Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting We all love hunting, but who loves eating Venison ?

Great options '6 !

I don't know why, but I started leaving the silverskin, on our back strap sections, before vacuum packing.

The theory "was", that it would be less likely to get freezer burn.

Trim off, after thawing, to cook.

I say "I don't know why", because the loins never last past a month or 2 !!

Haha, anytime JG !

Yeah, big fan of our own eggs, vege garden & even have a bee hive, so honey too !

I prefer Venison to any kind of wild game, a pre rut Mule deer to be my personal favorite.

I see alot of folks using the vacuum sealers, I don't have one, I still use paper, I never have an issue with freezer burn even after a couple years.
Am I the only one who still uses paper? LOL

New 2 99s;
Good morning my cyber friend, I hope all is well as can be with you all out east.

Thanks for the thread and of course to all those who've participated, as you know it's a subject near and dear/deer to me.

It's been awhile since some of these went up so I'll do that and apologize for not having newer ones loaded into Rick's photo system.

This is an ancient upright freezer which a repair shop put a slightly too small compressor in and sold it as a giant beer fridge. We picked it up in '89 and it's still working now full of apples - which I need to take out and do something with this morning in fact. Since the photo, I've added two computer fans which mount on the bottom shelf in the door and they move the air inside "just right" so I can keep the bigger chunks for up to 10 days now.



Getting the airflow right has made a difference, as well as installing an inexpensive digital thermometer which tells me exact temps at a glance. As per Eileen and John's writings on the subject, I'm aiming at about 2° to 4°C.

A couple of 4 point mulie necks from days gone by. Both were the same age interestingly enough - but then there's lots of guys who ended up much larger than me, so that shouldn't be surprising I suppose?



We grind a bunch as my better half really likes burger for soups, stews and sauces.

If anyone is interested, here's how my late father in law converted some washing machine parts and a manual grinder into a powered one. Our in laws were visiting one fall and after watching me manually grind through a couple 5 gallon pails of moose burger for a friend, Seymour said to me, "When I go home, I'm taking your grinder along. I've got an idea and there just has to be a better way to do that!"...





Because there's no bearings in a manual grinder, we'll want to drive it as close to perfectly straight on as possible. Once it's set up however its easy to keep it that way. We have numbered washers and shims which keep the grinder body where it needs to be.

Originally we set it up with a 4 arm Browning drive, but it'd eat at least one of the rubber drivers a year. After chatting with the industrial supply folks, I changed to a Lovejoy coupler. When I bought it, I bought a spare rubber insert and the chap at the desk said, "I'll sell it to you, but you're not going to live long enough to wear this one out". That was years ago and so far, he was right.



Before leaving the grinder, I'd say that about 60rpm is a good speed with a converted manual #22 grinder. As well I make up plastic thrust washers to install into the back of the meat auger so the plate can be really tightened down and it won't wear the parts unnecessarily.

Other stuff that makes the task so much easier if you're using paper is a paper and tape dispenser. My late father was helping me one evening and after watching me chase the paper roll around the bench for the umpteenth time, he too said, "There's got to be a better way than that Dwayne".



Honestly there's not a single time that I process an animal that I'm not reminded of my late Dad and Father in law, because of the useful tools they made up for us.

While I do have some food photos somewhere Paul, just where exactly they might be escapes me just now.

They'd not be of the same class as you folks' for sure, but all the above to say we very much love eating venison and miss it a bunch when we don't have at least one in the freezer for the year.

Oh, last thought on processing and cooking for now would be that for me a digital thermometer was a game changer too as far as an aid to not overcooking all sorts of stuff, but venison for sure.

All the best to you all.

Dwayne

Having the family involved, makes the conversion easier !!

Deb's pretty good at getting groceries, too !







Our daughter used to be vegetarian, when she was at College !!



Maybe it was just because of $$$$ !

Got a few friends, that still use paper & 1 is/was a butcher !

Don't need to fix something, that isn't broken, Mate !

**673, looks like Dwayne is a paper guy !!

Right on Dwayne !!

I'd forgotten your neat conversions !!

Awesome.

Yes Sir, shanks are delicious !!

Paul;
Thanks for the reply, but I can't take any credit for the designs on any of the builds.

My millwrighting tends towards gear boxes and in fact I'd picked one up for the job, but Seymour said he had a dead washing machine in his basement and an idea running around in his head, so of course I happily let him work it all out.

The "bearings" by the way on that thing are just plain old eastern oak which he took along from our place as well. I worked in the cabinet/furniture industry for more than a couple dozen years and was always dragging home bits and pieces from the off cuts. As an extension of that, I have dozens of cutting boards squirreled away which I give to new hunters starting out.

Anyways when I quizzed Seymour on the oak "bearings" he laughed as he replied, "Oh man Dwayne they worked for decades on threshing machines being driven by tractor flywheels! They'll work fine for you. Just give 'em a drop of mineral oil once in awhile and they'll outlast you"

If you look close at the second and third photos Paul, we can see the oil holes in the blocks and yah, so far they appear that they'll outlast me and maybe my kids too. Crazy how some of that old school stuff works.

Again, I'd have been obsessing over installing roller bearings into them Paul, you know, in front of the gear box.....

All the best.

Dwayne

Sorry, missed this one !

Well done, love it.

Stuffed sausage is the only thing, we're not set up for !

As stated elsewhere here, we eat the heck outta deer burger, & normally do in 40* of January.

Usually 2-3 batches, dependant on # of deer harmed !

Last years process;

Haha, she a bewt set up Mate !

Love it.

Wife doesn't care for venison whatsoever with one exception, Jerky[and only my jerky].

So I make jerky, and more jerky and then some more jerky and .....well you get the pitcher!

My old $29 Mr. Coffee dehydrator has dried at least #7-800 of venison over the 25 years.
I run it at work, I take it home and run it whilst we sleep.

Folks now expect it as Christmas gifts etc

We still use paper here. I tried a cheap vac packer when I was younger and single and it sucked. My wife grew up in a family where the girls were in charge of wrapping 2 elk and a beef every year so she’s pretty good at making nice neat packages.

She uses one layer of Saran Wrap followed by white butcher paper and we’ve eaten lost packages we find in the freezer that were 4-5 years old with no burn on them.

I’ve toyed with the idea of a chamber vac as I used one some at a fishing lodge years ago and it was pretty skookum. But it can’t possibly keep any better than the method we currently use and they’re an expensive piece of kit.

I love venison, if I cook it ...

I like the paper myself. But it's tough to argue the convenience of the vac seal. Especially, when you can do a bit at a time. Seal it and forget it.

Yes, Eileen has some sensational recipes, as does Hank Shaw.

You sayin, I can't cook ??

I use both. No doubt the vac seal is more convenient and space-efficient in the freezer, but I think tightly wrapped freezer paper keeps freezer burn away longer. I’ve had paper-wrapped meat that got lost in the freezer that was still perfectly fine 5+ years later.

Great thread. It’s making me hungry!