i've never gotten a TON of meat off of a shoulder from a deer, but i've been wondering lately if i'm doing something wrong ... pls share any tips/tricks you use to get meat off a shoulder from a deer ...

thx in advance,
bgd

I think I got about 22 pounds of meat off a buck from last week. I wonder if I'm too aggressive with removing silverskin, etc. It probably takes me an hour and a half to get through one shoulder. I'm curious to see what others are saying.

there isn't a very small ton of meat on any shoulder, just ain't there.

You�re gonna need a good sized electric skillet or something of the sort��Just put it in the skillet or whatever your cooking it in with a little water and slow cook it overnight. All you�re really doing is slow cooking it until it's fall off the bone tender. You can then take the meat and mix it with Manwich or sloppy joe mix or BBQ sauce and make sammiches�..�.or you can add some taters, onions, carrots, etc. and make a stew��whatever��Slow cooking it just cooks the meat off and gets it in a usable form.

[quote=CNC]You�re gonna need a good sized electric skillet or something of the sort��Just put it in the skillet or whatever your cooking it in with a little water and slow cook it overnight. All you�re really doing is slow cooking it until it's fall off the bone tender. You can then take the meat and mix it with Manwich or sloppy joe mix or BBQ sauce and make sammiches�..�.or you can add some taters, onions, carrots, etc. and make a stew��whatever��Slow cooking it just cooks the meat off and gets it in a usable form. [/quote

Yep, that's the best thing to do. Tough meat.

It's all the same when you grind it

Grind or slow cook. I�ve done them pot roast style cooking real slow. Turned out well. I have 2 in the freezer right now that I�m going to slow smoke like a butt. Heard that�s good if you don�t dry it out

Yup. Not a lot of meat on the shoulder. There are 2 small chunks plus the meat that runs outside the rib cage. The rest has to be cut off the bone.

One side of the shoulder can be done by slightly bending your knife to follow the contour of the bone and fillet the meat off. The other side has a ridge down the middle so you just have to carve it off.

If it takes an hour and a half you are probably being too picky on the silver skin. I debone a shoulder in about 10 minutes and I'm not fast. Typically I'm grinding it though.

thx for all the feedback guys - appreciate it ...

Best way I've seen it done is to brown whole shoulder on both sides in large pan or char it on the grill, put it in roasting pan or crockpot after that. Cover halfway with broth or red wine to cook low and slow like pot roast.

Cut as much silver skin off as you can. Poke holes with a knife all the way through the shoulder. Put it in a large disposable foil pan. Italian dressing, water, dales or Moore�s, a little liquid crab boil mixture to give the shoulder something to cook in . Add your choice of veggies. I like celery, potatoes, bell peppers, onions, asparagus, and a apple is good sliced also. Put whatever dry seasonings you want on the shoulder and the veggies and top the meat with bacon. Grill open for 30-45 minutes and then cover with foil. Cook an additional 1 1/2 - 2 hours making sure you still have liquid in the pan. Add water as needed. Nothing precise just suit your own taste.

I debone them and put it in the grind pile. It only takes about 1.5 hours to skin, gut and debone an entire deer, so I'm thinking you are being to careful about silver skin. I hate wasting meat, so I clean from knee joints on back legs to the base of the ears, including between the ribs. I try to starve the buzzards.

Stuff a few pieces of bacon in it. Add some onions and a couple clove's of garlic. Pour a bottle of you favorite BBQ sauce over it. Covered large foil pan. Oven or enclosed grill a couple hours. Meat Falla off and pretty tasty.

Italian Venison sandwiches!

Cut front shoulders in 4 inch pieces, bone & all. Use a stainless hacksaw blade (meat blade) or whatever type saw u like. Put the whole chunks in a crockpot, cover with water, add a generous amount of Italian seasoning and a couple of beef bullion cubes, cook until the meat falls off the bone. Remove all the meat and bones, set them aside. Strain the stock out of the crockpot into a glass bowl. Once strained, add the juice back to the crockpot. Shred all the meat off the bones, add to the crockpot. Cut up and add a bell pepper & a couple cloves of garlic, cover with more Italian seasoning!

Cook on low until peppers are done, serve on buns or hoagie rolls. Thank me later! Best way to cook shoulders that I�ve ever found! Robinhedd

I put a bullet thru them so I don't have to fool with it

Cut shoulder off, cut shank off, put shoulder on smoker. That's usually my process if I butcher them myself. I just smoke the entire shoulder.

Wrap in tin foil with onions ,salt and pepper. Cook at 250 for about 4 hours in oven. Pull it off the bone and eat.

I just de-bone and grind the shoulders. I will remove a lot of the silver skin by using a scary sharp flexible deboning knife and will fillet it off like taking the skin off a fish.

x2

Any small deer get's a pass by me just not much on them meat wise. That being said it is good for burger or sausage. If I had to shoot a real small one tip about slow cooking whole sounds good. Maybe cross stack a solid layer of pork bacon on outside and inject for some flavor.