Front legs...

karlbird

Well-Known Member
Just done my second butchery of a roe last night, took me 3 hours all told which I was quite pleased with and seen from a thread a few months ago isn't a bad time for an amateur. The second one was much easier than the first, this time having a proper boning/butchery knife and between the 2 having been shown how to do it better.

My question for the assembled masses is what to do with the front legs? There is a bit of blood damage from the shot on the top of the shoulder but what is worth doing with the whole front leg and bits of shoulder I can sacrifice?

Regards,

Karl
 
cut away the bloody bits and make sure no bone splinters etc then dice what you can for slow cooker etc.... or do what i do..... de -bone scrape as much meat as you can get and mince it for burgers or sausages


paul
 
Discard any damaged bits, dice the remainder for stew , or bone out the shoulder you can actually start from the front of the ribs once boned out Roll and tie with string you then have a roast,if you look on google you will see a demonstration of the proper knot, alternativley Bushwear sell oven proof bands that do the same job,if you don't think you can master the knot.
 
Hello Karlbird.

First of all, well done on persevering with the amateur butchery. It becomes easier with time, and sharp knives make a huge difference, as you've found out. Regarding the shoulders, they tend to be a bit damaged on a chest-shot deer. If you think about it, it's the same piece of meat as a shoulder of lamb, with the lower part being a shank, only everything's much smaller and leaner, so on the smaller species, it's very easy to dry out. You could cook it long and slow in the oven, making something like a Greek kleftiko, but honestly, given that you have two haunches, I'd reserve that treatment for them. Instead, I would debone and dice that meat. You'll probably have about a kilo of diced venison from each shoulder on a roe, so which you can add any sizeable offcuts from the rest of the carcass. These I use in stews, cooked long and slow, in a pressure cooker. These always taste better the next day. If it turns out later on that you'd rather mince them, you can always do that. But you can't turn the mince back into meat.

So essentially, I'd say dice them and freeze them in bags that are the right size for each dish. As a guideline, 700g-1kg of diced venison is about right for four people, or two people for a couple of meals.

I forgot that the diced shoulder makes great kebabs on the barbecue in the summer. More details on that if you require them.
 
All mine go for sausages

I really only keep haunches, saddle and fillets for joints or cuts , all other good meat is sausage bound.

I went on a pork and lamb butchery course and had an eye opener on the meat quality used, all the best cuts were used, no rubbish, the guy must have thought I was needy or something I was scratching around the left overs like a manic, sieving every last drop out of the carcase for the sausage tray.

After he said to me have you got a dog?, it sank in pretty rapid about quality

Now the dogs eat venison more and my sausages are top drawer.

main thing is - nothing goes to waste, I even use the bones for fox bait
 
Cheers guys, I'll look to sausage meat or stewing. I dream of the days of enough venison I can afford to be picky!
 
Pine Martin - I cut most of it for stewing, although I was no way near the kilo you mention - there was quite a bit gone from bullet damage. I minced a lot, but probably not as good quality as it should have been - like philip mentions I was scratching about for anything left on the bones! I think I got about 8kg overall including a whole haunch for a roast, one haunch pavee-ed down for steaks, steak from the loin and fillet and then plenty of mince and stew.

I'd be interested in the BBQ kebab recipe though please.
 
I either cut the meat out between them and use it in the mince or I have cut them and done a rack of ribs too - was quite nice. Only done 3 deer though so I am sure some of the more familiar will have other ideas.
 
Pine Martin - I cut most of it for stewing, although I was no way near the kilo you mention - there was quite a bit gone from bullet damage. I minced a lot, but probably not as good quality as it should have been - like philip mentions I was scratching about for anything left on the bones! I think I got about 8kg overall including a whole haunch for a roast, one haunch pavee-ed down for steaks, steak from the loin and fillet and then plenty of mince and stew.

I'd be interested in the BBQ kebab recipe though please.

Oh I just diced it, alternated bits of venison on skewers with onion, peppers and mushrooms, and doused the skewers in olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Then when they were grilled (not too long, you don't want them to dry out), I served them in a flatbread with tzatziki. That's it.
 
My question for the assembled masses is what to do with the front legs? There is a bit of blood damage from the shot on the top of the shoulder but what is worth doing with the whole front leg and bits of shoulder I can sacrifice?
Stew, can, sausage, or burger.

Also, I always take the meat off of the bone. Helps minimize that wild taste.
 
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