How to speed up skinning and butchery?

[Foxyboy43]

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

Yeugh!

 

[rem284]

Looks like there's more than one way to skin a cat

 

[ABL]

Having taken more than five hours to skin and butcher a fallow pricket last night, I'm very keen to try to speed up the process. Any advice or tips warmly welcomed!
It took me 25 minutes to skin: I first peel the skin back from the front legs and the hocks with the carcass on the floor, then hang it from a winch and use a combination of knife and pulling.
It then took about 2.5 hours to butcher: I kept the shanks whole; trimmed the fillets (tenderloins/ backstraps) and cut into individual portions; cut the largest muscles of the haunches into pavé steaks and diced the rest; minced the shoulders and other trim.
Packing into individual portions, cutting the roll of vacuum pack, vacuum packing with my Aldi vacuum packer, and labelling, took more than another two hours. Plus all the cleaning up at the end.
From that I got:
2 packs of 2 shanks each, 1.3kg: £10 each
3 packs of fillet portions, from 360g - 810g. From £19 - £43.
6 packs of pavé steaks, around £8 each
10 packs of mince 500g, £7 each
11 packs diced 500g, £7 each
Total £319.50

One thing I'll do immediately is upgrade my vacuum packer to a Buffalo CN414, which seems heavier duty. I'm also buying ready to use vacuum bags from now on, as cutting/ sealing each bag is a massive time waster, I now realise!

But any other tips for how to speed this whole process up, or to increase income from a carcass, will be gratefully received. I've attached my price list so you can see what I charge. My setup is very small and I only have one butchery table, so have to move stuff around quite a lot. I process an average of 2.5 carcasses a month, mostly roe, sometimes fallow.

Those look pretty strong prices. Are you selling direct to people you know or running this through a farm shop outlet?

 

[75]

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.

I had a vac packer like that a while ago - Andrew James one I think. Very slow going. I have a Lava one now and no "cooling off period" in between each use so speeds things up a lot.

 

[VSS]

Those look pretty strong prices. Are you selling direct to people you know or running this through a farm shop outlet?

Looks pretty fair to me.

 

[Grand Slam]

I had a vac packer like that a while ago - Andrew James one I think. Very slow going. I have a Lava one now and no "cooling off period" in between each use so speeds things up a lot.

I am glad I went over to the La.va range. Not the cheapest but certainly one of the best out there.

 

[Grand Slam]

Those look pretty strong prices. Are you selling direct to people you know or running this through a farm shop outlet?

Looks about right.

 

[pob]

I am glad I went over to the La.va range. Not the cheapest but certainly one of the best out there.

Do you still need to hold the unit closed by hand whilst vacuum sealing?

 

[Grand Slam]

Do you still need to hold the unit closed by hand whilst vacuum sealing?

Depending on what you are vacuuming I find that initially, some pressure on the outer edges of the lid help but once it begins to gain pressure there is absolutely no need to maintain any physical pressure.

 

[75]

Depending on what you are vacuuming I find that initially, some pressure on the outer edges of the lid help but once it begins to gain pressure there is absolutely no need to maintain any physical pressure.

Agreed - there are magnets in there to hold the lid shut but you need to apply a bit of pressure to "get the suck going" and then it's hands off while it does the sealing etc. I guess for a typical 500g bag of stewing I'd hold the lid shut for 5 secs or so.

 

[Grand Slam]

Agreed - there are magnets in there to hold the lid shut but you need to apply a bit of pressure to "get the suck going" and then it's hands off while it does the sealing etc. I guess for a typical 500g bag of stewing I'd hold the lid shut for 5 secs or so.

Sounds about right. I think the adjustable seal timer is a great little feature also. If you time it all right then the next bag is packed and good to go when the cycle finishes.

And a shameless plug to finish. If anyone is interested in any of the La.va / Landig range then I can offer a small discount from the Game Larder website.

Discount code is AGM5

Not a huge amount anything is better than nothing.

 

[.25-06]

For some visual skinning poetry find Oz the kiwi homekill guy on YouTube.

Oz The Kiwi homekill guy

I am a homekill slaughterman in New Zealand. I kill,skin,gut and prepare animals for the butcher to process for people who want their animals to eat and don't have the skills or equipment needed to do this.The videos put on here are intended to educate the poorly and misinformed people out there...

youtube.com

 

[pob]

Sounds about right. I think the adjustable seal timer is a great little feature also. If you time it all right then the next bag is packed and good to go when the cycle finishes.

And a shameless plug to finish. If anyone is interested in any of the La.va / Landig range then I can offer a small discount from the Game Larder website.

Discount code is AGM5

Not a huge amount anything is better than nothing.

I now know what my wife is getting me for Christmas.
(Relieved that's sorted for another year...)

 

[Grand Slam]

Hopefully that discount code will still be active then. If not I am sure I will have another to share.

I now know what my wife is getting me for Christmas.
(Relieved that's sorted for another year...)

 

[pazmino]

Those look pretty strong prices. Are you selling direct to people you know or running this through a farm shop outlet?

Just very locally, either to people who have become repeat customers or to anyone who sees my (very limited) publicity in my and neighbouring villages. I also hooked up with the local veg box supplier, so people can order with their veg.

 

[ABL]

Looks about right.

That’s good to know. A lot here seem to be selling at much lower prices.

 

[Grand Slam]

That’s good to know. A lot here seem to be selling at much lower prices.

So many variables when it comes to selling your venison. Geographical location plays a part also. @VSS made a very valid point at the stalking show, explaining that as a rough guide, for a fully processed carcass you should be looking at around 10 times the larder weigh in monetary return. Lots of reasons why some people never reach that amount but each person is different.

 

[ABL]

Was really sorry not to see VSS. I was there on the Saturday but only for a few hours and had to leg it with the family. Is there a recording of his presentation?

 

[VSS]

Was really sorry not to see VSS. I was there on the Saturday but only for a few hours and had to leg it with the family. Is there a recording of his presentation?

I didn't do a presentation.
I was just part of a stage panel discussing and answering questions on setting up a small venison retail business.
I think all of the other panelists were SD members too.

 

[slider]

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.

skinning while the beast is still warm is so much easier! I now do this with all my roe and am convince it make no difference to the end product