Know any livestock processors/butchers?

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SoonerP226

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My brother had some livestock (pigs and bovines) that he’s looking to get butchered, but all the processors/butchers he’s called in the Tulsa area are booked up for the next year—so far, the earliest slaughter date he’s been able to find has been in the second half of July of next year. Apparently, Rick’s panicky talk of a meat shortage had succeeded in panicking people; according to one of the butchers, he thinks the Rona has caused a boatload of people to want to go back to the old ways, which has led to small processors being backlogged with orders.

It sounds like it’s a long shot, but do any of y’all know of any butchers/small processors who aren’t backlogged into next year?
 

retrieverman

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All I can offer is to say good luck. The media has driven this idea of an impending meat shortage, and it’s definitely taken root and inspired a panic.

As I posted earlier, my brother and I just picked up a steer we had processed after having to wait almost 2 months. We made a deal with the processor to do a pig for us in October after our county’s junior pig show even though he’s already booked into the first quarter of 2021 (as of a couple weeks ago so maybe longer now).
 

Cowcatcher

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My advice is to book the earliest dates you can find as a precaution. I’m pretty sure you won’t secure a quicker date in Oklahoma or any neighbor state. Now, this is my opinion and the opinion of a few others in the cattle industry, things will start getting better. The big packers are starting to get the kill numbers up. We may even see some new big boys. If things get better in stores then many of the kill dates currently booked will come available. There are several folks that either panicked and booked kill dates that they wouldn’t really need and/or some folks booked numerous kill dates with the plan to sell the meat at a premium.
 

swampratt

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You need a folding 6 foot plastic table a couple good knives a sharpener I use a Forschner knife and steel.
A meat grinder ..some saran/ plastic wrap some Freezer paper I use Reynolds and some tape.

A lot of time.
I have done hogs and cattle and deer.
There are great videos out there.

Read this READ THIS.... READ THIS!!!!! I can't stress that enough. I never did hogs and this was to the point with pictures and explanations.
https://www.backwoodshome.com/slaughtering-and-butchering/

I have a LEM big bite #25 meat grinder and it can grind a deer in 4 minutes after all pieces are cut to fit.
An entire back strap will fit.
Well worth the money to set up the table or 2 tables in the garage and get to work.
You can wrap on one table and butcher on another.
 

dennishoddy

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You need a folding 6 foot plastic table a couple good knives a sharpener I use a Forschner knife and steel.
A meat grinder ..some saran/ plastic wrap some Freezer paper I use Reynolds and some tape.

A lot of time.
I have done hogs and cattle and deer.
There are great videos out there.

Read this READ THIS.... READ THIS!!!!! I can't stress that enough. I never did hogs and this was to the point with pictures and explanations.
https://www.backwoodshome.com/slaughtering-and-butchering/

I have a LEM big bite #25 meat grinder and it can grind a deer in 4 minutes after all pieces are cut to fit.
An entire back strap will fit.
Well worth the money to set up the table or 2 tables in the garage and get to work.
You can wrap on one table and butcher on another.
I was a rabbit and quail hunter in the 60's. Cleaning and processing a rabbit took minutes after a lot of practice.
Started deer hunting in the very early 80's. When that first tiny little 6 point hit the ground, I thought OMG what do I do with this huge animal? Then the thought that its just the same as a rabbit with the same cuts of meat but bigger made it easier to process it. Can't count the number of deer I've personally put in the freezer.
Later on, My FIL, his brother and I started processing our own beef when cattle prices got so low they couldn't hardly give them away.
FIL used to work in a processing plant back in his day so we had some experience as well as his tools. Everything was done with hand saws and knives, but we got it all done in a half day. Not the perfect cuts you get from the grocery store, but at the time it worked for us.
It's not impossible for an individual to process a beef, but with help its doable.
I've never processed a pig.
 

swampratt

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Then the thought that its just the same as a rabbit with the same cuts of meat but bigger made it easier to process it.

I tell people almost that because it's they way I looked at it.
I tell people it's just a big squirrel.

What I eat most is ground meat or steaks from back strap or steaks from back leg meat.
Separate the muscles and cut a steak from it.
Save the fat off the pig to mix with ground to make sausage. You do not need casings to make sausage.
I make it and wrap it like you do all the other meat.
Pig back straps I make small steaks/ chops.
The front shoulders and neck meat are ground. Belly meat be bacon.
I skin my pigs like a deer.
I have rendered some pork fat, I got 1/2 a gallon of excellent frying oil from it.

Picnic ham is easy to make with pink salt and water soak. A 2 day soak per pound of meat. I use the butt or ham as some call it.
It will soak and actually turn that pink color. After curing is finished you can cook it in the oven with pineapples and brown sugar etc or pressure cook it or pan fry it or stick it on a smoker for a few hours with some hickory or whatever you like to smoke pork with.

I have had so much meat in the freezer I had to resort to pressure canning. Beef and deer.
Friend and I had 4 pressure cookers going at 1 time and a cast iron skillet browning the cuts of meat before we added them to jars with some water poured into the skillet to make broth from the sticky scrapings in the pan.
We seasoned the meat with creole and pepper.

You can pressure can the toughest meat like right off the ankle and it is fork tender.
Plastic fork tender.
Dump the meat juice out of the jar and make brown gravy with it and then add the tender chunks of pressure canned meat.
SOOO GOOD.

A really good way to do a front shoulder is take the entire shoulder and stick it in the BBQ grill and smoke it or cook it slow and keep sauce of some kind on it or wrap it or cover it in foil.
It will be so tender and you get every bit of meat that way.
 

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