Venison Processing Day!!! Pics. added-pic. heavy

[myownidaho]

Great operation.

 

[tallbm]

Man soon you will be set!

I debone and process 5-7 animals (about 6 deer and 1 feral hog) each year all after my big yearly hunting trip.
It takes me 5-6 days at about 14 hours a day to go from quartered animals in coolers to vac sealed in freezer and done.
It usually results in about 130-150 pounds of deboned meat and about 30 pounds of shanks ( I leave them whole for braised dishes, mmmmm good and maybe the best part of the deer!).
We cull hunt and a heavy doe or spike is usually around 100 pounds where an average weight is about 90 pounds. These deer are not very big.

I know the effort it takes to go from meat on bone to completely done so I can really appreciate your setup and the work you guys put in.
I wish I had a setup like yours and I often only get help on the one day I set aside for stuffing sausage. This is a 2 man job with my 10L/23pound sausage stuffer. Everything else I can do on my own and usually have to lol.

I'm all in on getting just the pork fat for making the wild game sausages. For me it makes really great and consistent sausages and keeps the math simple. It also keeps me from adding more pounds of sausage to my limited freezer space.
I'm also all in on pure 100% venison grind with no added fat.
I have no issues using it as a ground beef substitute, not even when making hamburger patties on the grill!
If you ever get the chance to experiment you may want to bag 5 pounds of just pure venison grind to experiment with. I think you will be surprised at how well it behaves and it may save you a little money and time when it comes to your processing effort. I know it saves me for sure :)

In any case great work and enjoy all the food! :)

 

[troutman]

That appeared to be a commercial kitchen and you seem to be bagging for commercial sale. Do you sell your product as well? The whole operation was very impressive. I especially liked the fact that the young man in the pix was learning a useful trade, good getting him involved. I LIKED the whole thing !!!

 

[weev]

Wow great job sausage all looks great

 

[indaswamp]

That appeared to be a commercial kitchen and you seem to be bagging for commercial sale. Do you sell your product as well? The whole operation was very impressive. I especially liked the fact that the young man in the pix was learning a useful trade, good getting him involved. I LIKED the whole thing !!!

Yes, it is a commercial kitchen. No I am not bagging for commercial sale. No I do not sell what I process. We processed the meat @ the public safety Center building next to the firehouse in town while my cousin was on shift @ the firehouse. I do agree, it is a very nice place to process meat. Lots of counter space, commercial sink, double door fridge.....

Thanks for the likes...

 

[indaswamp]

Thanks weev and tallbm...

 

[Bearcarver]

Wow, That's a lot of Fine Looking Sausage!!:)
A lot of work too!!:eek:
Nice Job to you All !!!:)
Like.

Bear

 

[indaswamp]

Thanks Bear...

 

[indaswamp]

It also keeps me from adding more pounds of sausage to my limited freezer space.

I have 4 freezers....:rolleyes:
We eat a lot of fish and wild game. Don't buy much beef at all.

 

[jp61]

Looks like good times to me. Thanks for sharing! Enjoy!

 

[pineywoods]

Looks like a great set up and a great job. What kind of grinder is that?

 

[indaswamp]

Looks like a great set up and a great job. What kind of grinder is that?

Thanks...
It's an LEM 3/4 hp. Big Bite Grinder. That big bite auger is aggressive. Way better than the original model.

 

[indaswamp]

This is a 2 man job with my 10L/23pound sausage stuffer. Everything else I can do on my own and usually have to lol.

I want a stuffer motor so bad! Weston use to make one but I am having trouble finding one. I might just have to get with my machinist buddy and make one. I can buy the motor, reostat switch, foot pedal and most all the parts. We can weld/fab, up an aluminum housing for it.

 

[indaswamp]

This is a 2 man job with my 10L/23pound sausage stuffer.

I have a 5L stuffer, next on the list is a 10 or 12L stuffer. What brand do you have?

 

[tallbm]

I have a 5L stuffer, next on the list is a 10 or 12L stuffer. What brand do you have?

I bought an Arksen brand stuffer off ebay 10L. It has worked well. It was filthy when I got it and is a little heavy. Nothing some cleaning and a strong enough back couldn't handle :)

 

[indaswamp]

Cased 100# of smoke sausage this afternoon. First batch of sausage goes inda smokehouse inda morning....bright and early.

 

[indaswamp]

I bought an Arksen brand stuffer off ebay 10L. It has worked well. It was filthy when I got it and is a little heavy. Nothing some cleaning and a strong enough back couldn't handle :)

Thanks tallbm...I'll look into Arksen.

 

[indaswamp]

Got the first round of sausage loops hanging in the smokehouse to dry for an hour, then it's smoke time. 93# inda smokehouse and still got room....

If you notice, I have the front top pipe pulled all the way to the front. My racks have 8 cutout notches for pipes and when I smoke sausage I can only use 4 pipes per rack for spacing. I can offset the pipes for air flow- top pipes start at the first notch, bottom pies start at the second notch. Well in this case, the bottom row is not full and I only used 3 pipes so I actually just set it on the 3rd notch, but if I were to fill the smokehouse up, that this is how I would do it.

 

[indaswamp]

Took a little longer than normal to dry the casings this morning....fog...

Just reloaded with wood so snapped a pic....
3~3.5 hours of good smoke @120* INT@100*, just bumped the temp. to 130 for stepping up to 170*.

 

[indaswamp]

Done!

I had to improvise for a rack when I pulled them from the smokehouse... (How ya like that Dave! LOL!)

Two 10' sticks of heavy wall aluminum tubing I had left over from a project, 3 barrels, and a 4' piece of 2X4 with 2 nails....