Skinning a Hanging Roe Deer

Presuming that you are hanging in a garage/ outbuilding without a dedicated chiller how long do you hang the carcase for? atb Tim
 
Thank you, Alex. Another excellent article with some great suggestions.

Now then, do you have any tips for me on skinning a muntjac without leaving the carcass looking as though its had fifty lashes!


I use David Stretton snare bar just skin front legs attach snare bar hang then knuckles, fingers and pull no need to cut off tail just pull very little hair on carcass. Same with Munty's its well worth getting David Stretton's DVD THE STALKERS GUIDE TO VENISON CARCASS BUTCHERY everything you need to know is on the DVD skinning, cuts of meat, boning out etc. Well done Alex i know you say the other side (probably exit wound i take it) was not as clean but then many are the same. Looks a good clean carcass.

Jimbo
 
If you push your hand under the skin each side when you gralloloch it while still warm you will find in the larder the skin will come off easy leaving no meat on it. Thanks for a very good write up.
 
If you push your hand under the skin each side when you gralloloch it while still warm you will find in the larder the skin will come off easy leaving no meat on it. Thanks for a very good write up.

Good little tip there. Easy to do at the time if your remember to make things easier later!
 
Thanks for going to the time and trouble to produce and share Alex, most helpful and appreciated :tiphat:
 
If you takeyour tripe knife down the back of the beast from the tail all the way to theneck and split it off the carcass from the back round to the front you will notlose any of the skirt meat. I use to dothis every time in days gone by but have to admit to being a bit lazy now andnot bothering it’s only a couple of sausages anyway.
I also hang inmy garage and I hang for a variable period depending on time of year, 5 to 7days in summer (I’m in Aberdeenshire where summers are often not that warm) andanything up to three weeks in winter. Theway I judge it is that every day I go and smell the inside of the carcass (yesopen up the ribs and dip your nose in for a good snort). On day one it does not smell of much at all,but as it ages it takes on more and more aroma so when it smells like it didwhen my mother took me to the old fashioned butchers as a small child then Iknow the meat is hung to a good flavour and it will be tender when cooked.
But they aremuch more difficult to skin after this time; I always hang them with their jacket on.
 
I used to skin carcases as per your photos etc, until I went to a slaughter house in Norway where they killed and skinned Sheep and Raindeer.
Since that time I skin from the front end, hanging the animal by the front legs, the skin comes of a LOT easier and cleaner eg little flesh left on the skin.
It makes skinning munties a lot easier!
 
I like the idea of a tripe knife, with the best will in the world I always catch the flesh now and again when skinning, so it takes me longer, with this knife it should make it easier and hopefully a bit quicker, so thanks for the wee tip. Gary
 
Thanks Alex, I use a similar technique but I must admit try as I might I always seesm to end with Deer hair on the carcass to some extent, even cutting the skin from the inside. I don't have a good hanging place, but use an open ladder instead.

Jimbo 30 06 has the right technique for not getting hair on the carcase, or even finger/glove prints, and Masala has the best approach for telling when it's ready, IMHO. Can see from original pics that deer was freshly shot, which limits ability to follow masala's sage advice.
 
Cracking post, great tips as I have not done many.

do you give the meat a rinse from the top to wash off any hair or when butchered? If at all?
 
I would n't wash it down - water gives rise to lots of moisture which revs any bacteria and then washes them all over the carcass. Much better to wipe any hair off with a clean paper towel. I dont worry too much about the odd hair, and to be honest they vanish with a bit of heat when cooking.
 
I have an attic opening in my flat and I tend to lodge a piece of wood there to get the hooks onto. I don't think I have a particular method to the way I skin though, may need to work on that...
 
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