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Processing
YourDeer
AtHome
NEW
MEXIC
OS
TAE
UNIVERSIT
Y T
CooperativeExtensionServiceCircular508
January1994
Las
Cruces,NM
NewMexicoStateUniv
ersityisanequalopportunity/affirmativeac
tionemployer
andeducator.NMSUandtheU.S.DepartmentofAgriculturecooperating.
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tightly.Venisonfromthebonedanimaltakesuplessspaceinthe
coldstoragelockerorfreezer.
Fortheuninitiated,thefirststepinboningoutadee
ristostudy
figure1.Locatethemajorpartstobebonedout.Afteryouhave
themfairlywellin
mind,pickuptheknifeandbegin.Itisnot
necessarytofollow
theexactorderofthestepsasshown,butitis
agoodwaytoproc
eed.
Fig.1.Venison
boningchart,locationofmaincuts.
39
TIPSONUSING
VENISON
Whenyouencounterbloodshotm
eat,mostofitcanbesavedby
s
oakingitincoldsaltwater.Putabo
utagallonofwaterina3or4
g
allonbucketordishpan,add3or4handfulsofsaltandputthe
b
loodshotmeatintothesolution.Letitsoakforanhourortwo,then
w
ashandscrubthebloodoffthepieces.Usethemeataccordingto
thecut.Ifthebloodimpregnatesthe
musclesofthemeat,trimthat
p
artoutandthrowitinthescrapbo
x.
Theboningprocessdescribedandillustratedfavorsgettinglots
o
fsteak
meatfromthecarcass.A
venisonsteakisnotlikea
b
eefsteak.Avenisonsteakissmaller
,withoutboneormuchfat,and
c
anbecutfrommostofthelargermu
scles.Inotherwords,theloin,
tenderloinandroundarenottheonly
sourcesofsteaksfromadeer.
M
usclesfromtheshouldblade,rumproast,armroastandontherib
c
agecanbeisolatedandcutintothinvenisonsteaks.Theyare
s
mall,butdelicious,andarefavoritebreakfastmeatformany
families.
Venisonsteaksfromaboneddeerarecutdifferentlythan
d
omesticmeat.Cutallvenisonsteaksthinexceptthosecoming
fromtheloinandtenderloin.Steaksfromthetenderloinandloin
c
anbecuteitherthickorthin,depe
ndingonyourpreferences.A
thinvenisonsteakisabout1/4inch
thickandathickoneisabout
3
/4inch.Thediameterofsmallsteaks
canbeenlargedbybutterflying
them.
Thechunksofroundfromthehindlegmakeexcellentsteaks
w
hencutthin.Havethechunkpartiallythawedbydinner,thencut
into1/4to3/8inchsteaksjustbeforefrying.Fryinahotskilletor
fryingpan.Thefryingtimeisabout90secondsonasideforasteak
c
ut1/4inchthick.Frysteaksjusten
oughtobrowntheoutsidebut
leavethecenterslightlypink.Thesteaksshouldbejuicyand
tender.Itsteakisdryortough,itwascookedtoolong.
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Fig.2.
Thefirstcutistoremoveafrontshoulder.Liftthe
frontlegupfromthech
estandcutthemeatattach-
ingittothesideoftheribs.
38
Fig.37.Chunksoftrimmedroundthathavebeensep
aratedfrom
thehindlegareshownabove.Thesechunkscanbemade
intosteaksorroasts.Forthesmallerfamily
,thelarger
piecesofroundmaybehalvedlengthwise.Leavethepieces
wholeuntiljustbeforecooking.Theroundmakesexcellent
steakmeatwhenitiscutthin.
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Fig.3.
Thenworktheknifebackandforthtocutthe
connectivetissuebetweenthelegandtheribcage.
Thela
stcuttobemadewillbeatthetop
ofthe
should
erbladewhereitisattachedtothew
ithers.
37
F
ig.36.Divideorseparatethelarg
elegmusclesintheroundby
cuttingtheconnectivetissueholdingthemtogether.Avoid
cuttingintothemeatasmuc
hasyoucan.Themeatcloseto
thelongtendondoesnotm
akegoodsteakmeat,itistoo
tough.Removeitandtrim
outthemeatforgrindingor
otheruses.
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Fig.
4.Cutthefrontlegintothreepartsshoulderorbladeroast,arm
roast,andshank.(figures5thr
ough7.)
36
Fig.35.Inthisph
otograph,thelegbonehasbeensep
aratedfrom
thelargechunkofround.Themeatfromtheleg
bonecanbe
trimmedoffandusedforgrinding.Thenextstepisto
separateth
eroundintoitsindividualmuscles,e
achofwhich
isenclosed
initsindividualenvelopeofconnectivetissue.
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Fig.5.
Removetheshoulderroastfromthelegbyseveringatthe
joint.Locatethejointbymovingtheshoulde
rbladeup
anddownandthencutthroughit.Theshou
lderblade
roastisnowremovedfromtheleg.Noticethat
thecuthas
beenmad
ethroughthejoint.Trimtheroast
tomakea
neat-look
ingpieceofmeatforroasting.Theboneisnot
removed.Thetrimmingsaregoodforhamb
urgerand
otheruse
s.Forthosewhoprefersteak,themuscleson
eachside
ofthebonyridgeontheshoulderbladecanbe
removed.Steaksshouldbecut1/4to3/8inchthickfor
frying.
35
F
ig.34.Liftingtheboneasyoucutwillmakethecuttingeasier.
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Fig.6.
Toseparatethearmroastfromtheshank,preparetosaw
thelegbonebycuttingthe
meatdowntothebone.
34
Fig.33.Turnthelegoverandshaveandcutthemeatlo
osefromthe
legbone.Thiswilltakealittlemaneuvering
aroundthe
joints,but
keepcuttingwhatcomesnaturally.
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Fig.7.
Sawtheb
onethrough.Thisisoneofthefewplaceswhere
sawingis
doneclosetomeat.Trimthearmroastanditis
readyforcookingorstoring.Trimoutthemeatfromthe
heavytendonsandtissueoftheshank.Thism
eatisgood
forgrind
ing.
33
F
ig.32.Continueseparatinguntilth
emeatisfreeallthewaytothe
joint.
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Fig.8.
Thisisabackviewof
thewholedeerwiththe
outlineofthepreliminarycutsthataremadeto
removetheloinorback
strapalongonesideofthe
backbone.Theloinlies
inthegroovebetweenthe
ribsandtheverticalspinesofthebackbone.Three
basiccutsaremade.Cut1:Cuttheflankloosejust
infrontofthehindleg
andextendthecutallthe
waytothebackbone.Cut2:Usetheverticalspine
ofthebackboneasagu
ideandcutforwardalong
theseuntilyoureachth
ebaseoftheneck.Cut3:
Maketheside-of-ribcutdirectlyoverthepoint
wheretheribscurvedo
wntojointhebackbone.
32
Fig.31.Toremovethebonefromtheround,startby
cuttingthe
tendonandconnectivetissuethatseparatesthe
shankfrom
theround
andthebone.
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Fig.9.
Thisp
hotographillustratescut2,theuseofthe
verticalspinesofthebackboneasguidein
cutting
forwardtothebaseoftheneck.Cutdowntothe
backb
oneuntilthejunctionwiththeribsisr
eached.
31
F
ig.30.Thesirlointipisexcellentas
aroastoritcanbecutintothin
steaks.Thesteaksshouldb
ethiniftheyaretobefried.
Makethemnotover1/4to3
/8inchthick.Themeatisgood
forhamburger,stew,oroth
eruses.
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Fig.10.Removetheloinbycuttingitloosefromtheribs.
Lifttheloinandstartcuttingandpeelingitfrom
thegroove,continuingforwarduntilloinmeatends
orthebaseoftheneck
isreached.
30
Fig.29.Oncethesirlointiphasbeencutfromtheleg,removethe
connective
tissueandextrameatsurroundingit.There-
mainingchunkofsirlointipmeatwillbeenclo
sedinathin
connective
tissueandwillresembleanundersizedfootball.
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Fig.11.Oneofthe
twoloinsfromadeer.Itisreadyto
betrimmed.
Laythelo
inonthetableandpreparetopull
offfat,odd-
grainedm
eatandtoughtissuebystartingatoneend.Cut
enoughoftheconnectingstrandstoallowagoo
dhandhold.
Pullandripthelayeroffatandconnectivetissuefromthe
loin.Theloinmeatwillstillbeencasedinthinconnective
tissue.Rem
ovethelooselyattachedmeatneartheneckend
oftheloin.
Thismeatisgoodforstews,groundm
eatorother
uses,butitdetractsfromthetendernessofgoodsteaks.
29
Fig.28.Laythehindlegflatonthetableandremovethesirlointip
byusingthelegbonetoguidetheknifewhilecuttingoff
thelargechunkofmeat.
Noticethelargewhitebone
(arrow).Startattheknee
capandkeeptheknifeina
verticalplaneagainstthisb
one.Cutthemeatawayfrom
thebonewithshortstrokes.
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F
ig.12.Cutthetrimmedloinintofamily-sizedchunksorpiecesand
freezewhole.Byfreezingth
echunkswhole,moistureand
flavorsarepreservedandpackagingiseasier.Waituntil
youarereadytocookthem
beforecuttingthesteaks.Cut
them3/4to1inchthick.The
bonelessloinsarenotlargebut
theyhavenoconnectivetiss
ue,fatoroff-grainedmeat.
28
Fig.27.Nextcutthesirlointipfromtheremainderoft
hehindleg.
First,set
theleginaverticalposition.Makeacutabove
theknee
cap.Cutdirectlydowntothelargelegbone
whichisshowninfigure28.
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Fig.13.Remov
etheflankbycuttingitfreefromtheback-
bonea
ndtheadjoiningribs.
27
Fig.26.Thesirloinroastisshownfromthetopside.Removethe
fatandsharpprojectionsofpelvicbonebeforecookingor
freezing.Ifyoupreferothercutstoroasts,themeatcanbe
removedandcutintosma
llsteaksorusedforgrinding
meatorstewmeat.
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Fig.14.Removetheneckbysaw
ingthebackboneoffjustin
frontofthepointofth
eshoulder.Theneckmeat
makesexcellentmincem
eat,stew,orgrindingmeat.
Itcanalsoberoastedwhole.
26
Fig.25.Cutdowntotheball-and-socketjointandworktheknife
through
itasshownabove.Makethecutas
verticalas
possible,
butleaveenoughmeatonthesirloin
roastfora
meal.Separatingwithaknifeinsteadofsaw
ingavoids
spreadingbonemarrowanddust.
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Fig.15.Removethesideofribfromthebackbone
.Usethe
sawan
dcuttheribslooseatthepointwherethey
curveenroutetoconnectingwiththebackb
one.Cut
allthe
waytothebaseoftheneck.
25
F
ig.24.Tocutupthehindleg,remo
vethesirloinroastfirst.Todo
this,locatetheballandso
cketjointwhichconnectsthe
pelvicbonesofthesirloinroastwiththelargelegbone.Feel
forthejointasyouraiseandlowerthesirloinroast.Once
located,cutasshowninfigure25.
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Fig.16.Asideofribthathasbeenremovedfromthedeerisshown
here.Youcaneithercutitu
patthispointorturnthedeer
overandstartboningouttheremainingside.
24
Fig.23.Usethespinalcordinthebackboneasaguideinmakingthe
cutwiththemeatsaw.Eachhindlegiscutintoasirloin
roast,asirlointip,theroundandtheshank.
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Fig.17.Alayerofmeatcoverstheribs.Itisusuallylefta
sshown,but
thelayer
ofmeatcanberemovedandusedforjerky,
grindingm
eat,stewmeat,ortinysteaks.Enou
ghmeatwill
beleftbetweentheribsforbarbecuing.
23
Fig.22.Thetwohindlegsare
readytobeseparatedby
sawingthroughthemidd
leofthebackbone.
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F
ig.18.Hereasideofribisbeingcu
tintoplates.Platesofribscan
bebarbecuedwholeorseparatedintotwoorthreeribsper
piece.Ribscanbecutintos
hortpiecesandusedinstewif
youprefer.
22
Fig.21.Sawthebackboneoffjustinfrontofthehin
dlegs.It
canbecutintosectionsandusedtomakesoup
stocks.Themeatscrapscanbepickedoffandused
inmin
cemeat,headcheese,groundmea
torfor
otheruses.
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Fig.19.Remo
vethetenderloinbyliftingandcuttingitfree
from
thebackbone.Thetwotenderloinsarelo-
cated
oneachsideofthebackboneandjustfor-
ward
ofthepelvicarea.
21
Fig.20.Eachtenderloinisonlyabout11/2inchesindiameterand
afootlong.Thesearethemosttenderpiecesofmeatinthe
deer,andtheyareexcellentforsteak.Tomakethesteaks
largerindiameter,butterflythem.Abutterflysteak
consistsoftwosteakslying
sidebysideandconnectedby
thesametissueononeedge.Thesesteaksaremadeby
cuttingthefirststeakalmostcompletelyoffandcutting
thenextonecompletelyoff
.Thentheyarefoldededgeto
edgeatthepointofconnectionandlaidflatinthefrying
pan.