Fat / Silver Skin / Connective Tissue

[MarvB]

Same as Sask above, been doing all my own processing for nearly 45 years now!

 

[2rocky]

Trim before grinding. Where it comes from dictates how much I trim. Some of they silver skin on the hind quarter isn’t too tough and will tear with a knife vs shank silver skin which could be used for shoe laces lol

THIS^

One elk I dropped at a processor and my wife and kids all complained that the ground meat was tough. Learned a big lesson then.

 

[jrabq]

I've been processing all of my own big game for about 10 years now. I do anywhere from 5-10 animals a year, but am still figuring some stuff out as I go.

The last couple years, I've been making extra efforts to remove as much silver skin and similar matter as possible during processing, where as in the past I would tend to get lazy and send more through the grinder. It takes time, and reduces my total yield a bit, but results in a better product. Overall, I take about 8 hours to do a deer and probably 12 hours to do an elk.

If I know I'm going to slow cook a particular cut I don't trim as much, but really I mostly just cut steaks and grind burger.

I don't do much or any trimming in the field, because when I remove the silver skin in the kitchen most hair and dirt goes with it.

I've also done some experimenting with aging bone-in on ice in a cooler, and silver skin seems to come off a lot easier after aging a week or so.


How do you all manage the aforementioned matter, from field to processing? Trim it off and leave it in the field? Leave it on and do more trimming at the dinner table?

Mostly do what you're doing, trim at home, not in the field. Only exception is if something really nasty gets on it in the field. Probably takes me a bit longer than 12 hrs for an elk, but I take my time.

 

[2rocky]

I call the flank everything covering the ribs all the way back to whatever covers the guts. Maybe that isn’t correct.

I call it Skirt, Plate, Ribmeat, etc.

The Flank proper is pretty tender if you cook it right.

 

[cowboy]

I almost exclusively process with a 6in filet knife.

Try using a Havalon Barracuda with replaceable blade on silver skin - you won’t go back to a filet knife.
keep meat chilled while cutting up.

 

[ImBillT]

I call it Skirt, Plate, Ribmeat, etc.

The Flank proper is pretty tender if you cook it right.

While completely incorrect as a butcher term, I refer the whole thing from the sternum back, as “flank” because I don’t know what else to call it. I don’t cut my deer into primals, and doubt that most people do. I doubt butchers have a name for the whole piece of meat the way I remove it because they would never remove it in one piece. I’m also pretty sure that butchers cut non-beef animals slightly differently and use slightly different terms, so I’m comfortable sticking to “flank” for my purposes, even though it would mislead a butcher. But you’re right, what I call the flank, is not the flank by any technical definition, and a lung shot, would not hit the beef primal cut called the flank.

Once I remove the legs and backstrap, I pull all the meat on the ribs and guts in one big piece, then remove the neck meat, extract the heart, and about half the time I strip between the ribs.

I’m not sure if you posted a chart of primals just to show me where the flank primal is, or if you butcher your deer into primals before further butchering. You are probably aware that flank steak is not the entire flank primal.

 

[rke]

I’ve always hunted and processed game with my dad and grandpa. Grandpa believes every last shred of meat is good and should be at least put in the grind bucket. Often a lot of connective tissues/silver skin/fat makes it in there too. He packages “steaks” that I’d say are questionable to even go in the grind.
Dad is more picky about what gets packaged.
As I’ve gotten older I’ve become the most picky and diligent trimmer.
Eating the three levels of burger and steaks side by side I can definitely taste the difference. Less in the burger, but definitely in the steaks.
We do the vast majority of trimming at home before we package and freeze.
If I have time I’ll cut off big pieces of fat etc in the field.

Your gpa sounds like one cool cat!

 

[2rocky]

I’m not sure if you posted a chart of primals just to show me where the flank primal is, or if you butcher your deer into primals before further butchering. You are probably aware that flank steak is not the entire flank primal.

It's just easier if we are all on the same page as far as terminology. I'm not the meat police.

Around home the deer were all skinned whole and cut up on a band saw. Out of state we stated with Hide on sawn quarters, and later did gutless. Each of those required a different approach to getting in the package.

 

[ImBillT]

It's just easier if we are all on the same page as far as terminology. I'm not the meat police.

Around home the deer were all skinned whole and cut up on a band saw. Out of state we stated with Hide on sawn quarters, and later did gutless. Each of those required a different approach to getting in the package.

To be on the same page, no I don’t loose any meat from the primal cut referred to as the flank when I take a lung shot, and this is a meat butchering thread, so that’s more than appropriate to clarify.

So what do you call the whole thing, if you don’t cut it into primals? Surely not “flank, short-plate, rib meat, brisket, meat on the outside of the loin, meat on the outside of the sirloin”. I think it’s reasonable not to force adherence to the names of beef primal cuts since I don’t that very many people in the thread are cutting all of the beef primals before any further processing even if they do have a saw.

 

[ImBillT]

Trim before grinding. Where it comes from dictates how much I trim. Some of they silver skin on the hind quarter isn’t too tough and will tear with a knife vs shank silver skin which could be used for shoe laces lol

Don’t grind your shanks!!! Slow cook them like you’re making pulled pork.

 

[Sask hunter]

Don’t grind your shanks!!! Slow cook them like you’re making pulled pork.

I have tried shanks every which way and can’t find a way which I’m a fan of.

 

[WyoDoug]

I process a deer in about an hour and a half and an antelope in an hour now. You want to remove as much silverskin and fat as you can, but I would not get wrapped around the axle trying to get it all. That silverskin lines and protects every muscle in the body. The ultra thin silverskin and fat, I don't mess with. If it's in the roasts, I don't worry about the silver skin and fat unless it's major. I start by breaking the carcass down into major muscle groups then I break each group down to individual muscles and start my cuts from there. You get a system going, processing (except grinding and making sausage and burgers etc) will take only a hour or two per carcass. Big thing is know where those glands are especially in the top round because they are nasty if you bite into one.

 

[ImBillT]

I have tried shanks every which way and can’t find a way which I’m a fan of.

I guess that is what it is.

I smoke them a while, then throw them in a crock pot or covered Pyrex dish, throw some bbq sauce on them, and let them cook for 8-12hrs, then shred them into the juices and eat bbq sandwiches.

 

[WyoDoug]

Don’t grind your shanks!!! Slow cook them like you’re making pulled pork.

I second this, either keep shanks whole or cut into one inch osco buccos.

 

[Dave N]

I have tried shanks every which way and can’t find a way which I’m a fan of.

There are a couple threads on here about how to cook them. I'm a believer!

 

[WyoDoug]

Rule of thumb to make some of them tougher cuts more appetizing:

• Rule of thumb #1: Cuts with higher fat content and marbling should be cooked low and slow, while leaner cuts need the hot and fast treatment. Exceptions apply to thick cut lean roasts, osco bucco and shanks which should be cooked low and slow.
• Rule of thumb #2: Thin-cut meat should be cooked hot and fast, while thick cuts are best cooked low and slow.

 

[Washington Hunter]

Someone else said it, but again, that stuff you're trimming off is collagen. And other beneficial things that we should be eating. I used to trim everything really good too. But not anymore. Saves a ton of time and my hamburger is just as good, if not better, than before. I don't throw out any of the fat either. I was curious this year about the theory I'd always heard that wild game fat doesn't taste good. So as I was butchering up a deer, I took a few chunks of fat and fried it up in a pan. Tasted similar to beef fat. It was excellent.

 

[WyoDoug]

Someone else said it, but again, that stuff you're trimming off is collagen. And other beneficial things that we should be eating. I used to trim everything really good too. But not anymore. Saves a ton of time and my hamburger is just as good, if not better, than before. I don't throw out any of the fat either. I was curious this year about the theory I'd always heard that wild game fat doesn't taste good. So as I was butchering up a deer, I took a few chunks of fat and fried it up in a pan. Tasted similar to beef fat. It was excellent.

Big difference is wildgame fat renders at a higher temperature than beef fat does. If you put it in hamburgers or sausage, you are probably fine. If you leave it in meat that is typically cooked on low and slow, the fat might harden into gristle and not as pleasant of an eating experience. Again, removing the glands is more important than the fat so if you focus on the big masses of fat, that is as far as you need to go.

Having said that, there are people who have included wildgame fat in their processing and that is fine if that is what they are used to and want.

 

[ImBillT]

Someone else said it, but again, that stuff you're trimming off is collagen. And other beneficial things that we should be eating. I used to trim everything really good too. But not anymore. Saves a ton of time and my hamburger is just as good, if not better, than before. I don't throw out any of the fat either. I was curious this year about the theory I'd always heard that wild game fat doesn't taste good. So as I was butchering up a deer, I took a few chunks of fat and fried it up in a pan. Tasted similar to beef fat. It was excellent.

I like deer fat a lot. The two big differences from beef fat for me are A) a little goes a long way, and B) it’s melting point is somewhere close to 98 degrees, so if it isn’t hot enough, it will solidify in your mouth, but only after thoroughly penetrating the finest pores of your tongue, and taking a swig of a cold drink to get it out is the worst thing you can do. Keep it hot! If it cools off half way through your meal, go re-heat it. If you eat it warm instead of sizzling, if can lead to a rather unpleasant experience.

I assume that both of the above properties are somewhat variable from animal to animal. I feel like the taste of each of my wild animals varies substantially more than meat from the grocery store.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I love shanks, they make the best hamburgers.