Though we have been eating meat and even harvesting animals ourselves for a while now, this was the first time that we did this.
A lot of people know what a cut of meat looks like on a plate. Many could tell the difference between a T-bone and Ribeye, but some don't even know where they come from. Over the past year and a half or so, we have dove into the world of harvesting and processing animals. It has been interesting, and if nothing else, it gives you a better understanding and appreciation for where meat comes from.
The last deer I harvesting was still hanging to cool when the temperature dropped. I figured since it was frozen, I'd leave it, and so it hung for a while. Recently though, there was an increase in the temp, so I took the opportunity to take it down and begin processing it. One of the things on the top of the "wish list" from @mama-pepper was ground meat.
MAKING THE GROUND VENISON
Since our neighbors have a pretty solid meat grinder, @mama-pepper and I decided to take it out for a test drive. Our time was limited, so I just cut up the front legs to see what we could do. We understood the basic process and idea, we had just never tried to ourselves, so we were eager to "get our feet wet."
Soon we had the grinder assembled and the meat cut. Initially we used an attachment with very small holes, so we switched it out for one with larger holes. We ran it through a few times, so here are some more photos of the process and the work that we did.
THE END RESULT, "LEFTOVERS," & TRYING THE FIRST BATCH
In the end, we wound up with a good amount of ground venison. Many people like to mix meats together or add fat from another animal, but I don't think that there is anything wrong with enjoying some nice, lean, ground venison as is.
All that was "left over" is still usable too. The bones will be used to make bone broth and soup stock, and afterwards gifted to some dogs as treats. The tendons and other parts that we cut off instead of trying to grind will be fed to chickens and other animals. If you watch the packaging at the store, you'll notice that some companies like to declare that their chickens were fed a "100% vegetarian diet." This is not what they do on their own, since they will eat bugs, worms, snakes, and other creatures. Instead, it is a nice way for the company to say that they did not feed their chickens all of the other chickens that didn't make it. For us, we are fine with the chickens and other animals eating the scraps from this deer, or from other animals too, just not themselves (cannibalism.)
The next morning I cooked some up and added it to some eggs for our breakfast burritos. We also used some Wisconsin cheese that @paradise-found has sent us. They were some really, really tasty burritos. In the end, our test drive of the meat grinder was a success, the ground venison is tasty, and we know where our food came from!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-meat
Until next time…
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When you say 'harvested' a deer, do you mean you hunted it?
Yes, I hunted it in the wild.
Very good sir. Followed.
Man, @papa-pepper.
You are soooo ahead of me... I loved reading this article.
We don't even have chcikens yet (but a ready to go and assembled coop soo soon there will be a gamechanger coming up here). From teenage times I remember that strange feeling that I always wanted to kill the animal I eat myself. It was a secret for me for a long time, because I thought I would scare people off, talking that "barbarien" talk. It feels good to grow up, stand in for your thoughts and feelings and finding a whole community that thinks alike.
Great that you have a neighbour with grinder to borrow from and how convenient the freezing temperature where. Kepts the meet well protected from flys and critters I guess.
Sound like you are heading the right direction!
Awesomeness @papa-pepper ! you know how much we love our Deer !! to bad my hubby couldnt get one this year , but we did get some given to us ! And when its ground it so versitile ! thanks for sharing the great photos ! upped and resteemed to share with my foodie followers in my @momskitchen blog !! Mmmmmm!👍😋🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐
Here’s a tried and true ground venison recipe for @mama-pepper to try out :)
https://steemit.com/food/@mtnmeadowmomma/venison-meatloaf-recipe-one-of-our-favorite-and-kid-approved-homegrown-dinners
Your venison came out much finer textured than ours does though, so I’d advise backing way off on the milk, maybe start with half the amount to make sure your meat mixture doesn’t completely turn to soup ;)
I think it’s great that your able to harvest and grind your own meat! You can know exactly what is going into your food. Sounds to me like it would be a lot more rewarding to eat after all of that hard work put into it too! :)
True that!
Nice! We don't really have wild deer here, so it's always a treat when I manage to get some. Farmed venison just does not taste the same!
Any photos of the breakfast burrito?
very I know how many difficulties you have encountered while making your meal.
damn! you need some serious 'MUSCLES' (get it?) to flip that! :)
Oh my goodness... whatta hell is that... oww no no no .... easy my old man, be careful... don't put your body on there.... huisssyaaa... great man.
WOW !😋👍👍👍
Q: What do you call a deer with no eyes?
A: I have no I-Deer
:-P
LOL!
Lol nice !
How many times did you put the meat through the mincer?
Here it is only once, the result more like picture 6 than the mushy end product you had.
Here there are hand mincers that you can mount on the kitchen table, crank by hand, and put from bread, vegetables and meat through,
That's awesome! I usually take mine to a processor, but i'm looking forward to doing my own when we have the space available.
We were blessed with the opportunity to do our own!
"Proof-of-Meat" the hottest thing on the blockchain ha!
LOL!
Hi my Steemit friends @papa-pepper .. so nice your post.. i am interest with your post.. your post make us improve our spirit to do daily activities every day..like cooking and etc..
Buy the way..i want to follow you and read All of your post..because i am enjoy while see your blog or your post..
And i hope we can be a friend in thi Steemit.. Steemit is very good aplication and the best idea from steemet.. with Steemit we can meet here.. and we will be best friend..
That is my dream..
Thank you very much to your post.. and in the future i hope we can working together to make our life is happy..
See you later on the next post..
@papa-pepper YUMMY DEER BURGERS !!!
I just ate a big one of those! It was great!
They would be expensive (dear) burgers in a restaurant ;)
I bow hunt deer in the fall and nothing beats cutting out the back-straps right after you skin the deer, slicing them into thin pieces, putting it on a griddle with butter and onions, and then in-between some sourdough bread. Trust me. YUMMMM :)
My husband attacks the backstraps first thing, too! He’ll sometimes marinate them in soy sauce and garlic first.
Never thought of soy sauce and garlic. hmm, I'll have to try it next season. Thanks for the suggestion! :)
Gotta love the backstraps!
very I know how many difficulties you have encountered while making your meal.
The meet looks good
What it taste a like @papa-pepper? it is my first look of the deer meat.
it just tastes like delicious meat... not really sure how to describe it.
It tastes a bit like, actually, a lot like, venison I found. :D
Thats interesting my friend.
Good foods good looking chtpty cucury khiyale that upvote follow me thanks
its really Amazing @papa-peppar thanks for sharing your experience :) ..
Well, after seeing that delicious meat now I am a little bit hungry.
I was ready to sleep but I guess I need a quick snack now.
LOL! - I know the feeling!
It looks delicious the meat of that deer that you enjoy friend greetings
The venison is very tasty @papa-pepper. It was sweet and savory. In Aceh (Indonesia), we often mix the venison into the noodles and sometimes cook it into goulash.
nice
wow papa , this is have more protein , i love this meet , different with cow .
visit my blog papa , i need your support . thank you @madamuhammad
wow steady this kwanku @papa-pepper.
this is what the name of a friend,
it looks very nice.
reminds me of the time i used to cook. @papa-pepper
nice one there
that is awesome..and you are trying new things :)
I have went through the whole process of hunting, cleaning, gutting, freshly procurred meat through the grinder into the freezer or cooking now we go. It's satisfying. But cleaning all those little grinder pieces....SO annoying lol
Mama-Pepper didn't mention anything, but I didn't ask. This one seemed pretty simple to clean, but I'm not sure.
Well this is going back probz 15 years ago for me
Those archaic ones probably had more pieces 😊
wuau eso se ve delicioso ya me dio hambre @papa-pepper sois un crack
Very good article! Sure love me some venison!
nice food.i like your cooking.
How do you know? You never tasted it. 😁
Interesting post.It is like you are exploring new methods of cooking.Cool
-cheers-
Best food is that you have caught or grown yourself!
yummy
😜
Awesome. Grew up in MT with a good amount of deer, elk, and antelope...and since also some black bear and alligator. Good stuff!
I'd like to see the Proof of Steak next time. :P
I'll work on it!
When you added it to the omelette, did you not find it a bit dry? I usually need to add some oil/fat to ground venison.
No, it was really tasty and I did not notice any dryness.
this looks so delicious SIr! I will probably recommend this to my dad and make one soon for our breakfast ;) Thanks for sharing @papa-pepper! :)
I dont think its coming haha it made me hungry :) now here at the fastfood with @reyarobo and @marlon82 have a nice day @papa-pepper :)
I have never tried a deer burger, but I bet they were delicious.
I love how you guys prepare your own meat because you know exactly what you are eating or where it comes from.
We have wild deer come right to our houses almost daily and we live in town and they eat the flowers and leaves of the trees.
Here in Penticton, Canada they are not afraid of people and pretty much live in town, the sad thing is that they get hit by cars a lot.
Great post, like always @papa-pepper
In aceh, venison is very rare, many people want to try it
as always that was a lovey post @papapepper! you kind of love hunting and you have a great taste for beer.
thank you a lot @papa-pepper i saw your hand work on my post, God bless you! i want to drop a post, about your kindness and love toward newbie steemians. with your permission what do you say?
Did you remove all the fat first? It looks like your cuts have no fat, but I suppose deer are pretty low in that category.
First time I tried venison it was made into a sort of salad style, almost with the texture of tuna.
Add some pork fat ;)
Venison is super low fat. Many people add fat to the grind. For example, the processing places will give options to add fat-often pork fat.
Good to see that you are teaching your kids on how and where food comes from and how to use everything as some of our aussie chef's say from nose to tail. look forward to seeing more food post's. lots of Steem @lavender
Nice post beautiful presented and explained.
This is nice and looks delicious, am sure it is.
Where is @mama-pepper?
You made that meat all alone, now am very hungry. Can i have a bite?@papa-pepper
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm yummmmmmmmy
@papa-pepper its very famous here in my country but we add some salt and spices sometimes with parsley too
I wonder how a deer taste like @papa-pepper nice work you did over there boss.
Maybe some day will come over and have a bite :)
Made from scratch is always the best :) Well done :)