Processing Time - Start to Finish?

[WestKyHunt]

How long on average does it take for you to fully process your wild game?
Including any trimming, slicing, or grinding.

I'm about 8hr or so into breaking down two (2) deer and feel like it is taking me longer than it should.
I am admittedly very picking on trimming for the grind pile. I probably throw away trim that most people just grind.. which leads me to my next question.
What all do you throw in the grinder, and what is an absolute no?

 

[WestKyHunt]

Back straps and tenderloins before trimming.

I'm set up inside the house in front of the TV so I can work while listening to podcast

 

[TOGIE]

it always takes longer than you think it will.

if it's not bone and it's clean it basically goes in the grinder.

i hate processing animals. I guess it's love-hate.

with a baby now it leans heavily on hate.

 

[buffybr]

My slowing down over the years has also included my wild game processing times. I'm also VERY picky about cleaning close to all of the white stuff off the meat, including my burger meat.

I've always figured on a full day to process a deer or antelope. I used to cut up an elk in two days, then grind the burger on the 3rd day. My last elk took me a day for each quarter, and the 5th day to grind the burger.

This year I only shot a moose in Canada. I brought home 3 of the quarters, boned out in meat sacks. Processing at home took me 2 days of cutting and a 3rd day of double grinding and packaging the 165 pounds of burger.

I stil plan on a full day to completely process a deer or antelope size critter.

 

[Beignet]

When estimating the time needed I start with forever, then add a day.

 

[Beignet]

Seriously though, I spent about 4-5 hours trimming a not huge whitetail this year. Everything except backstrap, loins, and bone-in shanks went to grind for a year’s supply of breakfast sausage. I put my fat and meat chunks pre-mixed in a bus tub and took them to the local meat processor to grind instead of having a marathon with the cheap grinder I’ve got. Took them like 30 seconds to run 35lbs through their machine. Probably took us another 2+ hours to vac seal it all into 1/2lb portions. I wasn’t too fussy about trimming this year. Just major silver skin, fat, and gristly-looking bits.

I’ve got half an elk in the garage right now that I’m not particularly looking forward to trimming and packing.

 

[Sask hunter]

I can cut and wrap a moose in a couple evenings. But I just bag my trim and clean and grind it later as I use different pork ratios for sausage and burger. Also I leave my fat and silver skin in my roast and trim them off right before I cook them. I feel it adds and extra layer of perfection in the freezer

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I trim backstraps/tendterloins and freeze them in large chunks. Freeze @ 4 roasts whole per animal. Typically tidy up and then freeze shanks whole for slow cooking. Carefully trim the rest with minimal silverskin left for canning and grinding. I am very picky about hair.

A deer sized animal takes me roughly 8-9 hours from start to finish including grinding, packaging, and cleanup.
An elk takes a very full day, 12-14 hours.

Those times are all on my own. Obviously help is nice and changes those estimates.

 

[Gellar]

I never do it all in 1 sit. Depending on temperatures I usually skin and remove all the tenders and back straps in 1.5 hours. Cutting those into steaks and packaging probably takes 30 minutes. Quartering, deboning, breaking those down into roasts, steaks and burger probably takes 2 hours and finally 1 hour to grind and package all the burger. So I would say 8 hours for 2 deer is pretty reasonable.

 

[Nameless Range]

I cut my animals up on my own. My family helps with the grinding/packaging. I do not incorporate any suet or fat into my burger, and I turn most of anything I shoot into burger. Tenderloins and some backstrap become whole muscle packages. Maybe a roast or two, but I've gotten away from those.

I'd say with the help of my wife and kids on packaging, it takes about 5-6 hours soup to nuts on a deer. 8-9 hours on an elk.

 

[rideold]

Last two Mule Deer I did my son and I finished in about 4-5 hours each....not including the field dressing part.

 

[Nick87]

I can cut and wrap a moose in a couple evenings. But I just bag my trim and clean and grind it later as I use different pork ratios for sausage and burger. Also I leave my fat and silver skin in my roast and trim them off right before I cook them. I feel it adds and extra layer of perfection in the freezer

Same. We'll except the moose part lol.

 

[BRI]

I don't grind my own stuff but just put it in a bag and take it in for sausage meat or grind into hamburger. It takes me 3 hours to process a deer and 7 hours for an elk. I do the elk in 2 days as my back feels pretty destroyed after 3 hours.

I've always wondered the same about trimming. I'm sure I tend to over trim and probably would be shocked watching what a butcher shop put into the trim pile.

 

[Gellar]

I don't grind my own stuff but just put it in a bag and take it in for sausage meat or grind into hamburger. It takes me 3 hours to process a deer and 7 hours for an elk. I do the elk in 2 days as my back feels pretty destroyed after 3 hours.

I've always wondered the same about trimming. I'm sure I tend to over trim and probably would be shocked watching what a butcher shop put into the trim pile.

All the more reason to do your own grinding. Why spend hours to get it perfect the way you want and then have it mixed with other people’s meat. The actual grinding doesn’t take very long at all and the cost of a grinder would be recouped after a few animals.

 

[npaden]

It takes me roughly 3 hours start to finish including grinding and clean up for a deer with minimal help from my wife and son. Probably 4+ hours if I did it 100% by myself.

Working on getting my son to start helping more, but right now he just picks hair and helps package and seal. The last one he cut the grind pile into pieces small enough to go through the grinder but that wasn't much as our grinder takes some pretty big pieces. Wife mainly helps with the clean up.

That's just steaks and roasts and burger and doesn't include any specialty stuff like jerky or summer sausage. Those add a lot of time.

An elk takes closer to 8 hours.

My new grinder and chamber vacuum sealer help out with time savings.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I can do a deer start to finish in 3 hours, but I enjoy the process and I usually take x2-3 times that long. We mostly eat burger in our home, and a couple times I’ve ground an entire deer, including heart, short ribs, checks, tongue, and diaphragm.

In a perfect world with unlimited time I don’t grind the prime cuts, hocks, shoulders, ribs, heart, or neck, as there are wonderful preparations for all of them that are far better than burger.

 

[TOGIE]

and I turn most of anything I shoot into burger. Tenderloins and some backstrap become whole muscle packages. Maybe a roast or two, but I've gotten away from those.

i'm starting to trend away from roasts and such, mostly grind, mostly burger. i've been embarrassed about it because it seems to come with some sort of stigma now.

especially now with a kiddo i've just started realizing to do what we like and what is simplest. burger is the most versatile thing there is and can create literal countless different meals.

and it's simple.

roasts end up sitting in the freezer for a really long time because they're always a hassle and we're always short on time. so it's loins and grind for me when i do it myself. if i pay a processor we'll do all steaks and then summer sausage, brats, and burger.

 

[Nameless Range]

i'm starting to trend away from roasts and such, mostly grind, mostly burger. i've been embarrassed about it because it seems to come with some sort of stigma now.

especially now with a kiddo i've just started realizing to do what we like and what is simplest. burger is the most versatile thing there is and can create literal countless different meals.

and it's simple.

roasts end up sitting in the freezer for a really long time because they're always a hassle and we're always short on time. so it's loins and grind for me when i do it myself. if i pay a processor we'll do all steaks and then summer sausage, brats, and grind.

Basically where I am at. I ground one of the elk backstraps I shot this year and steaked out the other one. I reject the premise that steaks and roasts are better than burger. I do not see meatloaf as less valuable than a steak - in fact it's easier and often better. We eat tacos, spaghetti, meatloaf, burgers, sausage, omelettes, etc, way more than we eat steaks and roasts. Also, when I want a crockpot roast or some such thing, a chuck roast off a cow is just better, fattier. Burger is easier, faster to prep, and more versatile. I like to set one roast of an elk aside for corned elk around St. Patty's day, but for the most part we eat burger and a lot of it. The elk and whitetail I turned into burger will be gone come June.

 

[Jamen]

Skinning and deboning along with trimming the fat and bigger chunks of silver skin, cut and wrap steaks and roasts takes us 40-60 minutes. There are a lot of variables in that. Did they bring them in frozen, are they shot up. After doing several hundred deer it has become 2nd nature. I could grind a whitetail in 20 minutes or so in our grinder. That is also 2 people working on one animal. When i do them by myself im normally at an hour or a bit more to fully break one down.

As far as what i grind. I take all the fat off and bigger sections of silver skin and the glands. Beyond that i grind the rest.

 

[Beignet]

All the more reason to do your own grinding. Why spend hours to get it perfect the way you want and then have it mixed with other people’s meat. The actual grinding doesn’t take very long at all and the cost of a grinder would be recouped after a few animals.

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.