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Game processing- start up cost
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:54 am
Posted on 1/21/24 at 10:54 am
Thinking about getting into processing my own game. I realize with stuff like this prices can vary wildly.
How much would I be looking at for a decent grinder, vacuum sealer and sausage stuffer? Anything else besides the consumables(seasoning, casings, etc.)that I might need?
I’d probably do 2-4 deer a season.
How much would I be looking at for a decent grinder, vacuum sealer and sausage stuffer? Anything else besides the consumables(seasoning, casings, etc.)that I might need?
I’d probably do 2-4 deer a season.
10
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:05 am to Cash
LEM #8 Big Bite Grinder ~ $350
Hand Crank Sausage Stuffer ~$180
Food Saver Vac ~$120
Get you a couple meat tubs. $12.00
Order you Seasoning, casing etc Rebel Butcher Supply
Hand Crank Sausage Stuffer ~$180
Food Saver Vac ~$120
Get you a couple meat tubs. $12.00
Order you Seasoning, casing etc Rebel Butcher Supply
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:19 am to Cash
I just finished running 40#s through my setup.
Weston 3/4 hp #12 grinder $450
Haaka 11lb vertical stuffer $150
LEM Ground Meat Packaging system $35
When I make sausage I use a gamesaver vac sealer. ~$125. The gamesaver can seal more bags consecutively than the normal foodsaver without going in to a cool down mode.
For sausage seasoning I use the spreadsheets found here to mix it. LINK. I don't remember who reccomended them but it was off of this board. I'm considering getting a meat mixer to help out with sausage.
Took me about 1.5 hours today, most of which was cleaning. It usually goes a lot quicker when my wife helps. It's paid for itself multiple times over. I've had it since 2019 or so. Usually run 6 or 7 deer a year through it. There are cheaper grinders out there that'd work fine. One of my buddies ordered mine for me through govx so I think I gave about $300 for it. I used to have a lil cabelas grinder, if I were only doing 5 or 10 lbs at a time I'd miss it.
Weston 3/4 hp #12 grinder $450
Haaka 11lb vertical stuffer $150
LEM Ground Meat Packaging system $35
When I make sausage I use a gamesaver vac sealer. ~$125. The gamesaver can seal more bags consecutively than the normal foodsaver without going in to a cool down mode.
For sausage seasoning I use the spreadsheets found here to mix it. LINK. I don't remember who reccomended them but it was off of this board. I'm considering getting a meat mixer to help out with sausage.
Took me about 1.5 hours today, most of which was cleaning. It usually goes a lot quicker when my wife helps. It's paid for itself multiple times over. I've had it since 2019 or so. Usually run 6 or 7 deer a year through it. There are cheaper grinders out there that'd work fine. One of my buddies ordered mine for me through govx so I think I gave about $300 for it. I used to have a lil cabelas grinder, if I were only doing 5 or 10 lbs at a time I'd miss it.
This post was edited on 1/21/24 at 11:27 am
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:38 am to Cash
People will disagree, but I have used cheap grinders and expensive grinders, and they all grind just fine as long as you aren’t feeding excessive silverskin/tendon. Trimming meat is the bottleneck unless you’re doing the bare minimum, and I do think it makes a better tasting final product to remove as much of that stuff as possible. I leave more deer whole now that I am using a sous vide and pressure cooker.
Spend the money on a good vacuum packer. Nothing more frustrating than it struggling to vac and seal, or losing seal after a few weeks in the freezer.
A good semi flex boning knife like victorinox, $30. Big cutting board, $15-20. Grinder $100-150, vac sealer $250+.
Sausage is a different ballgame, with a different set of tools and you can frick up some meat while learning. A dedicated stuffer is a must, $99. Meat lugs, $10 apiece. Something to smoke it in, if you want. I would recommend starting with really small batches and learning a lot about fat ratios before jumping off into it. I still make some deer sausage but honestly prefer a good pork sausage, and leave my deer for roasts, steaks, and regular ground.
Spend the money on a good vacuum packer. Nothing more frustrating than it struggling to vac and seal, or losing seal after a few weeks in the freezer.
A good semi flex boning knife like victorinox, $30. Big cutting board, $15-20. Grinder $100-150, vac sealer $250+.
Sausage is a different ballgame, with a different set of tools and you can frick up some meat while learning. A dedicated stuffer is a must, $99. Meat lugs, $10 apiece. Something to smoke it in, if you want. I would recommend starting with really small batches and learning a lot about fat ratios before jumping off into it. I still make some deer sausage but honestly prefer a good pork sausage, and leave my deer for roasts, steaks, and regular ground.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:39 am to Cash
Grinder $300-500 depending on hp size. I use a Cabellas almost commercial 3/4 hp.
Sausage maker can be done with grinder. Haven’t had an issue stuffing casings or tubes
Vacuum sealer 150-200
Tubs and BIG cutting board 50-100
And the ONE thing that is badass to have is a tape dispenser for ground tubes that cinches tapes itself is gold.
Sausage maker can be done with grinder. Haven’t had an issue stuffing casings or tubes
Vacuum sealer 150-200
Tubs and BIG cutting board 50-100
And the ONE thing that is badass to have is a tape dispenser for ground tubes that cinches tapes itself is gold.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:44 am to canyon
Looks good. I use a small lem grinder, a buffalo tools stuffer, a digital scale, and meat tubs from bass pro.
I gave up on a good vacuum sealer. We wrap our smoked sausage in freezer paper and haven’t had any issues.
We freeze our ground deer in ziploc freezer bags. We typically do 2 pound sacks packs and flatten them out to get the air out. They stack nicely.
I get my patty sausage seasoning from rebel. Our smoked is a 50/50 blend of rebel ss seasoning and Bergeron’s ss seasoning. It comes out great.
I gave up on a good vacuum sealer. We wrap our smoked sausage in freezer paper and haven’t had any issues.
We freeze our ground deer in ziploc freezer bags. We typically do 2 pound sacks packs and flatten them out to get the air out. They stack nicely.
I get my patty sausage seasoning from rebel. Our smoked is a 50/50 blend of rebel ss seasoning and Bergeron’s ss seasoning. It comes out great.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 11:52 am to Cash
Couple of tips I learned the hard way. Get all the metal parts of your grinder cold (stick in the freezer while prepping your meat). The other (that helped me) is to cut the meat, and anything you’re using for fat, in strips, not cubes. My dumbass cubed the venison and brisket, my son that was working the plunger almost got tendonitis from forcing it through. I wish more processors packaged in tubes, so much better to stack them like firewood.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 12:44 pm to Cash
Don’t get a vacuum sealer. Spend a little more and get a chamber vac.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 4:07 pm to Cash
I have a large hand crank stuffer that never been opened I will sell you.
Posted on 1/21/24 at 7:10 pm to AP83
Definitely one of my better investments.
First thing I tested was a bag of water. Worked great. Tested a sealed pint jar and it collapsed it. Thought I destroyed the unit when I heard that BANG!! No damage to the unit though.
Wevac 12-Inch Chamber Vacuum Sealer CV12
First thing I tested was a bag of water. Worked great. Tested a sealed pint jar and it collapsed it. Thought I destroyed the unit when I heard that BANG!! No damage to the unit though.
Wevac 12-Inch Chamber Vacuum Sealer CV12
This post was edited on 1/21/24 at 7:22 pm
Posted on 1/21/24 at 7:37 pm to AP83
quote:
Don’t get a vacuum sealer. Spend a little more and get a chamber vac.
You have half the board saying to switch back to the old school meat logs and tape, and the other half saying if you don’t have a chamber sealer you might as well not even freeze it.
A month ago I pulled out a 2 year old deer roast at the camp that was double wrapped in butchers paper and there wasn’t a single piece of freezer burn on it, it was perfect.
You can get by with ziplocks if you need to, or butchers paper, or a cheap food saver
Posted on 1/21/24 at 8:01 pm to Cash
If you’re trying to trim costs as much as possible, you could get a grinder for $150 or less, a hand saw, and a $50 food saver and make all your ground meat and roasts.
I do somewhere between 0-4 deer a year since I started. I bought a 1/2 HP Cabelas carnivore grinder for about $350. I have a bar style suction vacuum sealer from vac master I spent about $350 on. Other than bags and a couple bus tubs that’s it, the rest is kitchen stuff I had already, like cutting boards, and knives.
As was said before, sausage is a second level.
I do somewhere between 0-4 deer a year since I started. I bought a 1/2 HP Cabelas carnivore grinder for about $350. I have a bar style suction vacuum sealer from vac master I spent about $350 on. Other than bags and a couple bus tubs that’s it, the rest is kitchen stuff I had already, like cutting boards, and knives.
As was said before, sausage is a second level.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 6:05 am to Citica8
I am actively searching for a vacuum sealer that’s not a piece of shite, but it seems like they all got a little bit of that in them. Nothing wrong with any method that keeps air/frost off it and there’s probably a different best for every cut.
I like vac bags for backstrap, tenderloin, and heart because I have them trimmed and dry brined before they get frozen. Few months later I don’t have to do anything but set the sous vide to medium rare and drop them in.
I like vac bags for backstrap, tenderloin, and heart because I have them trimmed and dry brined before they get frozen. Few months later I don’t have to do anything but set the sous vide to medium rare and drop them in.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 6:25 am to Cash
If you are just doing it for yourself 500-600 bucks plus time you would rather be doing something else.
Posted on 1/22/24 at 9:21 am to LSUballs
Yep, Rebel Butcher has the best seasoning. Been using their stuff for over 10 years now.
Posted on 1/23/24 at 9:00 am to LSUballs
quote:
LEM #8 Big Bite Grinder ~ $350
Hand Crank Sausage Stuffer ~$180
Food Saver Vac ~$120
Get you a couple meat tubs. $12.00
^ This is almost my identical setup except I got a little bit better Vac Sealer. Add a fridge large enough to hang two deer to this list, a freezer, and you'll be good for a number of years!
Posted on 1/23/24 at 10:19 am to Cash
I took the plunge and got all what I wanted for the Black Friday sales thru Meat Your Maker. I found that to be the best time of the year for deals. The prices will depend on brand and size of the equipment you select. Small things that will help a lot would be quality knives (Victornox for me), meat poly bag tape kit, meat lugs, grinder foot pedal and research. Get a bigger grinder than you need, you won’t regret it. Also one you can get replacement parts and warranty with. After years of using vacuum sealers and throwing many I finally got an oiled chamber sealer, worth it to me, the next guy maybe not. If you get a stuffer (highly recommend) don’t get the smallest model. Repacking it frequently isn’t fun. I also bought a grinder big enough to attach to a mixer. Flipping that ice cold ground meat around wasn’t my favorite part 
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