Butchering the rest of the deer: What to do with the last bits of meat

Again, it is time for a disclaimer: Butcher is not my official title or unofficial title. Butchering the animals and birds is an enjoyable task for me. The results are not perfect, but the job is completed with edible meat going into the freezer.

The deer carcass is looking thinner now with much of the meat missing. We have removed the backstrap, tenderloins and hindquarters. It is beginning to look like a skeleton.

Left are the forequarters, neck, ribs and smaller pieces of meat throughout the carcass. The neck can be cooked as a roast, but we add the meat to the grindings pile.

The shank of the forequarters and hindquarters is grinding meat. The shoulder of the forequarters can be left whole as a roast. It can also be divided into individual small roasts, used for stew meat or the meat can be thrown into the grinding pile.

The meat can be easily removed from between the ribs by inserting a knife into the meat by a rib, follow the rib up to the end, cross over to the edge of the next rib and down to the beginning point.

There isn’t much meat involved, but it can be thrown into the grinding pile if desired or in the pile for the cat or dog.

Grinding meat

Every scrap of edible meat, not used for steaks or roasts, is saved in the grinding pile. This meat is put through a grinder at the end of the butchering process.

This meat might be a scrap at the end of a roast, cut to simply make the roast look better or bits of meat left on the carcass or other bones.

Fat is not added to my ground deer meat. This ground meat is as close to zero-fat hamburger as can be obtained.

As a result, it is necessary to add a little cooking oil to the skillet when browning this meat or the meat might burn.

Notes

Always cut off the white fat when trimming deer meat. Always use a sharp knife and clean work surface when butchering wild birds and animals.

Even the bloodshot meat is saved by me, to be used for dog or cat food.

Pick the remaining meat still attached to the bones of the carcass. It will be worth your time.

FoodSaver

We use a FoodSaver machine to package our steaks and roasts. This device sucks the air out of the bags before sealing. The meat in each package will remain fresh much longer, perhaps up to five-times longer, than when using conventional methods.