Tips and tricks for Tasty Eats

[HSi-ESi]

I'm in the process your own camp - but understand that time doesn't always allow. It can be tough when doing a hunt where one needs extensive travel to/from hunting location. I do want to second L.I. Yankee's cooking tip on salting the meat well before cooking (then rinsing). A couple of other things I like to always do are:
1. Don't defrost in the microwave. Set the frozen meat out the night before, let it thaw over night in the sink. Salt a little in the morning before I go to work (not heavy salting, just a light coat).

2. I always trim fat and as much tendons / silver skin as possible from my burger / sausage meat. If I don't have time to grind (or do sausage) - then I'll freeze and do it later when I can. Fat is the biggest one (tendon / silver skin not so much). Fat and oxygen are the enemy in the freezer.

3. If I can't process, then I'll have the processor grind - but not add back any fat / beef trim / pork trim.

Speaking of all of this - it is sausage week at my house. Cleared out my bear meat stocks last night. Tonight is elk. Tomorrow Deer.

Fresh bear sausage for dinner tonight!!

 

[1_pointer]

Tip #1: Process your own meat.

Tip #2: Don't use a bone saw.

Tip#3: Don't make hamburger

Tip#4: Wrap it in plastic wrap, tightly, then ziplock bag it, then freeze it.

Enjoy.

I tried Tip #4 last year. And it worked well. That said, if you put more than one plastic wrapped package in a freezer bag, IME, they are wet enough or enough blood leaks out to freeze it into a big block. Any suggestions for trying to prevent that? I was putting 3-4 one pound, plastic wrapped burger packages into one gallon freezer bag.

 

[sbhooper]

Tip #1: Process your own meat.

Tip #2: Don't use a bone saw.

Tip#3: Don't make hamburger

Tip#4: Wrap it in plastic wrap, tightly, then ziplock bag it, then freeze it.

Enjoy.

Agreed with everything but #3. Why in the world would you not make hamburger? That is the most versatile meat that there is. As long as it is well-cleaned and trimmed, hamburger is fantastic.

I use vac seal on the steaks/roasts/stew meat and actual plastic hamburger bags for the ground. It goes from the grinder right into the bag and then to the freezer.