As preppers, many of us hunt and process our meat ourselves for a sense of accomplishment and security, among other reasons.
Your first hunt and kill might get sloppy when it comes time to process the meat. Most folks have no idea the mistakes they are making when processing animals.
It’s not as simple as having a sharp knife and cutting skills. Meat processing requires a lot of strength, precision, and knowledge to do it right.
Here are 11 meat processing mistakes you are probably making right now, and how to correct them.
Not Raising Livestock
While you may be a wild game hunter, it is a great idea to raise livestock on your homestead. There are endless reasons to keep your own animals, including:
- Constant food source
- Great for the environment
- Know where your food came from
- Teach children about animals and farming
- Animal bonding time
At the very minimum, you could feed the local wildlife such as rabbits and squirrels to keep them around your homestead.
Hunting these little animals could mean your family can live to see their next meal in an emergency.
Keeping cows provides milk and meat. Keeping chickens provides eggs and meat. Keeping goats also provides milk and meat.
Any of these animals are great farm animals to keep on your homestead with proper care.
Discarding All Animal Fat
Humans need fat to survive. We cannot survive on lean meat alone because our bodies would still enter starvation mode after a while.
Animal fat from meat or freshly caught fish are necessities for survival.
When processing your animal, be sure to save the fat. It can be rendered down into lard for cooking oil, it can be added to soups or stews for extra richness, and it can be spread on toast in place of butter.
Related: How To Stockpile Lard, The Calorie Rich Survival Food Of The Great Depression
That extra fat might save you on a hungry night.
Discarding Undesirable Cuts
As preppers, we want to use every last bit of the animal we are processing.
Being wasteful is harmful to the homestead, so utilize every last bit of the animal that you can. This means bones, organs, tough cuts, even feet!
Every part of the animal can be utilized for something, it just takes a little planning and ingenuity.
It also takes some trial and error, so if you are just beginning with meat processing, give yourself some time. Just remember that the entire animal can always be used for something or another.
Dull Knives
You not only need one sharp knife for processing, but you need an entire set of razor-sharp knives!
Dull knives will get you nowhere and can be pretty dangerous. Dull…