Hair in butchered meat

[JWCalgary]

Hey AO!

Wanting to hear if you all would think that having hair in your butchered meat is acceptable.

Almost every pack of ground from my deer last year has small hairs in it.
I'm thinking .... uh no.... but should I be expecting some in your experience?





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[Scottmisfits]

The better you clean it, the less likely there is for any to be in it. We always wash/wipe down as much as we can find before taking it to the butcher. They will do the same but it's highly unlikely that you will get it all.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

How much hair was on it when you brought it in?

[Salavee]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

How much hair was on it when you brought it in?

Answer this question and you likely have your answer. Most meat processors won't even accept a hairy carcass let alone process it. Maybe you found a "good" one.

[Smoky buck]

if you paid the butcher to skin the deer it’s their fault. If you skinned the deer and did not take the time to pick the hair off it’s your fault

That is my view on it. Honestly butcher your own and you control the quality is the way I do it

[Ranger CS]

Any amount of hair is not acceptable to me. When I use a commercial butcher and do not do it myself, it arrives at the butcher shop free of hair and clean. On occasion there might be some meat damage caused by bullet impact. I make it clear that I want all damage removed before wrapping. I am fussy field dressing and skinning and cleaning up the carcass before taking it to the butcher. As hunter we must assume responsibility for such things as hair in the meat since commercial butchers can not take the time to pick it out.

[JWCalgary]

Originally Posted by MooseRiverTrapper

How much hair was on it when you brought it in?

Evidence of s&s was left on so a patch of hair. There were hairs on it but i not that many I'd say.

I guess I'll take more control next time.


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[1899b]

Not acceptable. How about having a piece of lead in your ground meat when you arrowed your animal?? Lol. Butchers... fun times...

[buckman]

Some butchers process deer in batches,if one has hair left on it all the meat in the batch could get contaminated.

My advice find a butcher you can trust.

Best advice process your own, its really not difficult, and a lot more satisfying.

[Gboe8]

You can wrap and tape a bag around the identification. Which helps a lot I do all my own so no one to blame but my self. A friend of mine owns a butcher shop it’s insane the things I see people bring in hair every where. He turns them away at the door.

[Walking Bear]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

if you paid the butcher to skin the deer it’s their fault. If you skinned the deer and did not take the time to pick the hair off it’s your fault

That is my view on it. Honestly butcher your own and you control the quality is the way I do it

I didn't even know that was an option. I've never heard of any butcher that will skin a deer for you.
But I sure have seen some messy carcasses in the butcher shops

[Blastoff]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

if you paid the butcher to skin the deer it’s their fault. If you skinned the deer and did not take the time to pick the hair off it’s your fault

That is my view on it. Honestly butcher your own and you control the quality is the way I do it

I always only brought clean meat that I skinned or de boned no hair that way and less money to pay.
Exactly how it should be done, once bought a buffalo it was processed at the butcher shop had some hair on the roasts I was a little ticked. Don't know where it was killed or if the guy I bought it from but skinned it either way no good.

[EZM]

I'm also in the "absolutely no hair" camp ...... if it takes me an hour to inspect, wipe down, remove, pick at, tweeze out every single hair from my carcass, then that's an hour well worth it.

I also process my own, as others have mentioned, many commercial butchers mix yours with others and you have no idea is the carcass was properly gutted to prevent contamination, was it cooled properly or if the animal was gut shot, rode back for an entire day back to where it was eventually gutted and then left in warm temperatures for a while.

A good butcher, who keep everyone's meat separate, or doing it yourself is paramount.

No wonder why some peoples game meat tastes the way it does.

[shooter12]

I've sent many times meat to a local butcher for sausages and I usually clean my meat very good.
Its possible that there would be some hairs in it but after all its a wild game meat and I don't expect someone else/ a butcher , to do a cleaning job for me , if I did not do my part of it good enough.

S12

[Nuck99]

I don't get it. Too many hunters think it's the job of the butcher to pick hair off their trophy.
Smart hunters, you know the guys that care what they eat take pride in the handling of the carcass in the field.
Proper gutting which includes making sure the animal does not leak gut, manure or urine inside or on the outside of the carcass is essential.
Washing down the carcass with water, inside and out, picking hair during and after the carcass is dry is the only way I handle my meat.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Walking Bear

I didn't even know that was an option. I've never heard of any butcher that will skin a deer for you.
But I sure have seen some messy carcasses in the butcher shops

Alberta Prairie Meats used skin deer for additional price, dunno if they still do or not .
I do my own .
Cat

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Walking Bear

I didn't even know that was an option. I've never heard of any butcher that will skin a deer for you.
But I sure have seen some messy carcasses in the butcher shops

I knew a few butchers that offered skinning as a service in the past but don’t know for sure if anyone does now

It’s been a long time since I have used a butcher because I switched to cutting my own. A handful of crappy butcher jobs gave me motivation lol

[Dewey Cox]

Any butchers that will shoot it for you too?

[Walking Bear]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Alberta Prairie Meats used skin deer for additional price, dunno if they still do or not .
I do my own .
Cat

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

I knew a few butchers that offered skinning as a service in the past but don’t know for sure if anyone does now

It’s been a long time since I have used a butcher because I switched to cutting my own. A handful of crappy butcher jobs gave me motivation lol

I also do my own butchering of everything including my sausage pig, that way I know it's fresh and done to my satisfaction. I too have had a couple of escapades with hiring it out.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Walking Bear

I also do my own butchering of everything including my sausage pig, that way I know it's fresh and done to my satisfaction. I too have had a couple of escapades with hiring it out.

There is some good butchers out there but it seems there is no lack of hunters who experience bad ones and start cutting there own

It may be more work but everything is well trimmed and clean when I do my own. It’s well worth learning to do your own and not that hard

[Lefty-Canuck]

I can tell you some of the stuff that gets dropped off at a butcher is atrocious! and people expect to get grade A meat back. At an honest butcher good product in good product back. There are some not so good butchers sadly.

LC

[Walking Bear]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

There is some good butchers out there but it seems there is no lack of hunters who experience bad ones and start cutting there own

It may be more work but everything is well trimmed and clean when I do my own. It’s well worth learning to do your own and not that hard

I was born & raised on the farm so butchering is nothing new for me.

[NW Tradegunner]

After I’ve gutted my animal with a minimum of cutting; I get home or to the farmer’s place and hang it and skin it ASAP. Cut the legs off then leaving the rest for evidence of species and sex; I pull out the propane torch and go over the entire animal; singeing off all the loose hairs and around the areas that I’ve left for species and sex. THE TORCH IS THE WAY TO GO! No picking of hair; period!

[TrapperMike]

Worked for a number of butcher shops over the years and if you brought junk in that’s what you got back. We can not do miracles. If you did a good job of cleaning it up before you brought it to us we made sure you got a good product back. We never let the meat from 2 different animals get mixed together. Best way to remove excess hair is to singe it all off with a propane torch. And please don’t wrap in newspapers. One customer did this and we could not remove it, so each steak had a strip from the funnies on the outside. Remember GOOD butchers want you to come back so they will bend over backwards to provide you with a good product.

[elkslayer132]

As long as it's not pubic hair.

[tool]

I’ve only ever processed my own so if there was hair on it there was only one guy to blame. 🤷🏼*♂️

That said, I’d never believe a whitetail was as furry as it was until the first time I processed one.

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by NW Tradegunner

After I’ve gutted my animal with a minimum of cutting; I get home or to the farmer’s place and hang it and skin it ASAP. Cut the legs off then leaving the rest for evidence of species and sex; I pull out the propane torch and go over the entire animal; singeing off all the loose hairs and around the areas that I’ve left for species and sex. THE TORCH IS THE WAY TO GO! No picking of hair; period!

Totally agree... a torch eliminates hair.

Also...butcher your own and quit friggen complaining

[Lost Arrow]

Originally Posted by NW Tradegunner

After I’ve gutted my animal with a minimum of cutting; I get home or to the farmer’s place and hang it and skin it ASAP. Cut the legs off then leaving the rest for evidence of species and sex; I pull out the propane torch and go over the entire animal; singeing off all the loose hairs and around the areas that I’ve left for species and sex. THE TORCH IS THE WAY TO GO! No picking of hair; period!

The only time that I have heard of a torch being used is while butchering pigs. Do you do this as soon as the hide is removed? I am guessing as long as the flame keeps moving quickly there is no issues with the meat getting too hot? Sorry for the stupid question-this sounds like a great technique.

[ghostguy6]

I'm in the no hair is acceptable category. The first deer I dropped off at the butcher I will accept responsibility for as I know there were a few hairs on it. The second deer I made damn sure there was not a hair on it. I literally used tweezers to remove any hairs after rinsing. The tail was wrapped in a clear bag. Once the butcher verified it was there I removed it myself without any contamination. When I got the meat back there was hair so I can not say what other contamination there was. I now butcher all my own wild meat and havent had a problem since.

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by Lost Arrow

The only time that I have heard of a torch being used is while butchering pigs. Do you do this as soon as the hide is removed? I am guessing as long as the flame keeps moving quickly there is no issues with the meat getting too hot? Sorry for the stupid question-this sounds like a great technique.

After the deer is skinned and hanging, use a propane torch on the stray hairs. Burns them up in seconds and doesn’t affect the meat