Furry meat!

phillips321

Well-Known Member
Guys,

Each time i get given a deer it comes gralloched and that's it. Thus i need to butcher it myself. What i always find the hardest bit is skinning it without getting the fur everywhere.
What do you guys do to stop the hairs from sticking to the meat? Shaving the deer first is not a practical solution :doh:

Thanks in advance
 
Its a fact of life, but as you do more it becomes much less. Where I find hair really gets in is when you cut down the legs and I often find my knife cut actually cuts hair away from the skin. I prefer to do the initial skinning with the carcass on its back and then once you have the legs skinned, hang it up and then bring the rest of the skin off using your fist to separate the skin from the meat.

Don't worry about the odd bit of hair. Easily wiped off with a paper towel. And if does remain on your roasting joint, five minutes in the oven and its gone away. A braii is also way to cook venison - all evidence of poor skinning is again removed.
 
Its a fact of life, but as you do more it becomes much less. Where I find hair really gets in is when you cut down the legs and I often find my knife cut actually cuts hair away from the skin. I prefer to do the initial skinning with the carcass on its back and then once you have the legs skinned, hang it up and then bring the rest of the skin off using your fist to separate the skin from the meat.

Don't worry about the odd bit of hair. Easily wiped off with a paper towel. And if does remain on your roasting joint, five minutes in the oven and its gone away. A braii is also way to cook venison - all evidence of poor skinning is again removed.

Pardon my ignorance but i'm not a cook, what's a braii?
 
I tend to take a lot of care in skinning as I send the skins off to be tanned. When I gralloch I cut all the way from the pelvic area through the rib cage to the bottom of the jaw. This way when they come out of the chiller I just take a ballpoint knife down the inside of the legs and then working back to front (with the deer on its back) peel the skin down to the table with the aid of a skinning knife. Once both side are done. wipe the table down. turn the beast over and pull the skin whole off the back.

Now the deer is lying on a sterilised table ready to butcher free from any hair.

If I had the facilities to hang the deer up whilst skinning it would be a lot easier but as yet I don't.
 
Each time i get given a deer it comes gralloched and that's it. Thus i need to butcher it myself. What i always find the hardest bit is skinning it without getting the fur everywhere.
What do you guys do to stop the hairs from sticking to the meat? Shaving the deer first is not a practical solution :doh:

What species of deer are you getting?

Hopefully the following should be helpful:
  1. Hang the deer on a gambrel, by the hind legs.
  2. Separate the skin from the flesh starting at the base of the inside of the leg, by hand, using your fist once you have an opening, so that you can get a knife between the flesh and skin.
  3. With the knife between the flesh and skin, cut *outwards* through the skin up to the joint, by where the gambrel is hooked through.
  4. Peel the skin away from the flesh around the top of the leg so that it folds outward.
  5. Repeat on the other hind leg.
  6. In turn skin each leg. When the skin is parting easily just pull downwards as though peeling a banana, however when it gets tough, work your fist in behind the skin to separate the skin from the flesh. The skin should roll outward as you work down each leg.
  7. Continue working downwards as before until you reach the shoulders.
  8. Cut outward along the inside of each front leg, again from the base to the joint. Then peel back to the body as with the hind legs.
  9. Revert to pulling down on the hide and using your hand or fist until you run out of neck (assuming the head has already been removed!).
 
All good advise. All I would add is relax, don't put your self under any pressure, take your time and wash any stray hairs from your hands and knives as required. Jelen did a very interesting video on how to skin a beast a while ago. Might be worth trying to find it.
 
Guys,

Each time i get given a deer it comes gralloched and that's it. Thus i need to butcher it myself. What i always find the hardest bit is skinning it without getting the fur everywhere.
What do you guys do to stop the hairs from sticking to the meat? Shaving the deer first is not a practical solution :doh:

Thanks in advance
Have a look at my video on the top of this page.......cleanest way you will ever dress deer

Atb.....scott
 
...and after all that typing, I have just found the following thread that Alex posted with photos a couple of years back:

What species of deer are you getting?

Hopefully the following should be helpful:
  1. Hang the deer on a gambrel, by the hind legs.
  2. Separate the skin from the flesh starting at the base of the inside of the leg, by hand, using your fist once you have an opening, so that you can get a knife between the flesh and skin.
  3. With the knife between the flesh and skin, cut *outwards* through the skin up to the joint, by where the gambrel is hooked through.
  4. Peel the skin away from the flesh around the top of the leg so that it folds outward.
  5. Repeat on the other hind leg.
  6. In turn skin each leg. When the skin is parting easily just pull downwards as though peeling a banana, however when it gets tough, work your fist in behind the skin to separate the skin from the flesh. The skin should roll outward as you work down each leg.
  7. Continue working downwards as before until you reach the shoulders.
  8. Cut outward along the inside of each front leg, again from the base to the joint. Then peel back to the body as with the hind legs.
  9. Revert to pulling down on the hide and using your hand or fist until you run out of neck (assuming the head has already been removed!).
 
I tend to take a lot of care in skinning as I send the skins off to be tanned. When I gralloch I cut all the way from the pelvic area through the rib cage to the bottom of the jaw. This way when they come out of the chiller I just take a ballpoint knife down the inside of the legs and then working back to front (with the deer on its back) peel the skin down to the table with the aid of a skinning knife. Once both side are done. wipe the table down. turn the beast over and pull the skin whole off the back.

Now the deer is lying on a sterilised table ready to butcher free from any hair.

If I had the facilities to hang the deer up whilst skinning it would be a lot easier but as yet I don't.

Do you mind me asking where you send them for tanning?
 

Exactly.

I try to send them down in batches. (I have 3 Fallow, 9 Roe and 2 Muntjac going next week)

The reason is that they charge £20 for return postage and this is for 1 to 20 skins. If there are a few of you in a local area then sending a batch of as close to 20 as possible saves money.

Also make sure you salt them really well. I use 750g per Roe skin then when all the liquid has leached out apply a fresh batch of 750g again. Once they are salted for a second time you can keep them in a cool dark place for ages.

Best,

J
 
Exactly.

I try to send them down in batches. (I have 3 Fallow, 9 Roe and 2 Muntjac going next week)

The reason is that they charge £20 for return postage and this is for 1 to 20 skins. If there are a few of you in a local area then sending a batch of as close to 20 as possible saves money.

Also make sure you salt them really well. I use 750g per Roe skin then when all the liquid has leached out apply a fresh batch of 750g again. Once they are salted for a second time you can keep them in a cool dark place for ages.

J

Do the skins come back fur in, or as leather?

And what do they charge?
 
Hi Mungo,

The skins come back hair on with a lovely suede like finish on the underside.

Deer skins are £30+VAT each regardless of size. Muntjac are therefore relatively expensive compared with Red but I like to use all I can from beasts I've shot so they all go.

You also have to send a form stating the origins of the animal skins. This is really aimed at registered animals i.e. sheep and cattle where movements need to be recorded. I just state that all the deer were shot by myself on land where I have permission to shoot. This seems to satisfy Devonia.

I can send you the price list and movement form if you PM me your email address.

Best,

James
 
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