Butchering yourself

[504RP]

Anyone butcher their beef themselfs ? I butchered alot of deer, rabbits, squirrels, ducks, geese, turkeys,chickens, fish etc..., stuff like that. Feel pretty confident with some help i could do a fair job on a 12 to 1400 lb beef. With the hardest part cutting and wrapping.

Sure like to hear from anyone that does their own butchering on a beef.

 

[Redgully]

My next door does, Italian heritage so they kill everything and anything. Lots of people around these parts did when i was a kid but not many now. We used to kill and clean and quarter ours and i had a mate who'd cut and pack. Worked well but an abattoir opened up nearby and much easier to get them to do the whole thing plus it gets all inspections and approvals. And i don't have to dig holes!

 

[jltrent]

Maybe get some good ideals here....................at the 1:45 mark a bullet is carefully placed between the eyes if you want to start there.....


Beef Butchering on Family Farm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HH6ifZULlUU

 

[hdrockn]

We butcher our own. I raise DexterXHereford minis for that reason. I am 73 so the size begins to matter in handling. We built a walkin with a Coolbot temp regulator. It is time consuming work but the cooler allows me to age the beef as well as work on a quarter at a time without the meat getting slimy like the old days of ice chests full of meat from our hunting successes.

 

[M.Magis]

Did one myself this past March. Big job but not terrible. Biggest thing is being ready to hang an animal that size. I vacuum packed everything but burger. For it I used a large tube on my grinder and bought burger bags and a tape dispenser. What a huge time saver.
I watched a bunch of Youtube videos to make sure I got the cuts I wanted. The Bearded Butchers did the best job of explaining everything clearly.

 

[Kingfisher]

Trick is to have a butcher buddy that likes to drink beer. Sure makes things slick.

 

[504RP]

hdrockn, how big live weight are your minis when you butcher them ?

 

[504RP]

And do you finish them out before you butcher ?

 

[504RP]

jltrent, when i was about the size of thoes kids in the video. My family use to butcher 5 or 6 hogs like they did in the video. Brings back memorys.

 

[Kingfisher]

And do you finish them out before you butcher ?

Well of course you do if you have a pen. Don't run down that " grass fed hole". Processing ain't cheap why waste a good beef.

 

[greybeard]

I thought this was going to be about gettin yourself all cut up in green briers and gaucho wire....

 

[Kingfisher]

I thought this was going to be about gettin yourself all cut up in green briers and gaucho wire....

It dang sure could be less the green briars....!!!

Lends a new name to " pack. And wrap!"

 

[hdrockn]

Good morning! I started in with pure Dexter because I read they were easy calvers, size, and cost of purchase. I stumbled across a mini baldie heifer that I bred to a red Dexter bull and that offspring was so nice that I kept him and still have him. He is 5 now and probably around 1000. I have kept him breeding to the dexters cows that I have and like the body structure better w/o the larger size of most mini herfs I've seen. Still good calving ease so far as their heads are slightly less blocky. Kinda like a Christmas surprise as to if and where the chrome will be. Most herf minis are expensive and I get the best of both worlds this way.

I generally process around 20 to 24 months and they are mostly grassfed with some added grain the last 2 months. They weigh in the 6 to 750 range...hanging at around 350 to 400. I will hang for 2 weeks before cutting if fat cover is adequate. I can do about a quarter a day. I flash freeze the trim for grinding and store in a bag until I'm ready to grind....the meat is fresher that way.

I could write a novel because I am passionate about this
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