Butchering supplies

[o2fish2day]

Hi All,

Considering butchering our own meat this time round. A couple questions.

Where do I get the wax paper that they wrap everything with in sufficient quantaty? (around Coquitlam area)

If we don't have time to hand the meat does it really matter for Mule deer?

[dukester]

Brown butcher wrap you should be able to pick up at Safeway/Super store/ and Costco has huge roll for under $30.00. double wrap those roasts/steaks for longer freezer periods and single warp for meat you will eat in the 1st 2-3 months. Butcher string i can get at a Dollar store, make sure its cotton. At .90cents / lb holy crap:-o more of us should be cutting out game. Thats why i became a butcher/meat cutter for Costco. :razz: . good luck ..

[Steeleco]

Check out http://stuffers.com/ They have all kinds of items to get you going. For smaller amounts of paper I went to Otter Co-op a little further east on the Fraser Hwy.

[3kills]

all most all grocery stores sell butcher wrap..if u wanna have a roll that will last a while buy it from stuffers...make sure u use good tape other wise it just comes off in the freezer..mule deer can be cut in a day or two they dont really have to hang that long...its more of a personal preference i think...some guys hang there deer for 24 hours some guys hang them for a week...


At .90cents / lb holy crap:eek: more of us should be cutting out game.

holly crap is right who is charging that much??? i though .60/lb was expensive...around here u are payin around .35-.45/lb (last time i checked anyways)

[dukester]

all most all grocery stores sell butcher wrap..if u wanna have a roll that will last a while buy it from stuffers...make sure u use good tape other wise it just comes off in the freezer..mule deer can be cut in a day or two they dont really have to hang that long...its more of a personal preference i think...some guys hang there deer for 24 hours some guys hang them for a week...



holly crap is right who is charging that much??? i though .60/lb was expensive...around here u are payin around .35-.45/lb (last time i checked anyways)
Ft st john butchers. better off bringing a freezer and generator with you up there.

[Pete]

For a full line of butcher supplies, meat grinders, sausage stuffers etc. Go to Halford hides either on line or you can order a catalog.

[Sitkaspruce]

Courtenay/Comox is now .70/lbs.

I bought a grinder, a couple of good boning knives, a paper wrap holder and two large cutting boards and do it all myself. My BT took three hours to trim, cut, wrap and grind, plus another hour to make smokies.

Cheers

SS

[Chuck]

May I please interject with a question or three?.............................

Is brown paper and string preferred? Why not masking tape instead of string? Why not use saran plastic wrap or good zip lock bags instead? Just wondering...didn't mean intentionally to sabotage the thread in any way. Chuck.

[huntergirl270]

May I please interject with a question or three?.............................

Is brown paper and string preferred? Why not masking tape instead of string? Why not use saran plastic wrap or good zip lock bags instead? Just wondering...didn't mean intentionally to sabotage the thread in any way. Chuck.

I believe they are talking about tying the roasts with the string before wrapping in the brown paper. And yes, the paper is taped. The meat paper (tightly wrapped) will give you better freezer burn protection than the saran or freezer bags.

[Steeleco]

I've only been doing it a short while, BUT I use saran for the steaks, roasts and the sausage, then wrap in butcher paper. Ziploc bags fit 1lb of ground very nicely. The string is used for the roasts that come from around the major bones, IE upper leg.

It's a lot more simple that it looks. For me the issue was keeping the meat cool till I could get to it, now that's taken care of, I'll even tackle a smallish moose!!

[krazy]

2 words: VACUUM SEALER

[3kills]

May I please interject with a question or three?.............................

Is brown paper and string preferred? Why not masking tape instead of string? Why not use saran plastic wrap or good zip lock bags instead? Just wondering...didn't mean intentionally to sabotage the thread in any way. Chuck.

i just use the brown wrap with my steaks and roasts cuz it doesnt last long in the freezer..when we make sausages we usually saran wrap it first and then paper wrap it...zip lock bags would work but i think using them would be more expensive

[Barracuda]

freezer burn as far as i understand is a result of the evaporation of water as well as oxygen replaceing it , if it is kept constantly cold enough , void of air space and sealed then in theory you shouldnt get freezer burn as easily.

Ziplocks that are sealed with no air in them work as does Cling wrap but I would say the vacum sealer is the bees knees .

[Huey]

ya whats wrong with the vacuum sealer?

[ElkMasterC]

We've done our own for years.
We wrap in Saran wrap (big industrial roll), and then butcher paper, or, more recently, foil paper.
We lucked into 12 rolls of foil "English Muffin" wrap, and use that instead of paper. Then we finish with masking tape, and label.
Voila!
I have steaks from '06 that are just fine, and I've eaten 3+ year old meat that had no freezer burn at all.
And yes, i would hang the Mulie. Approx 2 degrees C for a week. (Time varies).
What you want to see is the meat have a nice leathery finish (skinned up) and a firm texture.

Mmmm mmm good.

I also have a buddy that hangs it for 4-5 days, then debones and freezes it all.........so there ya go.

And if you get a fair amount of game, a vacuum sealer is very time consuming, and expensive. I think the bags work out to a dollar a foot, or something. Fine if you get small amounts, and great for salmon (we always use it for Springs). To each his own.

[Barracuda]

ya whats wrong with the vacuum sealer?

They are the Dogs Bollocks. :tongue:

[krazy]

And if you get a fair amount of game, a vacuum sealer is very time consuming, and expensive. I think the bags work out to a dollar a foot, or something. Fine if you get small amounts, and great for salmon (we always use it for Springs). To each his own.

Definatley more expensive than plastic & paper but if you add up what it costs you to hunt and (if your lucky) to harvest your animal(s) it's a small extra percentage of the price over paper to ensure optimum qulity and minimize wasted (freezer burned) meat. costco also sells the bags in bulk.

[Mr. Dean]

I use a sealer to package fish.

For game, I plasti wrap in conjuction with a good paper wrap to protect the plastic. I just (past Friday) pulled a deer roast that is exactly 2 years old from the freezer... Tasted like it was in there for 2 weeks.

I had some moose given to me that was packaged in the same fashion from 05. It was definately 'over due'. Yesterday I cranked all of it (10lbs.) into assorted Jerky. Now it's wonderful also....

[tuchodi]

We put all our meat first in plastic bags which I buy from the produce people that you use to put vegetables in, I get a large roll. I then use brown kraft paper which is very inexpensive as the wax part is not necessary. I can keep meat for 2 or 3 years with out any freezer burn.

[Caveman]

May I please interject with a question or three?.............................

Is brown paper and string preferred? Why not masking tape instead of string? Why not use saran plastic wrap or good zip lock bags instead? Just wondering...didn't mean intentionally to sabotage the thread in any way. Chuck.

I like Saran or some other plastic wrap inside the Freezer paper. Seals out the air and will extend the freezer life of meat by months or even years.
The string is to tie the roasts, zip-lock bags are okay but you can't get all the air out and they cost more.