Processing Time - Start to Finish?

[recon6036]

My daughter and I shot bucks the same night. I spent the next few days processing them, off and on. Seemed like it took forever. I’m very picky about trimming portions also. My daughter helped a bit and my wife stuck around just long enough to snap a picture. I never want to do two deer at the same time again and there’s no doubt I’ll never process game for a living.

 

[Gellar]

Our local place will happily run a batch of pre-prepped meat through their industrial grinder on its own without mixing it with others. Really was a big timesaver for me this year as the grinder I’ve got was struggling with the pork fat I had. I just mixed in my own spices after the grind then packaged everything.

That would be nice. Our local shop waits until after all the seasons are done. Even if you bring a deer in in October it would January or February until you got your burger back, maybe longer if you do sticks and summer sausage. They also stopped processing elk and all other cervid’s due to CWD concerns. They also do 8-10,00 deer a year.

 

[nastynate]

I don't have a time estimate, but like others, by leaving some work for myself later I save time on the front end if time is limited. For example, I have no problem pulling out a cut out of the freezer and doing a bit of trimming before cooking and that silverskin/fat provides some protection in the freezer. On deer/antelope, I freeze whole muscle roasts from the backstraps (well, 2 per bs) and hindquarters. Then I can carve them up how I like when I pull them out to cook later. I cut the front quarters in half at the joint for 2 bone in shoulder roasts per quarter, and usually try to get the neck in one or two big hunks- this takes very little time to package and hardly need to trim anything if you cook it right later. Crockpot or Dutch oven and pull meat at the end that, which you can use in bbq sandwiches, soups, burritos/tacos, stews etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is by leaving cuts larger, I think it maximizes the versatility of what you can do later and saves some time up front on trimming. I often shoot several deer but spaced out over the fall, so I usually freeze the grind meat, and then pull it out to grind some weekend in the winter. I don't turn my nose at anyone who grinds the whole thing though- endless great meals can be made out of good ground meat.

 

[Mallardsx2]

From fur on to everything cleaned up and put away and, in the freezer, I can do a deer by myself in about 2.5 hours. If I have good help, it takes me about 1.75 hours.

If I have bad help, it takes me 3 hours....

Thats just for steaks and grinding all the nonsense.

 

[Nick87]

That would be nice. Our local shop waits until after all the seasons are done. Even if you bring a deer in in October it would January or February until you got your burger back, maybe longer if you do sticks and summer sausage. They also stopped processing elk and all other cervid’s due to CWD concerns. They also do 8-10,00 deer a year.

No way in hell would I anything to a processor. We haven't since Like the mid 90's.

 

[Nick87]

Hard to put a time on it. Skin, debone and cut steaks. Maybe an hour and a half maybe two?. If I had to guess. Once I debone and trim it all gets frozen for winter projects of sticks, sausage and jerky etc I have no idea how long that takes me as I usually a group of us getting together and making a day or two out of it.

 

[WestKyHunt]

So I would say 8 hours for 2 deer is pretty reasonable.

I'm not done at that mark.
Still have a front and hind to break down. I'll get that done tonight.
Tomorrow I'll start to grind

 

[Jamen]

We have a few good processors left around us. Most will batch mix your animal with everyone else's. My uncle took his deer in to a place they wrote down what he wanted, they took it in the back to weigh it and they came back with already processed meat... We make our own finished products i don't trust anyone but me with the meat which is sad it has to be that way. But i also enjoy doing it with family each year.

We only do the skinning and deboning for people along with steaks and roasts cut and wrapped, most are very appreciative knowing they are getting their own animal back they bring in.

 

[Beignet]

That would be nice. Our local shop waits until after all the seasons are done. Even if you bring a deer in in October it would January or February until you got your burger back, maybe longer if you do sticks and summer sausage. They also stopped processing elk and all other cervid’s due to CWD concerns. They also do 8-10,00 deer a year.

It was worth the 5 minutes and $20 to use their industrial grinder for sure. My grinder takes a looong time.

I’m sure our local place would also take ages if I brought in an entire animal and asked for a smattering of products though. That seems to be the norm from what I’ve heard. From mixing critters, short amounts of meat, long lead times, and other problematic stories I don’t think I’d ever use a processor for actual processing though.

 

[Bambistew]

If doing it alone, start to cleaned up including grind. Times are cut if I paper wrap vs vacuum, or if I have two vacuum packers going at once. Having help cuts about 25% off the time or so. Also I package large chunks for jerky or to grind later into sausage/salami.

Deer/sheep size is about 3-4hrs
Caribou/Elk - 4-6hrs
Moose - 12hrs (2 people) about 18 if I do it alone like the last one... We processed 2 bulls at once, 2 of us and it was the most miserable thing I've done in a while. I didn't think we were ever going to get through all the hamburger, it was over 500lbs worth, and a double grind.

 

[WestKyHunt]

It was worth the 5 minutes and $20 to use their industrial grinder for sure. My grinder takes a looong time.

After reading your earlier post I called around. No one around here will touch grind until January and told me they'll charge more than it is worth, but didn't give a number.
Their reasoning is they specialize in while animals and want to keep it that way

 

[WestKyHunt]

Perhaps I can invest in a better grinder

 

[npaden]

Perhaps I can invest in a better grinder

From a sheer time saver that was my best upgrade. Went from a generic 1/2 hp grinder (it said 1/2 hp but in reality it couldn't have been even 1/4 hp) to a 3/4 hp Carnivore one from Cabelas. What used to take more than 1 minute per pound to grind now takes probably 3 to 4 pounds in a minute. Grinding a normal 30 to 40 pounds off a deer used to take nearly an hour and now takes less than 15 minutes. That doesn't include the time saved by being able to put in pieces of meat that are double or triple the size. I used to have to semi freeze it to get it to grind better but now it takes it any way I can stuff it it.

My only complaint about the Carnivore grinder is that it only came with a fine and a course grinding plate. I kept the medium plate off the old grinder and use it about 95% of the time.

I love my new chamber vacuum sealer but it really doesn't save that much time. It saves money and aggravation over the food saver ones I've used in the past but not enough to really justify the cost of it. What does help justify the cost is that I'm not sure I've had a single bag fail to seal properly and find frost in the bag when pulling stuff out of the freezer that seemed to routinely happen with the foodsaver system.

 

[Nick87]

love my new chamber vacuum sealer but it really doesn't save that much time. It saves money and aggravation over the food saver ones I've used in the past but not enough to really justify the cost of it. What does help justify the cost is that I'm not sure I've had a single bag fail to seal properly and find frost in the bag when pulling stuff out of the freezer that seemed to routinely happen with the foodsaver system.

That's one that kills me is vacuuming time and waiting for it to cool off.

 

[npaden]

That's one that kills me is vacuuming time and waiting for it to cool off.

Yeah. The chamber sealer I have hasn't ever needed time to cool off. It does a great job and bags are less than 10 cents each so saves maybe 40 cents vs. the foodsaver type rolls and making your own bags. I have been using around 30 or 40 bags for a normal sized deer so it's going to take a while for the savings to pay off. Even after 1,000 bags that is only half of the cost of the machine so not really justifiable from that perspective. Eventually it will pay for itself, it will just take a while. Also it seemed like I was having to replace the foodsaver type machines every 4 or 5 years. I'm hoping this one lasts for a LONG time.

 

[Nick87]

Yeah. The chamber sealer I have hasn't ever needed time to cool off. It does a great job and bags are less than 10 cents each so saves maybe 40 cents vs. the foodsaver type rolls and making your own bags. I have been using around 30 or 40 bags for a normal sized deer so it's going to take a while for the savings to pay off. Even after 1,000 bags that is only half of the cost of the machine so not really justifiable from that perspective. Eventually it will pay for itself, it will just take a while. Also it seemed like I was having to replace the foodsaver type machines every 4 or 5 years. I'm hoping this one lasts for a LONG time.

I'm on my 3rd in 5 years. First one did last like years though.

 

[WestKyHunt]

Welp from 5 to 8 I finished up what turned out to be 3 quarters (don't ask how I miss counted )
Tomorrow I'll stop by the local butcher and get a bag of beef fat and start measuring out for 10% add in.

I used to be a firm no-fat-added kinda guy, but have slowly adopted adding in some fat.

 

[Tomahawk]

It takes me about 14 hours for an elk.

This includes setup, a quick trip to the store for beef fat, cutting, double grinding the burger portion, a half hour break to watch the Vikes lose again, then packaging and cleanup. My wife helps with all the labeling and vacuum sealing which saves me a couple hours.

 

[Lasiocarpa]

Mature buck: 7 hours
Cow elk:12 hours
Mature bull elk: 16 hours

That’s cut, wrapped, and ground (though I often grind at a later date). Doesn’t include time making sausage, jerky etc.

I’m not the fastest butcher, but I try to take the time to trim all the fat, most silverskin, and ALL dried out meat/dirt/hair without being wasteful.

 

[BearFoot]

Used to do the all day/night moose packing/grinding parties.
I now send the grind out. I've butcher buddies, and in every year, we set up in my shop. Past two years, 2 moose cut up, vac packed. Burger grind going with butcher friend for burger, dogs, sticks. Two moose trimmed, cleaned, done in about six hours. 4 people, 2 helpers