Grinding Deer 2022

 So we picked a day that six (SIX) of us could go down to Rob's and grind all of our deer.  And then guys started dropping off like drones after mating (drone = male bee, look up the reference).  Michael was ill and then infected his two boys so he was home with them.  Nick & Alex were taking the kids to the Children's Museum in Indy for the dinosaur exhibit (Christmas present from Grandpa Bill).  That left me, Davey, and Eric to handle the work.

And so we left Mulberry on a brisk April morning at 0600 heading to Montezuma - Saturday, 02 APR, 37 oF (0 C).  And we took detour after detour due to all the road closures, finally arriving at 0745.  We unpacked and started the grinding while Rob made sausage sandwiches with egg and cheese on the griddle.  We paused briefly for a snack.  Rob also had made a batch of Deer Spit beer (a knockoff of Reindeer Slobber).  He ran low on water so the batch was extra stout - like 7% ABV.  Tasty regardless.

Eric, Dave, and Rob enjoying sausage sandwiches and Deer Spit beer in Rob's garage.
This is the photo we texted to Alex as he loves those pork sandwiches & he got none.

We made all different kinds of grinds:  salami, brats, sausage, burger, pork burger, seasoned, unseasoned, and a mix of everything in between.  It was an adventure keeping everything straight, but Davey and I figured it out like an old married couple.

We figured somewhere North of 250 pounds (114 kg) of deer and 120 pounds (54.5 kg) of pork went through the grinder twice (a coarse grind followed by a fine grind).  Me & Eric did all the seasoning and grinding while Rob & Davey did all the stuffing.

Lunch happened somewhere about 1300.  Fresh sausage sandwiches and deer loins all cooked on the griddle.  Of course they were washed down with more Deer Spit.  We concluded with grinding about 1500 and then started the clean-up process.  We were completely done, even had time to enjoy another beer, and were on the road by 1700.  

Made it back home and had all the deer sorted by 1900.  That's a 13-hour day or more work than I usually put in during a normal week!  And now, off to enjoy our spoils!

Breakfast sausage sammiches with cheese & fried eggs

The grinding station - deer and pork in totes on the floor.
Empty tote on scale, grinder, and tote of ground meat on table.


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