Butchering A Steer

JElfering · #1 05/14/06, 04:36 PM

We are getting ready to butcher our jersey steer in July/August. Never did this before. Anyone try this on their own or have ideas for how to get this done. We are Northwoods people who can kill and gut a deer but they are a lot lighter! And we still take them to a place to have them butchered. I thought I saw a program on TV before that said butchers will be a thing of the past and they don't teach that skill anymore.
Thanks for your help,
Jen

james dilley · #2 05/14/06, 04:48 PM

Check with your County Agent. Or try the Library, They should have books on Butchering At home..

Rockin'B · #3 05/14/06, 06:28 PM

Does the place that cuts up your deer also do cattle and pigs?

I'd start there.

Bring him in live and pick up meat 3 weeks later.

agmantoo · #4 05/14/06, 08:04 PM

If you can kill and gut a deer why not invest in some tools to complete the process? There are no immediate compelling requirements to become a professional meat cutter in order to provide good decent clean meat for the table. Have you ever closely observed deer processors? The ones I have seen leave a lot to be desired when it comes to being sanitary. Shot up gut busted contaiminated meat is comingled by sending everyones meat through the same equipment. If you were to purchase a grinder, some nice knives, a cheap meat saw, some plastic storage containers, a used chest freezer and a thermostat for same and a quality come-a-long that would have you enough tools to start. In processing your own meat you are assured of getting your own animal back (this does not always happen at processors). Initially, just cut the choicest cuts for packaging as steaks, roasts, fillets, etc. The balance or unknown cuts can be ground into burger. Nearly everyone eats burger and it can be used in so many different ways. Grinding also overcomes toughness. The costs for setting up a basic at home processing setup will be paid for quickly.

teletiger · #5 05/15/06, 11:12 AM

If you do butcher at home, what do you do with the head,hide feet entrails?
regards

commomsense · #6 05/15/06, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teletiger

If you do butcher at home, what do you do with the head,hide feet entrails?
regards

We just throw the head,feet,and entrails over in the woods and let the wildlife do the rest. We tan the hides most of the time.

JElfering: I would wait till winter. Don't have to worry about the bugs,and the heat ruining the meat.

tallpines · #7 05/15/06, 11:42 AM

Ummmm!

Fresh liver and heart!

Up North · #8 05/15/06, 07:17 PM

Agree with commonsense. Best done after a hard frost. After November 1st works good in Northern WI. You will want to let the beef hang for at least three days before cutting and wrapping, and this is more easily done in the winter.

agmantoo · #9 05/15/06, 08:14 PM

You can age the meat in the chest freezer provided you buy a thermostat to control the temp close to 32 degrees. I age all my venison in a freezer/cooler. I processed a steer the same way and it went fine.

Sprout · #10 05/15/06, 09:36 PM

Make sure you are careful right after you've shot the steer. Their brain stem is still working and they can knock you out even though their not consience. If he's still kicking wait, don't try to rush in and cut the neck you'll likley get hurt and then go down right next to a flailing steer.

#11 05/15/06, 10:58 PM

There's no way you could butcher a steer in July/august around here. Before you even get the hide off the fly's would already have it blowded! My suggestions would be that if the steer could put on a few more pounds then wait till colder weather before processing. Unless you are emailing from the North Pole!

unioncreek · #12 05/16/06, 02:02 PM

I'd wait until fall and then butcher. Leave it hang for two weeks so that it can age and become more tender.

Bobg

DJ in WA · #13 05/16/06, 10:22 PM

As for the spare parts, I bury guts and hide in a big compost pile - protein becomes nitrogen for fertilizer. Sometimes dogs dig some out and eat them - I figure that's good dog food (coyotes eat all the guts of carcasses). Legs and feet go into the dog pen - dogs enjoy it for months. You have to pay for hooves in the stores for pets.

Some tell me this will make the dogs want to kill cows, but they don't equate a leg bone with a cow 20 times their size.

Last year I threw a head in their pen - daughters initially didn't like seeing "Billy" lying there, but they got used to it. Alot of good dog food on a skull. They even chewed the horns off, which bothered me as I was going to mount them on the hood of my old Honda. Would allow me to be a cowboy without having to drive a less fuel efficient pickup.

ozark_jewels · #14 05/17/06, 01:44 PM

As for the guts, legs, head and such....we have the beef butchered far enough away from the house that the smell won't bother us, but close enough that the dogs will hang around and keep the coyotes away while they eat on the free dogfood for a week or so. By the end of a week, there is nothing left but bones and the dogs are fat and sassy.

big rockpile · #15 05/17/06, 02:11 PM

We do all our butchering.Big stuff durring cold weather.

The last Beef we butcherd.Had two Guys from New Jersy and one Blind Woman going to help.The Guys left soon as they lost their cookies while I was gutting it.Then the blind Woman was all hands on,working with a knife.My wife was afraid she was going to cut me.

big rockpile

JElfering · #16 05/18/06, 05:28 PM

Thanks for the input! I agree that waiting until the November frost would be a good thing but the steer will be approaching 20 months. Will this make the jersey tough. I know he will be bigger but....?

I would love to do this on my own. Thanks for the encouragement "agmantoo"! Hears hoping DH feels the same way. I too have heard about the unfortunate incidents with venison.

I'll let you know in a few months how it turns out.

Up North · #17 05/19/06, 07:50 AM

[QUOTE=JElfering]Thanks for the input! I agree that waiting until the November frost would be a good thing but the steer will be approaching 20 months. Will this make the jersey tough. I know he will be bigger but....?

I would love to do this on my own. Thanks for the encouragement "agmantoo"! Hears hoping DH feels the same way. I too have heard about the unfortunate incidents with venison.

I'll let you know in a few months how it turns out.[/QUOT...
...Steer should turn out fine eating if you feed corn last 2-3 months and avoid situation where it is doing excessive amounts of walking or running. If a steer has too large of an area, or if other animals are causing it to run( such as dogs or horses) then the meat will be too lean and some toughness may develop....I was reading the other day where people in France wait until steers are 4-5 years of age before eating!..go figure?....20 months shouldn't be too much of a concern if "finished" properly.

buspete · #18 05/19/06, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by big rockpile

The last Beef we butcherd.Had two Guys from New Jersy and one Blind Woman going to help.The Guys left soon as they lost their cookies while I was gutting it.Then the blind Woman was all hands on,working with a knife.My wife was afraid she was going to cut me.

I gotta say: this sounds like the begining of a bad joke..."Two guys from NJ and a blind woman walk into a bar...."

What temperature does the meat need to be aged at? Our Holstein bull calf has a long way to go, but it's wise to plan ahead. If we were to get our hands on a second chest freezer and set it to just above freezing to age the meat, is that any better or worse than just letting it hang outside in winter?

Yldrosie · #19 05/19/06, 11:38 AM

After you kill the animal, roll it onto it's back and use a couple of bales of hay to keep it there. It can be gutted and skinned in that position. Make yourself a tripod and place it above the animal a little past the middle and towards the tail end. It will be a lot easier to lift after all the non essential parts are removed.

Up North · #20 05/19/06, 02:09 PM

Hanging a beef from the bucket or bale forks of tractor frontend loader works well. Then you can lift to different heights as you work, run it all way up in air when done so dogs and cats can't reach the hanging carcass. You are also mobile, you can back into pole barn or shop, shut doors to stay out of bad weather and keep birds off.
For halving & quartering the carcass, you can take a chainsaw, replace bar& chain oil with vegetable oil and it cuts fast and saves labor. A good Sawzall could also be used for this purpose.
We usually let halves hang off loader parked in shed at 42F or colder temps.