You’ve taken that deer, and now you must decide if you want to pay money to get it professionally processed, or butcher it yourself.
It may seem like a big task if you’ve never done it before, but below are some tips to help you cut up that hind quarter.
- Follow the natural seams of the structure of the muscles. You are not cutting into the muscles, rather you are separating them. Separating them is equal parts using your hands to pull apart the muscles as it is helping with your knife.
- Once the large bottom round is separated, you will see the hind leg gland. Remove it. The bottom round makes good steaks.
- The bottom round and eye-round are tough, collagen rich muscles. They DO NOT make good steaks. We grind them or make jerky.
- The shank is often ground along with the bottom round and eye-round, however they can make a great braised dish.
- Use your fingers to separate the sirloin and top round as much as possible. Use the knife to separate the top round first and then follow the bone to separate the sirloin.
- Remove the fat, bloodshot and discolored meat and dirt. Leave the silver skin on though because it protects the meat during the wet aging and freezer time.
- Vacuum pack the cuts.
- Wet age if you prefer.
Generally, the top part of the hind leg is more tender. The further down you go the higher concentration of collagen and therefore tougher meat. With aging you get more flavorful and tender steaks from the top muscles and improved stew and braising meat from the bottom.
