What's Your Butcher Bill?

mplane72 · Oct 25, 2016

Butcher near Kremmling CO did our elk, pretty much overnight, for 250. It was a big bull, he did it fast for us so we could head home. Not sure how that stacks up to others out west.

At home, Iowa, most lockers I know of are 70 -80 for regular cuts and burger but I have learned to do my own. That way I know all the fat and silver skin is gone and i get all my meat back. I just bring them home and hang them up in the garage and start skinning. A big buck can be a pain since my garage has low ceilings. I bought a Cabelas brand grinder on sale for 50 bucks after Christmas 6 years ago. Do usually 4-5 deer a year with no problems. I was using a vacuum sealer to wrap but I find that the seals crack and leak as things get shuffled around in the freezer. I now wrap in cellophane and then freezer paper. I make my own jerky but if I want sausage i just take scraps to the butcher.

1_pointer · Oct 25, 2016

I take it to a processor if I'm really pressed for time, but try to do as many as possible myself. To the guy claiming he doesn't have the room, I processed my own living in a 2nd story 2 bedroom apartment. Only equipment needed is a knife and a grinder. Mine's an attachment for my wife's KitchenAid mixer. Those two things couple with a couple rolls of freezer paper, tape, and a sharpie will get it done. I have a vacuum sealer but have went back to freezer paper for the most part as it's faster and works well enough for us.

BuzzH · Oct 25, 2016

Do all my own processing, sausage, jerky, etc...mainly because there isn't a butcher that does a better job than I do.

They have to make money, and time is money. I don't trust them and the way most people bring in their animals to a butcher...I don't want my animals anywhere near that mess.

Gut Shot · Oct 25, 2016

Usually it is around $50-$60 cutting and burger cut with 10% pork suet. That doesn't include all the specialty stuff like jerky and sausage.

Edit to add my butcher doesn't do many deer during a year, maybe a couple of dozen. Mostly people won't bring them in to him because they have to be skinned first and most hunters are too lazy to peel the skin off.

sbhooper · Oct 25, 2016

Gut Shot said:
Usually it is around $50-$60 cutting and burger cut with 10% pork suet. That doesn't include all the specialty stuff like jerky and sausage.

Edit to add my butcher doesn't do many deer during a year, maybe a couple of dozen. Mostly people won't bring them in to him because they have to be skinned first and most hunters are too lazy to peel the skin off.

Just to add to this, I talked to a meat market owner here that grew up processing deer. He quit completely, when he took over the business. People would try to bring in deer during center-fire season that were not even field dressed and some even starting to bloat. He also had people call him on the phone and try to get him to come field dress the deer for them-incredible!

Elkmagnet · Oct 25, 2016

1_pointer said:
I take it to a processor if I'm really pressed for time, but try to do as many as possible myself. To the guy claiming he doesn't have the room, I processed my own living in a 2nd story 2 bedroom apartment. Only equipment needed is a knife and a grinder. Mine's an attachment for my wife's KitchenAid mixer. Those two things couple with a couple rolls of freezer paper, tape, and a sharpie will get it done. I have a vacuum sealer but have went back to freezer paper for the most part as it's faster and works well enough for us.

Very curious how the KitchenAid attachment works out? Can you just grind until your heart's content or do you need to cycle it to cool it down? My wife's Kitchen Aid mixer seems like a study unit but I know grinding takes a lot of power

Sawtooth · Oct 25, 2016

After several years of using the Kitchen Aid attachment on one of the smaller units we burned up the bearings on the unit. We replaced it with one of their larger KitchenAid units and so far it has been bomb proof. I usually work on one quarter of an elk at a time so it does get a bit of a rest between batches. The smaller unit used to slow down if I over filled the grinder attachment. This new one doesn't slow down in the least.

Straight Arrow · Oct 25, 2016

Tired of the slow grind with standard kitchen devices, I purchased the Cabelas big-a$$ 1 3/4 HP grinder, which grinds amazingly fast and efficiently. 'Recommend a smaller model though, as the big one is almost too heavy to lift for this guy ... but boy does it make processing burger easier and fast!

Very particular about clean and trimmed cuts, I prefer to cut my own game and vacuum seal it.

1_pointer · Oct 25, 2016

elkmagnet said:
Very curious how the KitchenAid attachment works out? Can you just grind until your heart's content or do you need to cycle it to cool it down? My wife's Kitchen Aid mixer seems like a study unit but I know grinding takes a lot of power

I usually cycle it, but not because the unit really needs it. I clean/trim up enough meat to fill a couple roasting pans, grind and package that, then go fill up the roasting pans. That said, 3 years ago we had 6 pronghorns to do. Neighbor and I trimmed and the wives ran the grinder. Not sure they ever stopped it. We were done in a couple of hours. For how I put up meat, the grinder has never held up getting it done.

It's not as powerful as some dedicated grinders I've used and long, thin strips of meat work best. That said, we got the mixer as a wedding gift so the attachment was a cheap way into a grinder. I've put a couple thousand pounds through it and it still grinds meat and mixes cookies just fine. When I burn this one up I'll probably just replace it with another.

Hunting Wife · Oct 25, 2016

elkmagnet said:
Very curious how the KitchenAid attachment works out? Can you just grind until your heart's content or do you need to cycle it to cool it down? My wife's Kitchen Aid mixer seems like a study unit but I know grinding takes a lot of power

We also used to use an attachment on my KitchenAid for all our grinding. To me, it seemed a bit under-powered for any serious grinding jobs - it got the job done but it took forever. Between various sausages and burger, we do quite a bit of grinding. We finally broke down and bought a 1/2 hp grinder from Cabela's. It was the best meat-processing money we ever spent, and the difference in power and speed is night and day. What used to take us all evening now takes only about an hour.

Jamen · Oct 25, 2016

I have only brought in one animal to a meat market and that was an elk I shot in 2013. Only reason I brought it in was I was able to load the elk whole in my truck. They charged 270 to cut wrap and grind all the burger. They also added beef fat to the burger for me I came out with about 370lbs of meat. They had it hanging in their cooler for two weeks to for aging. I didn't think that was out of the realm for price. But we do our own processing aside from that elk. Gives a guy an excuse to drink a beer on the weekend and have some friends over to help.

Elkmagnet · Oct 25, 2016

Thanks.
Her mixer say 275 watts which roughly comes out to 1/3 horsepower so I guess I'll just price things out to see what is a better deal. $$$ to hp

DRAFTSTUD · Oct 25, 2016

I also do my own. Invest in a quality knife set and cutting board, that is where most of your work will be done. I have the LEM 3/4 hp Grinder, Cuber (tenderizer) attachment, paper roll setup with tape dispenser. Then this year I added a Sausage Stuffer and 44# Meat Mixer that attaches to my Grinder. It is all packed away in my spare Kitchen in a large roll around cabinet. Do I or anyone need this much, no. But it's fun to use! John

glass eye · Oct 25, 2016

Like many have said, do your own, it's easy.
Also, it makes packing your game out easier when you don't have drag out a whole deer and no need to gut it. Do the gutless method and take your deer home in an ice chest.

genesis273 · Oct 25, 2016

maxx said:
Time and effort. We are on #4 whitetail this year already. I would be broke.

Same here.

Flatland Crusoe · Oct 25, 2016

beginnerhunter said:
$300??? Whole deer $75-$100 here. I would LOVE to do my own but live in city with no place to put the equipment. I dream of having a big yard and shop one day...

I live in a 780 square foot apartment in the middle of a city and did 2 pronghorn and half a mule deer in my fairly small kitchen, so space isn't really an excuse if you get creative.

Eyeguy · Oct 25, 2016

100% diy!

sbhooper · Oct 25, 2016

Flatland Crusoe said:
I live in a 780 square foot apartment in the middle of a city and did 2 pronghorn and half a mule deer in my fairly small kitchen, so space isn't really an excuse if you get creative.

Exactly! While still living in NM, we did several elk, three oryx and a number of deer on the kitchen island, before I ever had much for space or tools. We burned out a food processor grinding a whole bunch of meat!

Worst case scenario, is to cut it up yourself-steaks, roasts etc.- and then take the scraps to someone to grind while you are watching.

hank4elk · Oct 25, 2016

99% of mine done solo at home now.
On my kitchen table or outside in the shade. I still have an old Universal hand grinder I use.
The ex and I finally burnt my mom's Kitchenaide from their wedding(1948) and replaced it with a bigger model that really worked and had lots of attachments she used. She got the mixer & I got my hand grinder back......lol

Been thinking of getting another Kitchenaide as I need a mixer at times and I believe they do come with a stuffer attachment option .
As it is I hand grind as I need it and just cut ,wrap and freeze in 2-5 lb packages of stew,grind mix.

IDFireLass · Oct 25, 2016

Cabela's has a spice mix for bulk breakfast sausage very easy to make. Tastes better than most store bought. Been making this way for several years now.

What's Your Butcher Bill?

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