready to go.

 

[Culinary Otter]

I picked up 30# of ribeye trim beef fat and 15# pork butt trim fat this morning from my local grocer butcher. Pulled out all the deer meat to start thawing, I have 57# total deer meat for grinding.

Do you always do a beef/pork/deer combo?

 

[indaswamp]

Do you always do a beef/pork/deer combo?

No. We do both a pork/deer and a beef/deer blend.

 

[Culinary Otter]

No. We do both a pork/deer and a beef/deer blend.

Nice. Dependant on the sausage you're making I assume?

Sorry super curious I always just do deer & pork.

 

[indaswamp]

This is straight up ground meat blends. Will be packaged in 1# meat bags and used like ground beef throughout the year. I rarely if ever buy 100% ground beef from the grocer. I will have 100# of ground venison/beef this year.

We will be making venison fresh sausage and venison breakfast sausage as well. The fresh sausage is 60/40 venison/pork blend while the breakfast is 50/50.....and between 25-30% pork fat.