How to speed up skinning and butchery?
- Thread starter pazmino
- Start date
kieran222
Well-Known Member
That's the easy part, once you start breaking down further, trimming, mincing, labeling, etc, and all of the cleaning up after that is where the time is spent.
Roe are easy to skin and break down into quarters, particularly if they haven’t been in the chiller for too long.
I usually butcher within 2 or 3 days, but certainlyalwayswithin a week. Can't say i suffered any drying of the carcass.
I hang in skin for at least a week.
Venison from carcasses that have been skinned before hanging often looks black and unappetitising. Plus it's virtually impossible to remove membranes from the surface of the meat once it's dry.
I don't want to put that sort of thing in front of my customers.
I do skin carcasses the evening before I intend to butcher them, just to make them a little firmer and easier to handle.
Is venison a "wetter meat than other species? I'm assuming it's partly because of lack of fat or as VSS says above, it doesn't hang as long when skinned, so retains more moisture.
It's not so much that it's wetter. It's more a case that if you take the skin off there's nothing much to stop it drying out. Although some deer can be quite fat, most don't have the layer of all over subcutaneous fat for protection like a lamb or beef carcass has.
Also, venison exposed to the air goes black, which is another reason to keep it covered (with skin) during maturation.
Just to revisit this thread for a minute, this screenshot from the video of Ben Rigby Game's larder operation shows that they have a bar fixed to the floor in order to use a winch to skin large deer such as reds or fallow. I just wondered if anyone on here has ever done something similar? It looks like a simple and effective setup?
Attachments
Yes, I do it sometimes if I'm really struggling with a big one. But only as a last resort, because it doesn't result in a very tidy carcass, imo.
Similar
Unless you are doing it with a freshly shot carcass it doesn't go well for me and it's usually a final resort with a big bastard.I had one of the ratchet rollers shown below from David Stretton but let it go as it just wasn't being used and the ideal arrangement for me is similar to that in the Rigby's photo, a robust ground anchor using a snatch block. The real issue I have is how you grip the skin? I have some of Stretton's wire loops but unless you do a lot, it takes time for the wires to achieve a "set". I've seen some self clamping jaws but they no longer seem to be available anywhere. Anyone got a set they want to move on?
Last edited:
I have been looking at a similar set up but my only issue I currently have is a restriction in height for the winch. I have a set of Deer Skinning Tool which do work albeit they are quite large but do allow a lot of force to be applied in specific areas if needed.Similar
I had one of the ratchet rollers shown below from David Stretton but let it go as it just was being used and the ideal arrangement for me is similar to that in the photo, a robust ground anchor using a snatch block. The real issue I have is how you grip the skin? I have some of Stretton's wire loops but unless you do a lot, it takes time for the wires to achieve a "set". I've seen some self clamping jaws but they no longer seem to be available anywhere. Anyone got a set they want to move on?
View attachment 471786View attachment 471788
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
It typically takes me 45 mins to skin and breakdown two cwd into primals and offcutts and then another hour to take the primals and trim them up into steaks /joints and vac pack everything up, maybe 90 mins if I am mincing offcuts or doing chops.
For me that is fast enough.
For me that is fast enough.
Adam f
Well-Known Member
THIS! The Mora Roeing knife is hands down the best bit of kit Ive bought for faster and neater skinning.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
Frosts Mora Roeing and Bleeding Knife – Deer Central
deercentral.co.uk
They are pretty decent. I have one but also one of the Landig ones. Handy for the bigger deer species and razor sharp.THIS! The Mora Roeing knife is hands down the best bit of kit Ive bought for faster and neater skinning.
Frosts Mora Roeing and Bleeding Knife – Deer Central
16cm Gralloching / Skinning Kinfe
This is interesting, as I suffer from too much hair, except on my head. So it needs to be very hot? And that will collect the hairs?
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Could be that your chiller volume is a bit on the small side for the fan within, which would result in a bit more drying than is ideal.
Would something like these work, do you think?Similar
I had one of the ratchet rollers shown below from David Stretton but let it go as it just wasn't being used and the ideal arrangement for me is similar to that in the Rigby's photo, a robust ground anchor using a snatch block. The real issue I have is how you grip the skin? I have some of Stretton's wire loops but unless you do a lot, it takes time for the wires to achieve a "set". I've seen some self clamping jaws but they no longer seem to be available anywhere. Anyone got a set they want to move on?
View attachment 471786View attachment 471788
I also operate in a larder with a fairly low ceiling. My winch is on a movable frame just above my head. But I was thinking if one has a roller or some kind of hook fixed to the floor to loop the winch cable through, height wouldn't be such an issue, and it would then just pull the skin down?
They may grip but messy to clean - looking for something that can be thrown in the dishwashwer after use.
Exactly what I do with the snatch block on the floor
You need a roller of some kind, not a ring.
Pay someone to do it…….
My butcher would do all of that for £50-60 depending on the size of the animal.
Similar threads
