How to Prepare Any Animal or Bird for the Table or Freezer
By Monte Burch.
c.2019 Published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor,
New York, NY 10018.
Price: $16.99 Available at most bookstores.
This 288-page softbound volume may not prepare you for being a licensed butcher, but it will help you to put edible meat on your table.
Following a short illustrated introduction are seven well-illustrated chapters, a brief conclusion, an index, and more than a dozen blank note pages the reader can use as he, or she, sees fit.
The first chapter—Tools and Supplies—is very important, particularly the comments on keeping all cutting tools sharp. (Having worked as a butcher in a grocery store during my high school days, I can vouch for keeping all knives sharp; you want a clean cut without any drag on, or tearing of the meat. (After you get a good edge, keep it by using a butcher’s steel often; it makes cutting so much easier.)
Every chapter is well illustrated with color photographs, or drawings where they will show more or better detail. Although most of the information is based on domestic animals—cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, etc,–and fowl, such as chickens, there is a good bit of information on wild game and fish. Instructions for the preparation, beginning with the skinning and field dressing, of elk, venison, bear, rabbits, squirrels, various game birds, and fish for the freezer and table are covered in detail, with illustrations, naturally.
This is an excellent book on the subject, with abundant illustrations and how-to instructions. The author also makes comments on various topics, and an excellent one is on locker plant production of scraps into burger-meat. They tend to put all scraps together, meaning you may not get back the ground meat from your animal—venison, lamb, goat, elk, etc.—but simply a package, or packages of meat equal to the amount put into the grinder from your animal. (The scraps are from the same animal species, and not a conglomeration.) The meat from Joe Tokes animal may not have been as carefully field-dressed as yours or it may have been an older animal, as a result the burger meat has a different flavor than it would have if you had done it yourself. The point? If you want it done the way you want it done, do it yourself. If you hunt a lot, either as part of a group or alone, consider processing the game you bag yourself. You could be surprised by the results.—Larry Sterett
