How to speed up skinning and butchery?

[NullMac]

Don’t be so picky trying to get all the venison available. That takes time and is often just for a bit extra mince or poorer cuts.

Take the big cuts out with some care. The rest of it get it off fast and don’t worry about leaving mince/dog venison behind.

Unless you are doing it frequently, I mean a lot, you won’t speed up much.

It’s your time so do what works for you

 

[muddy42]

I have been butchering since I was a teenager, Im not sure I could do a fallow much quicker. The quicker you go, the more likely you are to cut yourself!
Couple of things:
- I find it quicker to start with the deer hanging by its rear legs. Take each leg off in turn, skin a little bit, then its basically all pulling after that.
- don't be too precious about dicing every piece of meat off the ribcage, neck or front leg for example. scap any shot damage.
- mincing is the quickest, especially with a decent mincer.
- I use two sizes of Individual vac pack bags (30x22 and ? smaller one) rather than cutting a roll. again quicker
- A large table and lots of boards and bowls helps keep you going.

 

[pazmino]

I also use this method. Usually hang from the head, incision behind the neck just below base of skull and using ball tipped knife work down to tail, no other cuts required. (Assuming the chest has already been split with the cut following up to the throat area). Only used this method on roe and Munty but find that they skin much more easily and quickly from head to tail.

Interesting, thanks. So you leave the head on when gralloching and hanging in the chiller? I've never done that.

 

[pazmino]

Practice practice.

Shot a Roe Buck couple of days ago early in the morning. Took me half an hour to get it back to the car. Beautiful morning in the woods so hung it on a tree. Skinned and into major joints ready for the fridge. Took me about 20 minutes.

Sharp knives help. I do most with a Mora, but also have Mora Roeing knife which is great for removing loins etc. i have several. All sharp. As one goes off, pick up another.

After washing them, a few strokes on steel and they are sharp again.

Yes, until v recently I didn't sharpen my knife as I went, as I worried about getting blood etc on the steel, thinking it shouldn't be washed, but I've started using it as I go and just wash it at the end.

 

[pazmino]

Only thing I found with the "cheaper" vacuum machines was the tendency to overheat when trying to vac pack a load of cuts / sausages / burgers one after the other. An upgrade to a La.va one sorted that issue out as it wont overheat until at least 1000 seals one after the other, a figure which i very much doubt I will ever get close to in a day.

Yes, that's why I've decided to upgrade from the Aldi vacuum packer, you have to pause between every use for it to cool down a bit which becomes a real pain after a while.

 

[Sandy25]

Interesting, thanks. So you leave the head on when gralloching and hanging in the chiller? I've never done that.

I take head and legs off before it gets chilled, then when it comes to skin I will free it off the hocks before hanging it up.
Then skin the haunches down to the tail and cut tail off.
Insert blunt taped knife where skin meets anal passage and cut all the way down to the neck.
Then grab one side and pull it straight off, freeing up with a knife as and when I need to.

you can do it the other way and suspend by the front legs but it is whatever works for you really.

 

[wytonpjs]

As others have said, I’d consider your time reasonable doing what you are and taking care in the product you provide. There’s been a few post on here about yield and I posted a breakdown of a fallow pricket here. Your prices are better than what I can get locally here though!

I tend to skin and then hold the carcass in the chiller for 24 hours to dry a little the meat before quartering and then processing those cuts in my kitchen. As others say, go for bags - you don’t need many different sizes and I’ve found the 220x330 does most of my mince, diced haunch and with the addition of salmon boards, my steaks and loins. As I’m close to Nisbetts main clearance outlet I have quite a few Vogue Gastronorm stainless steel catering trays into which carcass cuts go initially before being processed. Vogue make a gas-tight sealing cover for the smaller Gastronorms and I find those invaluable for ensuring that trimmings don’t dry out in my intermediate fridge whilst I’m processing the loins, etc. When processing, I’ve stopped offering a wide variety of cuts and concentrate on those that sell well from the Farm Shop that takes most of my product. I’m about to go into summer mode so less diced haunch and more kebabs and burgers. I hate making sausages as it’s so much more faff than burgers. I do have a chamber vacuum but I prefer my semi-professional embossed vacuum bag machine and as I’m weighing the next out, the previous is finishing sealing. Making good labels is essential IMHO and there threads on here about using Brother printers to do just that.

 

[Apthorpe]

If short of time, I skin and break it down into legs, shoulders, loins etc, vacuum pack those and then do the further cutting, dicing, mincing and individual portions a more convenient time over the next few days.

 

[pazmino]

As others have said, I’d consider your time reasonable doing what you are and taking care in the product you provide. There’s been a few post on here about yield and I posted a breakdown of a fallow pricket here. Your prices are better than what I can get locally here though!

I tend to skin and then hold the carcass in the chiller for 24 hours to dry a little the meat before quartering and then processing those cuts in my kitchen. As others say, go for bags - you don’t need many different sizes and I’ve found the 220x330 does most of my mince, diced haunch and with the addition of salmon boards, my steaks and loins. As I’m close to Nisbetts main clearance outlet I have quite a few Vogue Gastronorm stainless steel catering trays into which carcass cuts go initially before being processed. Vogue make a gas-tight sealing cover for the smaller Gastronorms and I find those invaluable for ensuring that trimmings don’t dry out in my intermediate fridge whilst I’m processing the loins, etc. When processing, I’ve stopped offering a wide variety of cuts and concentrate on those that sell well from the Farm Shop that takes most of my product. I’m about to go into summer mode so less diced haunch and more kebabs and burgers. I hate making sausages as it’s so much more faff than burgers. I do have a chamber vacuum but I prefer my semi-professional embossed vacuum bag machine and as I’m weighing the next out, the previous is finishing sealing. Making good labels is essential IMHO and there threads on here about using Brother printers to do just that.

Thanks, and very useful tip about the Gastronorm trays - those do look useful. re labels, at the moment I print blank labels with my logo etc out on label sheets and fill each one in by hand - i wasn't sure whether a label printer would actually save me time...

 

[Foxyboy43]

There you go, skinning made easy…

 

[HonestJohn]

There you go, skinning made easy…

But if you do it with a landrover it will break down halfway, and you’ll have a deer hanging at a 45 degree angle under tension

 

[SussexSteve]

Buy a tripe knife to skin. I can do one in a minute with the right cuts don’t rush your butchery best to keep all your fingers and take a bit longer

 

[pazmino]

There you go, skinning made easy…

Ha ha! In all seriousness, I have wondered if there's a way of using a winch to skin the carcasses - this video at about 5:20 makes it look very quick and easy. I'd have to have some kind of pulley in the floor though, which would be a hell of a trip hazard in my small larder.

 

[pob]

Like everyone else, I think you're doing pretty well.
You've already spotted that pre-made bags will save you time. I've long since stopped using the rolls.

For labelling, I use a Brother QL810-W and have a P-touch template which makes things much easier. Buying the original labels really makes a difference too.



I often find it difficult to set aside 4-5 hours to do a whole carcass in one go, and it's really a bit of a grind and not a lot of fun. I most often skin in the field from my tow-hitch winch and bring the carcass home in an Alaska game bag/muslin to go straight in the chiller. If pushed, I can break it down in shorter sessions over a period of days. It doesn't shorten the overall effort, but it makes it easier to fit around other things.

 

[willowbank]

something like a roeing knife or tripe knife which has a ball on the tip so cant penetrate the muscle is the best tool for the job. Insert it at the back then cut outwards - plenty of videos on YouTube etc if you have any issues

Tip… always cut outward to save getting loose hair everywhere, I use cloths soaked in very hot water and wrung out to wipe off any loose hairs.

WB

 

[wytonpjs]

Thanks, and very useful tip about the Gastronorm trays - those do look useful. re labels, at the moment I print blank labels with my logo etc out on label sheets and fill each one in by hand - i wasn't sure whether a label printer would actually save me time...

In my case, it saves a lot of time. The wife created me a database into which I enter all details about the stalk, carcass and cuts produced using dropdown menus and inbuilt pricing tables. The result is the spreadsheet in my linked post above which feeds straight into the Brother P-Touch app and populates my labels with the cut details - each cut has a unique product number for complete traceability. Adding the cuts is quick and at the press of a button, the labels spew out of the printer. Useful for adding ingredients lists too to comply with food labelling requirements

 

[Bigjohncat]

I have one of these sealers picked up in as new condition off FB marketplace for £15. Works a treat and is decent quality build.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Ha ha! In all seriousness, I have wondered if there's a way of using a winch to skin the carcasses - this video at about 5:20 makes it look very quick and easy. I'd have to have some kind of pulley in the floor though, which would be a hell of a trip hazard in my small larder.

No sooner said….

or

Do let us know how you get on…..

 

[wytonpjs]

Do let us know how you get on…..

Air inflation used to be quite common I understand but the issue is most compressors utilise an oil mist to lubricate the piston so if used, need superior filtration to prevent carcass contamination - just saying

 

[pazmino]

No sooner said….

or

Do let us know how you get on…..

That first video looks very tidy!