Best Xmas Present. Meat grinder.

[DammitJanet]

We got Tony a meat grinder for Xmas. I know, doesnt sound like a present most folks would long for. It is a huge hit for us. Because he hunts for deer and we dont have anyone locally that prepares the meat after the hunt, Tony has been cleaning his own deer and just making roasts, steaks and stew meat. Now he can make sausage and ground meat. He is ecstatic. LOL.

He has killed 5 deer this season so we will have plenty of meat to help us with the food bill this coming year. Especially now that we can make ground meat. He has been playing with it all day. Keyana is just fascinated. She helped him clean a deer earlier this week and she just loves the idea that she is helping to put food in the freezer. I know...odd huh?

 

[gcvmom]

That's very cool. I used to have one of the old fashioned hand-crank grinders that clamp on a counter or table top. Never used it, so when I got my stand mixer with its grinder attachment I donated it to Goodwill.

Happy grinding, Tony!

 

[DaisyFace]

Janet--

That sounds like a GREAT gift! I know that if we had one we would definitely use it (hint hint to anyone else who may be thinking of donating theirs to the Goodwill).

 

[Hound dog]

Does sound like it will come in handy. I'm not a huge fan of deer meat. I can eat it given no choice......but I dunno it just doesn't quite do it for me. Rabbit on the other hand....delicious.......except Nichole would never forgive me. lol

As to the deer meat....I still believe it's how it was prepared. The first time I ate it (it was a kill of my uncle's) it was downright FOUL. Second time someone made a meatloaf using deer meat......and maybe I'd have done better with it had I been prepared for it. Know what I mean?? Third time was a stew and it wasn't too bad.

Already 5 deer huh? Too bad Tony can't come up and thin them out around here.

 

[donna723]

Too bad Tony didn't get the one that ran out in front of my car a while back! I've long since gotten over any sentimental feelings that I ever had about deer after 'Bambi's mama' totalled my car!

 

[nvts]

Anyone else hearing the theme song for "Sweeny Todd" going through their head right about now?

Glad he like his present - isn't funny how certain things just "do it" for the holidays? My favorite present was a dvd of the Life of Brian (Monty Python) and the socks that my mother in law/BFF got me.

Beth

 

[donna723]

nvts, the Life of Brian is one of my all-time favorite movies but I hadn't seen it for a long, long time. Then when we were in South Carolina at Christmas my sister in law mentioned that he had it! Turns out he had it all along but never played it while I was there before because he was afraid that I might be 'offended'! I don't know where he ever got that idea! He now knows that I am a HUGE Monty Python fan - I used to watch it years ago when they had the weekly show and have seen all the movies ... we watched the movie again and all laughed ourself sick over it!

 

[nvts]

I ended up on the couch 2 nights after Christmas watching a double header of the Life of Brian and Holy Grail. I needed to laugh like that soooo much and I'm giggling just thinking of it!

I guess I'm just a "silly English kan-igggg-it"!

Beth

 

[DammitJanet]

Daisy....Deer meat is all in the way people prepare the meat. Tony lets his soak in ice water for three days before even starting to process it so that the blood can thin out. That gets the gamey taste out.

I make the best stew meat out of it by taking chunks of it that he cuts off and putting them in this huge dutch oven that can hold probably 7 pounds of cubed meat. I put in a large can of cream of mushroom soup and two packets of onion soup mix and stick it in the oven on 350 for about 3 to 4 hours. The dutch oven is covered so it just bakes in its own juices. When it comes out it is just a huge pot of meat and brown gravy. I save this in plastic containers in meal sizes to make stews or beef and rice or beef and noodles.

 

[Hound dog]

Janet I've heard that about deer meat. Some day I'll have to find a way to taste some of Tony's. Cuz I know it's the gamey taste that gets to me. It's always been too strong in what I've had so far. Except when I had it in the stew.....wasn't too bad in that. And All the times I've had it it has been prepared by different people. The way you described how you make it for stew sounds downright yummy.

Evidently the people I'm getting it from don't know what they're doing. lol I know my uncle certainly didn't. It was his 1st deer.

 

[Mattsmom277]

I think it sounds like a great gift for a hunter kinda guy!!! And I bet the ground meat and sausages he'll make now will be delicious. I'm the biggest fan of deer steak, stew and especially sausages on the bbq. I've always had a good experience, I guess the people I get it from know how to get the game taste out well.
I'm coming for dinner!!

 

[GoingNorth]

We've always handled venison as if we were preparing it to be eaten in Kosher style: the meat is soaked in a cold brine overnight before processing further.

As Janet said, this gets the blood out of the meat and gets rid of much of the gamey taste.

At one time husband and I had ALL our animals on a home-prepared raw diet. I was grinding up a ton of meat, bones and all, in a hand grinder.

Our gift to each other one year was an electric, commercial meat grinder. Makes life a lot easier when you are talking about buying chicken necks and backs in 40 lb cases.

 

[DammitJanet]

GN...this one is an electric meat grinder. It can grind bones for the BARF diet for animals. That was one of the points in the advertisement. Im sure it cant grind up huge bones but chicken bones and small bones would be fine.

I got it on a half priced black friday special online and it was $200. It is really heavy duty. It also has a one year warranty for any problems. They will replace it free, no problem. After that, they will fix it for a low cost. We just have to ship it to them.

 

[GoingNorth]

FYI for those who don't know: the BARF diet stands for Bones And Raw Foods, LoL

I've fed variations of it for nearly thirty years. These days I order it premade and shipped frozen in patties. If you order it premade be braced for the cost. Premade versions are usually based on lamb or on poultry.

Cost aside it is well worth it--I haven't had to have a pet's teeth cleaned in easily twenty years and those have been animals coming into my home. My German Shepherd is 7.5 years old and looks no older than three or so other than the silvering starting on his muzzle.

When I was running the cattery, the queens always had enough milk, had easy pregancies and deliveries, and my kittens grew up in a normal way.

Maine Coons are BIG cats and the tendency is to feed them for maximum speed of growth. In actuality, both with large breed dogs and cats, it is bad for the younglings to be overfed--it damages their bones and joints.

In fact, in most cases, kittens and puppies do not need special "baby" foods--they are actually TOO rich for them. For example, Hip Dysplaysia is very often a developmental disorder caused in large part by incorrect feeding