processing your own deer?

[mossyoak20]

ok, so every year i pay a processor to make 80/20 burger with beef fat and pan sausage with pork. so this year i'm wanting to do it all myself. so other than the equipment, where do i get the beef fat and pork to do my own processing? what are others doing? my wife and i both shot a doe last year and we ran out of meat. we spent about $80 per deer to have burger and sausage made. would like to save money and make my own....any and everyones input is welcome!!!

[Cajun Blake]

Your local meat mkt / butcher will have everything you need

Get to know him on a first name basis and he will treat you right

[Huntindad]

We make bacon burger at our house. I do not add beef tallow at all. I will grind about 5-10 % bacon ends to mix with my deer grind. Mix it all up for bacon burger. Adds a great flavor as well as a little more moist.

Sausage mixings... look into the recipe section for Mesquitecountry's XLS spreadsheet on spices. All you need.

We also make link sausage and breakfast sausage. We also make jerky. the kids love it.

Get a GOOD grinder... it will make things lots easier.

Have fun...

[Mac]

We use brisket for our burger and boston butt or carnitas for our sausage. Around xmas time heb always puts the boston butts on sale for tamales and its about a buck a pound. But I agree dont skimp on the grinder invest in a good one not only will it last itll make the job easier.

[Bowtech2004]

My butcher at albertsons gets me what I need.

[h2447intx]

I did 7#s venison 3# tube 70/30 ground round and 3 packs of bacon your choice grind and mix together.

Added salt pepper shallots garlic. Ex to taste . Mix it all up make patties or put on 1# hamburger bags . Use it in anything or make burgers its great


Breakfast sausage o use zack's pan sausage mix with sage. 50/50 deer and pork . Easy and comes out like jimmy dean's.

We do use brisket when its on sale

Cut it into thirds use one for brisket small family and the other two we grind for hamburger. Much better buying geound round and cheaper to boot .

[Big_gun]

do a search on here... been covered several times

[Rather_B_Fishin]

My butcher at albertsons gets me what I need.

Which albertsons? My mom is a butcher block manager in that area and lives in NRH.

[Bonesplitter]

Your local meat mkt / butcher will have everything you need

Get to know him on a first name basis and he will treat you right

This right here. my local butcher gives me all the beef tallow and pork trimming's I can use. For free!

[Farmhand]

We make our own sausage and hamburger. Pork Shoulder (Boston Butt) for the sausage and brisket for the hamburger. We mix the sausage 60/40 (deer/pork) and 50/50 for the hamburger. If you want to save a little more money, purchase the meat when it is on sale and stick it in the freezer..............Another good purchase is a vacuum sealer for the meat. I think this is one of the best investments you can buy for your meat. Our sausage and ground meat will last over a year without any freezer burn.

[aggie2000tx]

For my burger I mix 50% venison and 50% pork and then add another 5-10% pork fat back in. For the pork I normally get some wild hogs and use that. You can buy packages of pork fat from heb. I use the same kind of mix on my sausage as well but the sausage will have seasonings in it. Spend the money and get a good grinder. I bought a meat band saw that has a grinder attachment on the side of it works great and it will grind the meat. For my bags you can buy burger bags from academy or bass pro or cabelas. I use a sausage stuffer to fill the burger bags so there is no air in them. I put them in one pound packages. My sausage casings you can buy them from the same place as the bags. I have an lem tape dispenser to tape the burger bags and it works great. My backstrap chicken fries I tenderize them then I put them in packages of 4 and those are vacuumed sealed. Vacuum sealer is a solid investment for someone processing their own meat are buying meat in bulk.

[Swampa]

Watch for sales at your local stores/meat markets. I ground a doe up with a brisket last year. It made an excellent grind. I made other sausage but Im thinking going forward Im doing more ground meat and less sausage.

[TallTexan]

subscribed

[aggie2000tx]

I always do more burger than sausage. My family eats more burger than anything else

[Swampa]

My thread from last year:

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256476&highlight=Burger

If you call around you can get a meat market to save pork trimmings for you. Albertsons did it for me and it was free.