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The white house has been notified by Wal-mart that they support requiring all compnies to provide health insurtance tot ehir employeees. This quite the opposite from what most are saying.It just goes to show that many things are different from what is written by their comptitiors.Its all competition envy really ;mostly from unions.
Hey, Cav Scout Wife, do you butcher your own meat? What are the costs?
No snark; just a really curious city-dweller.
Yup I do, lol.
From field dressing, to breaking it down into quarters, then butchering from there.
Basically, what you do is kill the deer, then "dissect it" (cut from chin to a**hole) pull out the guts, and hollow out the deer. Then skin it to where it's just the carcass. Cut off the head, and the bottom part of all 4 legs. Then cut off the legs from the shoulder/hip joints, (this is the time you cut out the back loins and the ribs and wrap and freeze them) then cut out your steaks and roasts from the leg quarters, and go from there.
For the deer, we do about a third in jerky (we have a dehydrator, so it's really cheap, just the spices if you want to do a spicy or asian, or sweet jerky), a third in ground (I bought an old time metal crank grinder at a yard sale for $10, about 12yrs ago, best purchase EVER!!!), and a third in steaks and roasts. We do cut out and leave the back loins as they are, as well as the ribs.
For turkey, in spring we make turkey and dumplins with one, and make ground turkey with the other. In the fall, we grind 1, and cook 1 for Thanksgiving, and freeze the other two after splitting them into quarters. With turkey, I don't pull feathers, I cut off the skin totally, it's MUCH quicker!
The exception is for the Thanksgiving turkey, I do boil off the feathers and pluck for that, since you can NOT cook a juicy bird w/o skin, it's impossible, lol!
For fish, scale them, clean out the guts, then cut off the head and tail, then fillet and cook. Fish are easy, lol. We leave fish with bones in.
Really the only cost for butchering is storage. I have (as well as hubby has a set too) a butchering set of tools (knives, shears, a "choppa choppa" (BIG thick heavy butcher's cleaver), fillet knife, boning knife, skinning knife, etc...) So you can take those out if the yearly cost, but they are not cheap to get initally, if you want a set that will last for a long time. The paper to wrap meat and the freezer bags to store meat in is the most expensive part actually.
It takes time, but it's well worth it in the end, knowing that I was the one that actually made the meat, ya know?
I always find it interestign at times lie thanksgiving wehen many consumer groups add up the same cost of a thiankgiving dinner with teh same items,. Thsi last thanksgiving both wal-mart and target were comapred and the differnce was not just pennies but like 20% higher. In fact target scored higher than many chain grocery stores.
We have an Aldi's. Does that count as a discount grocery store? Unfortunately it's small and often doesn't carry the products I buy, so it doesn't really do me much good.
Local produce here tends to be more expensive than the grocery store, but the upside is that it also tends to be healthier. But the Wal-Marts in our area actually buy from some of the local producers to sell, as well.
As for hunting, I don't own a gun, so that would be an investment right there. Add to it, that standing 10 free from the side of a barn, and I'd probably still miss it. So my investment in ammo would be more than yours. I don't know about about the hunting and permits, but I do know that hunting is a significant investment of time. My time has value, too.
Yeah, Aldi's is a discount grocery store.
Ahh, I see. When I do buy canned goods, I don't care about the brand name. (I buy stuff there is no way I can grow, like carrots, and hominy and brussel sprouts)
Well, yes that would be a costly startup for you. But to be fair, the longer you practice shooting, the better your aim is, and less ammo you would need.
I always find it interestign at times lie thanksgiving wehen many consumer groups add up the same cost of a thiankgiving dinner with teh same items,. Thsi last thanksgiving both wal-mart and target were comapred and the differnce was not just pennies but like 20% higher. In fact target scored higher than many chain grocery stores.
What I don't understand is why don't more people stock up on T-day essentials when they aren't in such demand, and cheaper.
Ahh, I see. When I do buy canned goods, I don't care about the brand name. (I buy stuff there is no way I can grow, like carrots, and hominy and brussel sprouts)
Well, yes that would be a costly startup for you. But to be fair, the longer you practice shooting, the better your aim is, and less ammo you would need.
Oh, you're right. But when you're as bad a shot as I am, the amount of practice would be phenomenal.
Thank you very much. I've been around for field dressing, but then the carcass went to a butcher, so I though it was a fairly involved process wrt tools. It seems as long as you have the space, it can be done.
Heck, I'll be lucky if I can find someone to go in on 1/2 a heiffer. No way could I butcher myself in an apt.
. Thsi last thanksgiving both wal-mart and target were comapred and the differnce was not just pennies but like 20% higher. In fact target scored higher than many chain grocery stores.
Is there a link for this comparison? I'd love to read it and maybe use it for some work I'm doing. Thanks!
Location: Democratic Peoples Republic of Redneckistan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Missmoose
Cav Scout Wife,
Thank you very much. I've been around for field dressing, but then the carcass went to a butcher, so I though it was a fairly involved process wrt tools. It seems as long as you have the space, it can be done.
Heck, I'll be lucky if I can find someone to go in on 1/2 a heiffer. No way could I butcher myself in an apt.
Butchering is both easy AND hard....super sharp knives make it easier....Hard work is after it's quartered and also depends on what animal it is.Deer,elk,antelope etc etc are fairly easy but can be heavy,but hogs,THEY are rougher work imo plus some you scauld.
I've killed and quartered my own beef before,but then took it to the processors because THAT takes skill and knowlege beyond my experience to do it properly.
You don't have SAL's there?! No discount grocery stores at all?
We used to have SAL's in FL but I hated shopping there. The stores always looked dirty and the few times I purchased things from there I noticed it was right on the expiration date. I know those are things you're supposed to look at before you leave the store but I usually only look at things like dairy products. The same goes for Winn Dixie - they offer some awesome savings with their rewards card but you have to be super careful about what you're purchasing or you might be wasting your money.
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No discount grocery stores at all?
