Do your own meat processing?

I am beginning my setup for meat processing of wild game and would like some advice as to what a good setup will be. I am planning on doing this for a long time and I generally get a couple animals a year plus a lot of waterfowl I’d like to turn into sausage or other products.

i have a vacuum sealer already

we have a nice kitchen aid mixer I can use for mixing spices into the meat

i want a nice electric grinder, I question if I need one with a foot control pedal?
what horsepower do you recommend?

I am also thinking a sausage stuffer would be easier to use then putting the attachments on the grinder?

anything else including recipes for polish dogs, jalapeño cheddar dogs, Italian and breakfast sausage, pepperoni snack sticks.
we really like all the stuff from steves meats and from Hudson meat lockers if that helps with the taste flavors we like. But I just don’t want to justify several hundred dollars each time for processing

Based on the threads I've read on some hunting specific forums, everyone says a stuffer is great and those who finally bought one wish they had done so sooner.

The foot pedal is very nice to have when your hands are all meaty from feeding the grinder I have a stuffer it made all the difference and actually prefer Saran wrapping then a double layer of freezer paper over vacuum sealing most cuts much less expensive and more uniformity of the shapes when stacking large amounts of meat. A good bone saw is a must as well as pork or beef fat to cut the hamburger so it doesn’t dry out

Where do you pick up the pork or beef fat?

I purchased a 1 HP cabelas grinder about 15 years ago and it still works great. It was the smallest one with reverse. It has a stuffer attachment and I bought a jerky slicer for it. I don't like the jerky slicer. I also got a cabelas 160 liter dehydrator that I have fit full antelope in at one time. The 80 liter would probably be more than enough. I have a commercial grade meat saw, but I never use it anymore. I use a couple sharp knives and debone every thing. I picked up some T handle meat hooks, and they do make it nice for deboning the animals while they are still hanging. Some large food grade tubs are nice for transporting the meat from the carcass into the kitchen. Inexpensive but very good knives are Green River knives. They are carbon steel, so they need to be oiled.

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Originally Posted by sniper7

Where do you pick up the pork or beef fat?

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Anywhere that cuts down primals like kings and Sam’s I have a local butcher that’s sells it to me for .99 cents a lb

Ok awesome. I’ll pick some up before too long as I want to have all my stuff ready to go

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Originally Posted by sniper7

Ok awesome. I’ll pick some up before too long as I want to have all my stuff ready to go

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1st word of advice, forget about the kitchenaid mixer for blending. It will work till maybe your 8th or 10th pound of meat being mixed, before taking a shit. Usually midway between getting started and not even close to finishing.

https://www.meatsandsausages.com/

IF you're wanting do do sausage, what i've found works best (for me) is.... Cube the meat / poultry in to 1-2" cubes, add seasonings then mix well by hand. Stir by hand 2x a day for 2 days max, depending on meat. Then grind using a 2 step process, 1st a coarse grind, followed by the smaller grinding plate.
YMMV as the whole process is a learning curve for what works best for you.


Oh yeah. Look at the LEM #8

What ever you do. DO not Click on this link.
https://www.sausagemaker.com/

Foot switch makes it much quicker. I’m only using my grinder for dog food, but buying the foot pedal has increased my efficiency dramatically. You can find the exact same foot switch on eBay that Cabellas sells for their grinders, for much cheaper.

Thanks guys,

Will definitely get the foot switch as all the videos I watched they used one and it made a huge difference.

I really like the LEM models, going to compare a few then get it ordered. I have a few hundred in Cabela’s gift cards and I love the lifetime warranty of their branded products so I’m inclined to purchase a Cabela’s brand but that LEM is a bit cheaper and looks to be very high quality

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sniper7

I am beginning my setup for meat processing of wild game and would like some advice as to what a good setup will be. I am planning on doing this for a long time and I generally get a couple animals a year plus a lot of waterfowl I’d like to turn into sausage or other products.

i have a vacuum sealer already

we have a nice kitchen aid mixer I can use for mixing spices into the meat

i want a nice electric grinder, I question if I need one with a foot control pedal?
what horsepower do you recommend?

I am also thinking a sausage stuffer would be easier to use then putting the attachments on the grinder?

anything else including recipes for polish dogs, jalapeño cheddar dogs, Italian and breakfast sausage, pepperoni snack sticks.
we really like all the stuff from steves meats and from Hudson meat lockers if that helps with the taste flavors we like. But I just don’t want to justify several hundred dollars each time for processing

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Having done 3 1700+lb steers in the last three years, from killing them to freezer, I will add my comments.

Foot pedal for grinder? Yes. Well worth it. You can go buy one of the foot pedals from HF for cheap, and it makes it well worth it.

We use a Cabelas 1.75HP grinder (looks different than the ones they sell now) but it does well. We double grind the beef, and it doesn't care either time. Typically, when grinding during processing a steer, we double grind batches of 75-100lbs and it doesn't ever seem to get overly warm or struggle.

For doing a LOT of sausage, I would say get a stuffer. The grinder attachments work (we've done this with the deer that my hunting group has brought home), but a real stuffer is faster and more consistent.

Check out this place for supplies.

https://www.waltonsinc.com/

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Originally Posted by PSS

Check out this place for supplies.

https://www.waltonsinc.com/

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R g woods in Littleton is local and has everything you need as well