A first last nite and butchering question

Grizzly 45

Got my first . Sika deer yesterday.
A nice calf for the freezer.
So question for you lads in the butchering trade.He has been hung as of now overnite in the skin(12/14 hrs).I want to quarter it to fit in my cooler for a few more days.Is this over kill or bad idea on that young an animal,or should I break it down into cuts soonest?
Also if quartering,where are the cut lines on the carcass for 4 clean quarters?
TIA

meathstevie

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Got my first . Sika deer yesterday.
A nice calf for the freezer.
So question for you lads in the butchering trade.He has been hung as of now overnite in the skin(12/14 hrs).I want to quarter it to fit in my cooler for a few more days.Is this over kill or bad idea on that young an animal,or should I break it down into cuts soonest?
Also if quartering,where are the cut lines on the carcass for 4 clean quarters?
TIA

A sika calf is fairly small, I’d be inclined to go down the lines of breaking down a lamb carcass. Back legs, saddle, shoulders and neck. The first two bits for steaks and roast and the last for stew and burgers. A young animal I’d butcher as soon as it’s thoroughly chilled.

Richard308

Obviously it is still going to be tender being a calf. But if it fits in a cooler/fridge complete. The venison will be even more tender. But agree with breakdown of carcass above if it won’t.

Richard308

Obviously it is still going to be tender being a calf. But if it fits in a cooler/fridge complete. The venison will be even more tender. But agree with breakdown of carcass above if it won’t.

clivej

If I was the quarter I'd cut down the spine, now halfed.
Then you can see where the Backstraps are. Then I would cut off the hind quarters leaving as much of the Backstraps on the forequarters.
If the animal is this years calf then after rigor mortis has finished you could butcher up into cuts.
If the animal is over a year then give it 10 days in the fridge, at 4C or less.
When I can I leave the skin on. This stops the outer meat from drying out and you lose less meat.

One of the best venison receipts
https://youtu.be/M0oy3feq-kU

Birdnuts

Sorry to hi-jack this thread but someone mentioned to me recently about online butchery courses for wild game - has anyone found a particularly good one recently??

cookimonster

Once rigor is passed you can break it. I started breaking older animals about three days after first hanging in the fridge. I hang in the jacket to prevent meat drying out.

If it's a very small animal consider keeping the hind legs whole minus the shank, if desired. Keep all four shanks for slow cooking. Separate the two legs in one piece were the spine fuses into the pelvic bone. Be mindful of the hip bone. From front to back incise the meat down to bone in the mid section of the pelvic bone. Saw through the pelvic bone from between the legs out through the spine. Again if the animal is small you may leave the leg intact and roast as is but the pelvic bone can make carving difficult. Remove the pelvic bone by using just the tip of the knife and work in towards the ball socket. Keep the cuts against the bone.
If you want to further break the leg remove the chump first then with the tip of your knife open up the natural seams of the leg. Discounting the chump and shank there are tree main joints, two of which are only connected by tissue and membrane the last is fused to the bone. There is another joint known as the salmon cut which makes great medallions if cross cut, but I tend to cook whole and carve for steak sambos.
With out going over board the main trimming here includes a large artery found under one of the seams, the knee cap and a gland found embedded in hard fat. All individual joints may be roasted or cut across the grain.
The back straps may be removed all the way up to the base of the neck. Young animals will provide very tender cuts all the way up. If you don't like far then remove the outer part of the straps and trim as desired. Cut the straps in half just beyond the start of the rib cage to give better continuity of meat. But as we did a few weeks back during a group butchering session the whole strap was quickly roasted off and carved, serving alternative pieces from top to bottom. I left the 'rind' on and the whole lot would rival spring lamb. It's easier to bone out from a whole carcuss or rib cage then a halved carcass, especially smaller animal's.
The shoulders can be left whole - roasted, slow cooked, boned, stuffed and rolled. Alternatively cut out the deeper parts of meat from the blade and trim fir feather steaks. The shoulder meat is so tender as to lend itself to stirdrys or quick cook dishes like stroganoff (not older animals).
The breast can be halved and cooked covered and served as per ribs. It can be bones out whole rolled tied and pot roasted or all the rib meat and trimmings minced. The neck can be cross cut and cooked as per oxtail or braised chops. Other wise bone out into a sheet roll up and slow cook as a joint. The bone neck piece can be chopped up browned off and slow cooked until it falls apart, sev as a chillies, reserve cold for pie filling or use to beef up a French onion soup.

Scot Rae of youtube has excellent videos on various butchers skills.

Birdnuts

cookimonster wrote: »

Scot Rae of youtube has excellent videos on various butchers skills.

Yeah - checked out a few 2nite and was well impressed:)

clivej

Sage and onion stuffing with added lardons, (fry off first, all from Aldi), stuffed tender loin (backstrap), wrapped in streaky bacon.
Sear, 25-30 minutes at 175C, internal meat temp. - about 60C max. Rest the joint for 10 minutes. Rare and still pink meat.
https://youtu.be/M0oy3feq-kU