Butchering station & process

[ollitos]

It used to be just a sink and cabinet. Over Memorial Day weekend, we totally emptied the garage, repainted the walls, painted the floor, moved the sink over, installed the cabinet and backsplash, and then rearranged everything.

When we're ready to butcher, Greg hangs the hanger thingy from the ceiling in the middle of the garage. We resanitize everything. He klunks them on the head outside and lets them bleed out a bit then brings them into the garage and begins processing them. Once he's gutted them, I take over all the clean up. I wash off all the blood and any clinging pieces of fur, clean out fat, etc. Then I package them with the kidneys, liver and heart, weigh, label and take them to the fridge to age for three days. After that, they are either delivered to the customer or they get vaccu-sealed and put in the freezer.

 

[Mickey328]

Wow, very efficient looking setup. WTG!

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

I like it. looks like a great efficient setup.

 

[skysthelimit]

I love it.

 

[SarahMelisse]

Lookin' good!

 

[Miss M]

That looks great!! :razz:

 

[ZRabbits]

Looks very easy to use. Very efficient. Congratulations!

Karen

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Very nice! I just got a three section stainless sink that I am going to use in my new dispatch/process area.

 

[Duckcomando]

Nice. Gives me an idea.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That looks great! My processing station is still my kitchen.

When I age mine in the fridge, I have them in ziploc bags with water- what is your method? I usually freeze them in water also. I have tried using our vacuum sealer, but either it isn't powerful enough or I need to stretch the carcass out... they are in the fetal position, and there is always an air pocket left in the belly area.

 

[ollitos]

We don't age or freeze in water. We put the organs (kidneys, liver and heart) in the body cavity and curl them into the fetal position to get them in the 1 gallon zipper bags. I guess there's an air pocket in the rib cavity when they are vacuum sealed but they don't stay frozen for long. We're going to experiment with heat shrink bags designed for chickens and use those for our commercial customers.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Doesn't the meat get dry and tacky feeling when not aged in water? When I processed a whole bunch of rabbits one day I aged them in a large pot of water, and the two on top had part of the meat exposed above the water level, and it was dry and looked "different". :?

 

[ollitos]

Nope. At first, we wrapped them in damp paper towels but it was a pain to peel that off when we were ready to sell them to our customers. I rinse off the bodies and put them in the bags damp. I don't pat them dry. There's moisture in there but not a ton. Barely enough to pool in the bag. Plus the bodies are still somewhat warm compared to the temp inside the fridge so there's a bit of condensation that happens. Maybe those things combined are what keeps the meat from drying out? But we've never had a problem with it.

 

[AnnClaire]

I just rinse mine, fold them up and put them in a ziplock, then put that in a large plastic bowl in the fridge. When I pull them out for further processing/freezer packing they are not sticky or tacky.

If the air gets to them, then yes, you will have oxidation of the flesh, which is what sounds like happened to you.

 

[TerriG]

I can't wait until we can get something like this set up. Right now, dh and ds kill and gut outside, and then bring them into the kitchen so we can break them down and vacuum seal them. Then they go into the garage fridge for 3 days. Then into the freezer.

My vision is to have something set up that we can just kill outside and then do all of the processing inside. Doing it in the driving rain last time sucked. It started raining as soon as we killed the first one.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I just rinse mine, fold them up and put them in a ziplock, then put that in a large plastic bowl in the fridge. When I pull them out for further processing/freezer packing they are not sticky or tacky.

If the air gets to them, then yes, you will have oxidation of the flesh, which is what sounds like happened to you.

Yep, this is what I do.

 

[DebFred]

Hi. So you put them in freezer zip locks in the fridge for a few days and then freeze them?

 

[AnnClaire]

Deb, I do that ... then pull them out and process how I want, some are deboned, some are quartered, some are chopped and canned, etc., then I actually wrap mine in freezer paper as my vacuum sealer crapped out on me last summer and I haven't gotten a new one yet ... had to build cages, repair rental properties, build sheds, etc.

Anyway, if you use freezer bags, be careful of sharp bone ends as they can puncture the freezer bag. Also, you want to expell as much air from the bag as you can before sealing as air is what causes freezer burn

 

[MamaSheepdog]

be careful of sharp bone ends as they can puncture the freezer bag.

Sometimes I accidentally break the bone, which leaves a sharp end, but I break the rear feet at the joint by bending them either to right or left angles of normal position, twist the foot to loosen the skin and fur that is still attached, and cut the connective tendons, leaving a nice rounded end of bone. For the front feet, I cut through the skin at the joint and twist the feet off before I skin the rabbit.

 

[AnnClaire]

Yeah, I can do the front feet no problem, but I am still perfecting my rear feet technique