Processing pricing WOW

[Man]

Yall got me a little worried. Dropped off a littel doe at Cernochs yesterday. Just quartered. Said turn it all into sausage. I hope its not over $300

[Mary]

We do our own...you can justify a lot of great equipment for that cost of processing. AND...you know exactly how everything is handled

[1riot1ranger]

pan sausage you may be ok. Link sausage, better check your credit line

[Bowanta]

To me the beauty of doing it yourself is:
1. you know it is your meat only
2. you can cut it and package it however you want
3. IMO you complete the entire circle - you prep, hunt, harvest, gut and skin, process, and then eat it. You Did That.

I personally really enjoy it and it allows me to try different things; venison shanks, different flavor types of sausage - green or smoked, thickness and preseason prior to packaging.
Some people do not like it, don't know how, or just don't have the time. I get it. And for that there is a price to have it done. I am not defending the processors, but the cost of all supplies are through the roof, equipment is not cheap, utilities still have to be paid, workers have to be paid, and hopefully they can make a little to put in the owner's pocket. Pork butts alone are priced through the roof this year. I am fortunate in that I have meat cutting experience, I own equipment, and I enjoy doing it. I have even thought about opening my own processing operation, just have not pulled the trigger on doing it yet.

[S-3 Ranch]

They also have supply cost (spices, sausage casings, assorted cleaning, vacuum bags), insurance cost (building and employee), repair bills plus equipment wears out and has to be replaced. All of those cost have gone thru the F`n roof for everyone post Covid. I`ll bet most processors bottom line profit % hasn`t increased as much as you think in the past 10 years with all of the increased cost of just doing business. If processors charged you cost plus like most home builders do, you couldn`t afford to have a deer processed. I`ve taken 3 deer to the local processor near me in the past 10 when I was too lazy to do my own. Best money I ever spent to just let someone else do it, go back to camp, put your feet up and enjoy the evening with an adult beverage talking about your hunt. I killed a buck this year and processed all of it myself. Took about 5 hours to skin, quarter, debone, process all meat, slice most into jerky, grind, vacuum seal all meat plus all prep and clean up time from start to finish (it adds up). It would have cost me 330 bucks if taken to my local processor. After doing all of it myself, I texted my local processor and told him he worked to **** cheap.

Yeah my grandfather owned a packing plant keeping those aging rooms for beef and mutton & other red meat cold and aged to inspection is a huge deal ,
I wish I could buy all the stainless steel tables and grinder, stuffers, a smoke shack, plastic tubs , ect
And had 7-10 like minded friends I could and would process all our sausage and burger , chili meat
with a group effort party, but my one or two deer I kill aren’t worth the effort

[CWendling]

thats when i started doing my own. Im cheap ha. The 2 places i used near Coleman were about $80 for steaks/burger on a dressed deer. Moved to east texas and the 2 closest places were about 150-175 for the same. Takes me most of a day to do a deer, but i know its mine

[tpack]

To me the beauty of doing it yourself is:
1. you know it is your meat only
2. you can cut it and package it however you want
3. IMO you complete the entire circle - you prep, hunt, harvest, gut and skin, process, and then eat it. You Did That.

I personally really enjoy it and it allows me to try different things; venison shanks, different flavor types of sausage - green or smoked, thickness and preseason prior to packaging.
Some people do not like it, don't know how, or just don't have the time. I get it. And for that there is a price to have it done. I am not defending the processors, but the cost of all supplies are through the roof, equipment is not cheap, utilities still have to be paid, workers have to be paid, and hopefully they can make a little to put in the owner's pocket. Pork butts alone are priced through the roof this year. I am fortunate in that I have meat cutting experience, I own equipment, and I enjoy doing it. I have even thought about opening my own processing operation, just have not pulled the trigger on doing it yet.

I`ve got the time, money and 26 years experience managing a meat market operation and I would never give thought to opening a deer processing operation. To many negatives. No matter what you charge, there are those that think they are being overcharged and never get back enough meat. My hats off to those who operate one and put up with the BS.

[rut-ro]

Yall got me a little worried. Dropped off a littel doe at Cernochs yesterday. Just quartered. Said turn it all into sausage. I hope its not over $300

Off of Cottonwood? If so I had a 600 dollar bill there last year. But I had Boudin and other stuff too and it was 3 deer. Curious to see what it ends up being. I bounce back and forth between there, Bellville and Kovacevic's

[Scubasteveo]

That said, I was looking to get one of them euro mounted and looked up the price for that and it was $240!! I felt like that was crazy high for a euro but it has been a while since I had one done. I think last one was $150 or so.

Taxidermy Designs by the old Hilderbrandt processing outside Tomball is still like $115.00 out the door with no plaque for Euro mounts.

[elliscountyhog]

$329 around 75lbs of burger meat and 30lbs of steaks. Will be my last trip to the processor.
$14 for disposal fee of bones and scraps I guess.

[Man]

Off of Cottonwood? If so I had a 600 dollar bill there last year. But I had Boudin and other stuff too and it was 3 deer. Curious to see what it ends up being. I bounce back and forth between there, Bellville and Kovacevic's

Yeah I took it there partially based on your recommendation of the place back in 2022...lol (search function). I had to put $100 down, so hopefully the remaining tab isn't over $300. It was a small doe and I actually kept 1 front shoulder to ground myself. I was a little nervous when I pulled up and saw the operation....but when I got to talking to Camille I felt a lot better.

[Greenheadless]

How long does it take for you to process a deer completely from beginning to end, plus clean up time, etc?

What do you make $/hr in your current job?

[DUKFVR]

Yeah I took it there partially based on your recommendation of the place back in 2022...lol (search function). I had to put $100 down, so hopefully the remaining tab isn't over $300. It was a small doe and I actually kept 1 front shoulder to ground myself. I was a little nervous when I pulled up and saw the operation....but when I got to talking to Camille I felt a lot better.

I used to take my meat there for sausage. Mr Cernoch really knew his business. Once we got all our smokehouse etc up, we have done it ourselves.

[Hunting4fun]

Is it true some processors use "community" meat for the ground meat? I've always done it myself but I've heard sometimes you don't get the exact same deer back. After seeing how some people treat their meat especially in warm weather that's a no for me.

[Walker]

Is it true some processors use "community" meat for the ground meat? I've always done it myself but I've heard sometimes you don't get the exact same deer back. After seeing how some people treat their meat especially in warm weather that's a no for me.

You heard right. Processor isn't going to turn on the grinder and stuffer for 30 pounds.