self-butcher-ie

[kalo]

I want to kill a lamb and eat it all. Except I am not a butcher. Are there any self butchers on the site? I have hunting friends and I'll get help in the butchering somehow. I am more interested in the storage, the tools, the blood, the energy!

[TylerDurden]

imo, Someone ought to write a post in which all carcass-slaughtering and storage details are listed. I could then turn it into a permanent sticky topic and post it in the right place for people to read. I am not qualified to write this sort of thing as, being a European, I tend to live in shitty housing with freezers sometimes as small as the size of half a briefcase. I gather that the average American has at least an entire room devoted to freezing and storage of foodstuffs in their house.

[jessica]

ask around to see if any farmers do on farm slaughtering and/or that will teach you butchering.  there are a few like that here, although some of them will either charge money or ask for work in exchange for their time and knowledge.

[eveheart]

I have watched my sheep getting slaughtered, even though I do not plan to slaughter at home (small, one-room apartment with a large patio). I bring home a quartered carcass with the entrails in bags, then do some cutting in my kitchen and hanging in my refrigerator.

The best instructions are on youtube. Many butchers have videos about butchering various animals. IMO, video is preferable over text instructions because a "live action" event like a slaughter is better seen than read about. Sabertooth's (AKA Derek Hunter on youtube) slaughter and butchering videos are outstanding.

[ys]

I have two freezers that have total capacity of about 600lb.  One is upright that looks like a regular home refrigerator. The other is a smaller chest freezer.

I cannot whatsoever differentiate between fresh and frozen taste wise or feel wise or any other way so for me frozen is as good as fresh.

Once a year I order the whole steer roughly 700lb and get it delivered to my home in four quarters.  I hang quarters in my garage and separate it along major muscle groups and throw it in the freezer just like that unwrapped.  That way outer layers get dried nicely.  For the first 6 hours or so I have to turn them frequently so they don't stick to each other.  The first 30lb that fit in my refrigerator I eat fresh.

I would love to get the whole thing intact and get all the nice things besides the usual liver/kidney/heart but it won't fit in my garage and I can't figure out how to move whole 1000lb through 3ft gate to my backyard.

I used to get whole sheep but not anymore.  Too much work for 50-70lb of meat and it is more expensive.

I can get four quarters of bison but unfortunately it is too much for me and I don't know anyone locally who can share it with me.

[kalo]

YS: Cattle is also much easier for me to find, especially grass fed. That would be some experience getting a live cow into your garage!! But I'm surprised you don't notice a difference with frozen/fresh. I can only find large orders of beef which have been already frozen, but perhaps that is not as much an issue as I thought.