Life in Southeast Alaska

Done with the Moose Ahead of Schedule!

I worked on the hindquarter today - it was HUGE - 84 pounds with the bones!  It was all I could do to carry it into the house and get it up on the table to start cutting up.  I used my knife in the pictures as a guage - it is 10 inches long.  Oh, yeah, that is my new Wusthof boning knife - just for cutting up meat.  It is a very nice knife with a good feel for my hand and is heavy and easy for me to use.  It sure makes a difference when you have the right tools.  I already love it!

I first trimmed up the shank (leg), then worked on the sirloin tip roast (pictured on the left above).  I was able to get quite a few steaks out of it, which is what Rod really wanted.  I then cut out the femur bone and was left with 5 big pieces.  The 3 pieces in the middle are the Top Round, Eye of Round and Bottom Round.  The other 2 are part of the shank.

I was able to finish trimming and cutting these up before Rod got home tonight (only sliced a finger once).  We ended up with 59 pounds of meat - woohoo!  That makes about 130 pounds total.

We decided to go ahead and grind up the burger tonight, instead of waiting until tomorrow.  We opted to not add any fat, just plain.  We were able to borrow an electric grinder - WOW - that was such a big timesaver!  It took 35 minutes start to finish to grind all the burger (didn't weigh just the burger, but probably 50 pounds).  Then I vacuum packed it all.  Here is the burger after the first grind - course.  We then put it through a second time with the fine plate.

So we are all done - except I do have a couple ziploc bags of meat that I saved to can.  I will probably do that tomorrow.  I can't wait to be done with it already!  I would do it again, though.  Hopefully Rod will get a deer and we can get some more experience cutting meat.  Too tired to even cook dinner tonight - we had applesauce (homemade, of course)!

WOW!

10:25 PM, Thursday, September 28, 2006 .. Posted by andeemomof3

My goodness, that is a LOT of meat! Definitely a lot of meals in that!

I used to live in Alaska, in Ketchikan. Lived there for about 8 months with my folks before I came here to Australia. I thought the scenery there was so beautiful, and I loved seeing all the eagles and bears, and all the native indian stuff as well. We lived in an indian village there.

Hey there

2:56 AM, Friday, September 29, 2006 .. Posted by tioga12

Thanks for sharing...it all looks so familiar...except our deer aren't as big as that moose! Archery starts tomorrow...so we hope to soon be processing some meat here too. We got an electric grinder and it is WONDERFUL.
~Annette

Sweet!

9:36 AM, Friday, September 29, 2006 .. Posted by maidmyown

What a lot of work for both of you, but the savings will be incredible , and it must be so satisfying to know you have all that stashed away in your freezer.

(You do so well I think you deserve the title of 'Queen of the Homesteadbloggers!')

Yummy!

10:09 AM, Friday, September 29, 2006 .. Posted by Charity

So when do I get to come over for dinner??? Preferably a roast! I'll even give you my special recipe. Oh yeah. . . I already gave it to you! How about I make my Poor Man’s Cheesecake for desert? You did a great job with that moose. Not that I thought you’d have any trouble with it. Once you put your mind to something, there is no stopping you! I’m proud of you and not surprised that you finished ahead of schedule!

Awesome job!

4:08 PM, Friday, September 29, 2006 .. Posted by HSBFrontPorch

Isn't it great to have a freezer full of your own meat?! I butchered our first deer last year and we took pictures as well. It felt like SUCH an accomplishment and I'm sure it was just a fraction of the size of that moose!
~Nancy