Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Meat Processing

sparky357

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Jan 21, 2011
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If your going to the Cody Wy area do not use Zero Box Quality Meats. I turned in my cow elk on Oct 6th paid a $150.00 rush fee to pick it up on Oct 13th no problem with that part. Turned in all four quarters, two back straps, two tender loins, all trimmed neck and rib meat. Got back 87 lbs hamburger, less than 5 lbs stew and steaks combined. NO back straps at all. Was told well you got enough weight back. My guide estimated the cow to be 600 lbs. Clean shot and cleaned right away in cleaning shed, no dirty meat at all. Would not let me see the hanging weigh in due to them being to busy. I don't know if they just lost the meat due to being so busy or if they kept the back straps to sell later. If you use them keep your back straps and tenders.http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/images/smilies/mad.gif
 
That's too bad. If we asked, am sure the list of bad meat processors would be long!
 
That situation would not have sat well with me, hard lesson indeed. Whenever possible I always keep my backstraps & tenders myself, always consider all other options to eliminate this possibly happening. That really stinks for you, the time, effort, money & travel involved to have that happen is BS!
 
That is why I have done all of my own meat processing for thirty years. There is not a single processor that I trust to get my meat done to my specs.
 
Man, you really got the shaft on that deal. No way I would trust my hard earned venison to a processor.
 
I too have gotten the short end of the stick from butchers. I have known some really good ones! I talked to one butcher who said when he was an apprentice for a guy he sold smokies all year from stolen deer meat. He wouldn't tell me the the guy's name but we all know it happens. I try and do all my own processing now. Its ashame a few bad apples ruin it for everyone. But you see it in all aspects of life.
 
Was told well you got enough weight back.

That is the part that has always turned me off of letting a butcher take care of my meat. Most of the time you don't even get your animal back. You just get the amount of weight that you "should" get back. Growing up in Michigan, this meant that if I turned in my deer that I immediately gutted, cooled, kept clean, and turned into the butcher that same day, I could be getting back the meat from a guy that shot his deer 500 miles away in the U.P., let in hang in camp in 50 degree weather for a week, drove down I-75 for 5 hours uncovered in a rain storm getting road grime all over it. Because of that I started to do it myself.

Sorry to rant, this kind of stuff gets me all fired up. :eek:
 
That is why I have done all of my own meat processing for thirty years. There is not a single processor that I trust to get my meat done to my specs.

Me too ... and I purchased Cabela's largest grinder which is about all I can lift but really grinds out the burger in a hurry.

Realizing that many on here don't have the time or inclination to be meat cutters and wrappers, I suggest expressing very specific instructions and clearly stating your expectations to whomever you choose to process the meat.
 
I've heard these stories so many times. It's sad, but really pisses me off too. I'm not sure i'd be patient enough to let it go. I'd need some satisfaction. A punch in the mouth would help me feel better.

You should get back about 35% of the live weight if you took off all the meat. I've always done my own processing. It's not pretty, but it still taste good. ;)
 
I always take the tenderloins and backstraps off the animal before taking it to a meat processor . To bad I would have been Very upset!
 
I purchased Cabela's largest grinder which is about all I can lift but really grinds out the burger in a hurry.

I recently bought a 1hp, its fast... I wouldn't trust one of those places EVER. Seems like half of them give you other peoples meat. Who knows if its even elk...
 
Backstraps and tenderloins are so easy to deal with I would never take to proccesor.
 
I recently bought a 1hp, its fast... I wouldn't trust one of those places EVER. Seems like half of them give you other peoples meat. Who knows if its even elk...

I would really like to have one of those monsters, but I, too bought a one horse when my wife was still working for Cabelas. It is a great grinder, but you sure don't want to carry it very far! If I bought the big one, I think it would be permanently on a cart with wheels!

A buddy of mine from Powell, Wyoming got hosed by a processor last year, too, but it was in a different location. Some of those people need a beat down!
 
I'm cutting up my elk right now, or at least I'm taking a break for a few minutes.
 
you sure don't want to carry it very far!

No kidding ... mine is the 1 3/4 hp grinder and is kept in a storage shed when not in use. 'No way I could move it fully assembled. But it moves nicely disassembled, which is how you have it when you complete a job and wash it anyway. It can flat grind some meat!

My family really likes clean, nicely packaged meat, with little or no "silvers" and pure burger with no added fat, Anyhow, once you establish a cutting and wrapping routine and proper space for such, it's not so daunting to process an elk. After some bad experiences with processors and some learning from a fellow hunter, I was soon processing my own and helping friends with theirs.
 

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