Processing equipment for game and beef

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Terri9630

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Anyone have a good source? Hubby wants to build our own processing room so I need to start putting a list of equipment together. The largest animals will be elk and steers. I already have a bird saw coming from a friend who doesn't use it anymore.
 
Anyone have a good source? Hubby wants to build our own processing room so I need to start putting a list of equipment together. The largest animals will be elk and steers. I already have a bird saw coming from a friend who doesn't use it anymore.
Are you talking like rails with pull trollies? Or just the table top equipment?
 
That's my question, too. I helped with a pig in an amazing butcher room once at the Whittington Center. Had tables, saws, running water, ceiling hook, floor drain.
And then again I've seen things butchered hanging off a tractor bucket.
All I do right now is small, so I have a fold out kit with surgical type blades, rib spreader, hatchet, skinning knife.
 
That's my question, too. I helped with a pig in an amazing butcher room once at the Whittington Center. Had tables, saws, running water, ceiling hook, floor drain.
And then again I've seen things butchered hanging off a tractor bucket.
All I do right now is small, so I have a fold out kit with surgical type blades, rib spreader, hatchet, skinning knife.

I haven't done anything bigger than a goat. Just used the recripicating saw to get through the bones with that. I didn't know they had a processing room at the Whittington Center. I would have loved to have seen it. Doubt I'll be that far north again for quite some time.
 
I'm just about shot - ready for bed. There is a place I think called "Restaurant Supply" but will double check as whatever it is has more than restaurant stuff. I was considering it when we got out Lem slicer. I will check back in tomorrow.

Thank you.
 
Yep they do! It looks like a concrete small shed type building out by the big classroom. Nothing terribly fancy, but wishing I had something like that. Also useful were charts on the wall that showed for instance, a pig body with all the cuts and where they are located. Had them for deer, goat, and cow, too. I took the butchering class there three years in a row when they had the women's 3 day weekends there. Twice we did goats, once a pig. I made our three daughters go, too. Our oldest was puking in the weeds (in her yoga pants of course) after we gutted the goat. Poor thing, but I wish I had video. I opened my car trunk and set up a first aid area and told her she was in charge of that. The other two did pretty well. Butchering something with family is always a hoot.
 
I'm in the market for a stainless steel commercial table 6-8 ft. long. I have a band saw but I need a larger one. *Helpful hint. Quarter the beast, put in freezer overnight, and the next day it runs through the bandsaw very nicely as the meat is much easier to handle.
 
I bought a commercial meat saw at an auction many years ago.

I would like to build a cold room for hanging and butchering. One of the biggest hold ups buying beef, is getting it butchered and I believe many butchers are skimming.

Even if you mess up some cuts while learning, it's still edible.
 
Mom has an old meat block that came out of a small Mom and Pop store but larger meat blocks are more readily available. Try a store that specialises in used restaurant supplies. Meat markets and restaurants go out of business all the time. I prefer wood.

I prefer a Sawsall and a dedicated blade but bone saws are easy enough to find. Hunting and camping suppliers have smaller collapsable saws. A good cleaver could come from an antique store or restaurant supply.

You'll want a good boning knife with a flexible blade. I have boning knives but I've been happy with my fillet knife for fish.

An aluminium scabbard is nice. It comes apart for easy cleaning. This is similar to mine.
https://www.knifemerchant.com/produ...ctorinox Aluminum Scabbard for 10 in. Blade |
 
Personally, I'd just get a hatchet. If I tried to do a nicely cut job of processing, it would come out looking like I used a hatchet anyway, so why not just cut out the middleman, right?

In all seriousness, how much are you going to process in a year? If it's not that much, I'd just run over to a Cabela's store and get some equipment from them. If you're gonna do a lot, then the professional grade stuff is probably worthwhile...
 
Thank you.
This is the site Terri https://www.webstaurantstore.com/

When I'm looking for a specific piece, I look here then compare and contrast, figure out what I need/want & don't want, how much $$$, etc. That said, we've had good luck with LEM products and can source them locally. One tidbit of advice if I may: don't skimp on the meat grinder. Bigger than you think you need is nice and at least to us worth it when butcher time comes around and we are up late trying to get it all processed.
 
I agree, do not skimp on the meat grinder. I started with a 1.5 HP and ended up stripping the gears. Turned out the heavy duty grinder had plastic gears.

I replaced the gears and got rid if it. I had my BIL ship me a 2 HP metal geared grinder from China. I will never get ahead of its capacity to grind. The sucker weighs 70 lbs though.

The 1.5 HP grinder will be fine for most people, but make sure you have lots of spare gear sets as well.
 
tile the walls and floors install floor drains for cleaning. install utility faucets on the walls for a hose to attach to for clean up
resource a commercial size [HoBART} garbage disposal for this and that

if you are going to age the meat you need large coolers and freezers
hand washing stations
120 degree water at the hand stations 180 degree booster heater at the food prep areas
 
tile the walls and floors install floor drains for cleaning. install utility faucets on the walls for a hose to attach to for clean up
resource a commercial size [HoBART} garbage disposal for this and that

if you are going to age the meat you need large coolers and freezers
hand washing stations
120 degree water at the hand stations 180 degree booster heater at the food prep areas


We are going to build a walk in cooler for aging.
 
You need a good, heavy bathtub with a large drain to collect the red stuff as you cut and gut.
Makes dandy fertilize and cat/dog/ ferret treats.
 
There is a lot here, I don't have a lot to work with but I have to process my own game because the wife will not let me pay someone good money for something she thinks I can do.

I have a wash basin in my basement, I made a 2 1/2' X 6' work area (work table) with a raised fixture at one end to hold the grinder (or a vise) and the wash basin at the other end. I hang my game outside where I skin and wash it, I then remove the back straps and remove the legs, and neck from the body. I use a sawsall to cut the hind legs out of their sockets and remove the lower part of the legs. I have a gross of bakers sheets and place the meat onto them and wrap with cling wrap and place them in the refrigerator (I have to plan by having an empty fridge and freezer before I start) as I go. I place the carcass in a big trash bag in put it in the freezer just over night, then I take it out in the morning and using a new paneling blade and my oldest circular saw I cut the racks of ribs. I catch the drippings as I go by having a concrete mixing tub placed under the deer and empty that into a 5 gallon bucket to "water" empty raised beds (most of my work is done NOV through Jan).

From this point on all I do is I cover my work table with a couple layers of butcher paper, place 3 large synthetic cutting boards on it, and start processing, I have 4 large metal bowls and sort the meat as I go, roasts/steaks, stew meat, grinder meat, and scrap. I process a bakers sheet; seal-a-meal, weigh, and label the roasts/steaks, and stew meat as I go. I save the juices in the bottom of the bowls to apply to the raised beds. When my grinding bowl is full, I attach the grinder to the work table and using a large catch tub I start grinding the cutup grinder meat ( I sometimes will cut up a pork shoulder and grind it too), I usually course grind my meat, once and then I grind it a second time blending in the ground pork, usually 1 pork to 5 venison just for the fat.

So the tools I use are, a Game Tripod Stand with Hoist, a box of disposable gloves, 4 large metal bowls, 2 large tupper ware type catch bowls, 3 cutting boards, a concrete mixing tub, a good fixed or heavy lock blade knife (Buck or Old Timer), a knife sharpener, a sawsall, a circular saw, a bunch of bakers sheets, a #10 meat grinder, 3 heavy duty serving spoons, cling wrap and butcher paper. I prefer a medium length knife with a heavy blade to do my processing with, I generally keep a knife sharper handy.

I have on occasion ended up with more game than I could store, in those case I pull out my biggest Ice chest(s) and place a layer of ice, then a loaded bakers sheet, a thin layer of ice and repeat till full.

This would work for most game and small livestock. I think it would be much more difficult for a cow or very large game (moose?)
 
There is a lot here, I don't have a lot to work with but I have to process my own game because the wife will not let me pay someone good money for something she thinks I can do.

I have a wash basin in my basement, I made a 2 1/2' X 6' work area (work table) with a raised fixture at one end to hold the grinder (or a vise) and the wash basin at the other end. I hang my game outside where I skin and wash it, I then remove the back straps and remove the legs, and neck from the body. I use a sawsall to cut the hind legs out of their sockets and remove the lower part of the legs. I have a gross of bakers sheets and place the meat onto them and wrap with cling wrap and place them in the refrigerator (I have to plan by having an empty fridge and freezer before I start) as I go. I place the carcass in a big trash bag in put it in the freezer just over night, then I take it out in the morning and using a new paneling blade and my oldest circular saw I cut the racks of ribs. I catch the drippings as I go by having a concrete mixing tub placed under the deer and empty that into a 5 gallon bucket to "water" empty raised beds (most of my work is done NOV through Jan).

From this point on all I do is I cover my work table with a couple layers of butcher paper, place 3 large synthetic cutting boards on it, and start processing, I have 4 large metal bowls and sort the meat as I go, roasts/steaks, stew meat, grinder meat, and scrap. I process a bakers sheet; seal-a-meal, weigh, and label the roasts/steaks, and stew meat as I go. I save the juices in the bottom of the bowls to apply to the raised beds. When my grinding bowl is full, I attach the grinder to the work table and using a large catch tub I start grinding the cutup grinder meat ( I sometimes will cut up a pork shoulder and grind it too), I usually course grind my meat, once and then I grind it a second time blending in the ground pork, usually 1 pork to 5 venison just for the fat.

So the tools I use are, a Game Tripod Stand with Hoist, a box of disposable gloves, 4 large metal bowls, 2 large tupper ware type catch bowls, 3 cutting boards, a concrete mixing tub, a good fixed or heavy lock blade knife (Buck or Old Timer), a knife sharpener, a sawsall, a circular saw, a bunch of bakers sheets, a #10 meat grinder, 3 heavy duty serving spoons, cling wrap and butcher paper. I prefer a medium length knife with a heavy blade to do my processing with, I generally keep a knife sharper handy.

I have on occasion ended up with more game than I could store, in those case I pull out my biggest Ice chest(s) and place a layer of ice, then a loaded bakers sheet, a thin layer of ice and repeat till full.

This would work for most game and small livestock. I think it would be much more difficult for a cow or very large game (moose?)
This looks like a nice set up. We prefer a simple set up. And the kitchen table. Been a lot of moose n caribou hog bear n such on the table over 40 some years. Keep the meat dry, if I'm going to hang it and can get a hard rind on the outside that's preferred. But if they fall in a river get wet we like to process now. Make 85/15 moose/ pork fat for burgers. Or add bacon end bits for bacon burgers. Canned meat is the best meat. Sausages are fun to explore n make.
We use produce bags to bag our meat in. Much easier the wrap and it doesn't leak blood. A roll will last 3-4 moose. We keep a roll in the kitchen n use them daily. Instead of wrap. Meat placed in the bags, opened up by the kids, now me, and wrapped in butcher paper will easily last 2 years. We are just finishing up some from 2 years. No burn. Keep your freezer cold.
Canning isn't too bad.
When we get backed up with meat. Like moose season you can cut the meat into boneless manageable pieces, bigger is better. And then put the meat in garbage bags 25-50# at a time n freeze. Then when you get caught up you can come back n process it. We like canning but depends on how much burger we need.
 
We have all the processing equipment needed to handle large game.. We also keep a small 120V chain saw lubed with vegie oil for processing...

The one thing I am going to build is a quite tall big game lift much like this unit made to attach to a truck receiver hitch.. My unit will attach to the rear implement hitch of my compact tractor and be capable of handling large game like a really big bear, beef, elk or moose..

The tractor loader doesn't go high enough and the truck size unit won't handle the weight.... The tractor unit will be handy as we never have to leave the farm to hunt..

Example...
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/112932/hme-truck-hitch-game-hoist
 
We have all the processing equipment needed to handle large game.. We also keep a small 120V chain saw lubed with vegie oil for processing...

The one thing I am going to build is a quite tall big game lift much like this unit made to attach to a truck receiver hitch.. My unit will attach to the rear implement hitch of my compact tractor and be capable of handling large game like a really big bear, beef, elk or moose..

The tractor loader doesn't go high enough and the truck size unit won't handle the weight.... The tractor unit will be handy as we never have to leave the farm to hunt..

Example...
https://www.cabelas.ca/product/112932/hme-truck-hitch-game-hoist
I've got one of those truck receiver hitch units, it works okay for whitetail deer, but I honestly prefer my 3 point tripod unit the legs are 11+ feet long (two piece tubes) with 6" square feet, I think it was rated at 500 pounds but I added eyes on the feet and if you tie all the legs together I think you could easily lift double that. I have on occasion used an engine hoist rated at 2 ton, but the legs kind of got in the way but it worked. For the first few years I used a home made wooden hoist based on an old gin pole hay loader design...
 
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