Just curious kind of topic. I normally take the tenderloins out right away and eat them within 24 hours...seasoned, bacon wrapped on the BBQ. I like to hang for about 8-10 days if it is cool enough to do so. If any mold is observed starting, then it will get done immediately. Mold will always show up first around the pelvis bone area. I will only do about 5 days if it is in a cooler with a dehumidifier, it is like putting them in a dehydrator. An elk takes at least 3 days for the meat to cool clear to the bone. Backstrap pieces are cut out and sliced up as small steaks. Top rounds from both sides are cut out London Broil style and used for muscle jerky. Bottom rounds are cut into small chunks for bite size. Everything else is grind, as we like to make 25 lbs batches of breakfast sausage. Any other grind is made into jerky with a dry seasoning brine, put through the jerky cannon, and then smoked with hickory or mesquite. My 5 year old loves to help grind and I hear about it if I even think about doing it when he isn't there to help. He has been very "trained" on never sticking his hand into the chute of the grinder. When doing breakfast sausage we grind 20 lbs of trim and 5 lbs of pork suet through a course die. Then the seasoning is applied and hand mixed in really well. Swap in the small die and run through the grinder again. My 5 year old's enthusiasm starts waning quickly on this second grind since it feeds so much slower. The seasoning is simply a pork sausage seasoning packet we get at URM. It doesn't say anywhere on the package how much meat it is supposed to treat, but we've found that 25 lbs is about right for our taste. We simply wrap it in 1 lbs packages like hamburger. On some occasions, like when we have two deer or an elk and have plenty for breakfast sausage, we will do some burger. I like to do about 10% pork suet with it along with some bacon "ends & pieces" from a small local grocery that has a meat cutting department. The burger is outstanding this way IMO...especially if done with elk meat. All meat is carefully trimmed of fat and silver sinew, I'm OCD about it and strongly believe the flavor is much better if you get all of that stuff out of the meat. The last thing we do is some canned meat. This is done with all of the hock, neck, and any other trim that has a high amount of silver in it that would be way too time consuming to try to clean up. Requires at least two deer or an elk to have enough. All of the "poor" grind is cut into 1"x 1" chunks and packed into a quart jar...you don't have to try to clean it up at all. Add 1 tblspn of Lipton's onion cup of soup mix. Put the jars into a pressure cooker and cook for 90 minutes at 12 lbs. After they have been removed and cooled, of course check that the lids sealed. When they are opened after cooling all of the silver and fat has dissolved during the cooking process and rose to the top of the jar. Scoop it out and toss. You are left with pure meat that has a nice consistency that is excellent as a sandwich meat, on top of a cracker, or added in with stroganoff.
Personally, I like to cut mine up with a knife... Not having the time to process the last couple of years, oh wait that's bc you have to shoot one to process. Okay, in years past I have processed myself and I like to grind a bunch with good beef fat, I save the fat caps off a few whole rib eyes and I do a lot of round steaks as well, nothing beats a good chicken fry with jalapeno cream gravy. I had some plans to do some hot links but opted to let my butcher do it due to time constraints.
I cut the tenderloins out and eat them with in the first day or 2. Typically I just cook them in a hot cast iron skillet with butter, salt, pepper and some fresh garlic. I don't let my deer hang as I do not have a garage and don't want it hanging outside because of varmints, including my dog. lol. I skin it within a few hours of the kill. Cut the back straps out and leave them whole. Quarter up and I have a cooler that is big enough to fit an entire deer in including the rib cage/neck. Keep thermometer in cooler and try to keep temp around 40 degrees. After about 5-7 days I will cut back straps into 3 sections each and trim off all silver and fat. Debone front qts and all goes to grind. Back legs I have been taking one of the large muscle ( I call it the ham) but I think its referred to as round, and send it out to be smoked and shaved like lunch meat. The 2 foot ball sized chunks of meat ( Maybe top round?) I leave whole for roast. The other "Ham" I'll cut it to 2 roasts if its big enough. I have a family of 6 so for a meal the roast has to at least be 2 lbs per meal. I then grind everything else in. I do not mix anything with the grind. I try to use rib meat to add some fat. If I am cooking burgers or meat loaf with the grind I will use an egg to help hold everything together. My oldest son who now hunts (he's 13) has been helping me grind since he was 3. He now helps to debone and cut up the meat, especially if its his deer he shot. My youngest son (he is 8) has been helping to grind since he was 3 as well. It's just another element of the hunting process that I enjoy and can pass down to my kids. I think its important for my kids to know the process of where their meat comes from. Both my 2 boys and 2 girls all see the deer dead, they see daddy and brothers cutting it up and know where their meat has come from.
I hang my deer for a week to 10 days. I start with the back strap and filet that out, then the loins. I hope this makes sense in the back legs I seperate the muscle groups. I trim all the fat and silver skin separating the muscles makes it possible. I leave a few roasts but most of the meat is cut up into pound and a half or 2 pound chunks of meat. Most of the venison we eat is grilled or fried medallions.
