# How to skin, gut and quarter a cow



## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

Last week my girlfriend an I made our first video on YouTube on how to skin, gut and quarter a cow to be ready for butchering.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tDoySxIs3c"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tDoySxIs3c[/ame]

If you like the video please click the "like" button on YouTube 
Also if you have any tips on how to get the job done quicker/easier please let me know.
I plan to make more farm related videos soon, so there will be more to come 

Thanks, Alec

Australia


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## Appalachia (Jul 11, 2012)

Looks like you have a good handle on it. I like the homemade gambrel.


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

Couldn't you make the skin slits and start the leg skinning on each leg, then pull it off without having to skin all the way down the legs and belly? (that was my favorite part, btw, watching the skin peel off).

Did you have to resharpen the knife at all?

It was a great video and seemed pretty matter-of-fact and covered pretty much everything.


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## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

Wolfy-hound said:


> Couldn't you make the skin slits and start the leg skinning on each leg, then pull it off without having to skin all the way down the legs and belly? (that was my favorite part, btw, watching the skin peel off).
> 
> Did you have to resharpen the knife at all?
> 
> It was a great video and seemed pretty matter-of-fact and covered pretty much everything.


You could skin less but it might cause a bit too much pressure somewhere and tear the flesh (maybe). I have skun a bit less before and it made a big difference pulling it off, so I just skin that much to be safe.

I resharpen the knife all the time. I think you can hear me do it twice in the video with the steel but i actually do it alot. I cut them bits out. I sharpen after cutting each leg joint, cutting the head off, after the first cuts opening it up, after skinning 1 side etc.

Thanks for the comments  I havent seen a video that covers this part, it always seems to be the butchering part only covered in videos. 

When I get a chance I'm going to make a video on how to make the skinning clamps and gambrel that I used in this video. I will probably sell them if anyone in Australia is interested in them.

Thanks, Alec

Australia


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

Very good video, you make it look so easy, well done Mate. > Thanks Marc


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Enjoyed the video! I would appreciate more information on the clamp made from the Land Rover part. I do not understand how you lock the skin to prevent it from slipping when you start the pull. PS....welcome to the site!


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## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

agmantoo said:


> Enjoyed the video! I would appreciate more information on the clamp made from the Land Rover part. I do not understand how you lock the skin to prevent it from slipping when you start the pull. PS....welcome to the site!


Thanks for the welcome 

For starters its off a Landcruiser (Toyota), I'm a Landcruiser enthusiast and what you said is a swear word hahahaha

It is made from a U bolt, they are used to hold the leaf springs to the diff housing. Hopefully this pic should make it a bit easier to understand. I have had a fair bit of interest about this so it is definitely on the to do list to make a video about, as well as the gambrel.

If you don't understand my poor drawing please ask questions


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

alecl

No problem at all with your drawing! I wanted make certain that I understood the interlocking of the hide within the apparatus. I process deer for myself and some of my friends and extended family. After cutting through the skin just back of the head and making a slit on the underside of the neck down to the brisket, I use a golf ball entrapped on the hair side of the cape by a nylon rope to remove the hide. The animal is supported by a chain placed immediately behind the head and the rope is anchored to a heavy agriculture implement. The chain is hooked to the bucket of a frontend loader or to a skid steer. The pull can be either vertical or horizontal, either direction will work. The hide will come off in a single piece and will even skin the hide from the tail. I want to use something such as your clamp instead of the golf ball you can see balled in the hide of this animal


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## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

I have never seen anyone skin in that direction before. Maybe if its pulled off in that direction it might cause less pressure around the belly when pulling it off - so you might not have to skin as much with the knife.


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## Gravytrain (Mar 2, 2013)

agmantoo said:


> alecl
> 
> I use a golf ball entrapped on the hair side of the cape by a nylon rope to remove the hide.


I use the same method, and it works very well....However, I'd love to see someone try that with a full sized beefer. Methinks it would require more than caping.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

alecl, there is very little pressure on the gut area using the method I do. Once I get the hide over and off the shoulders the task is nearly done. The small amount of skinning at the neck is all that I do with the deer. I get off the machine only twice and that is to cut the feet and lower legs off with a Dewalt recip saw.. I leave all the feet/lower legs attached to the hide. This process leaves a very clean carcass. I am a meat hunter, hunting from my place and I do not gut as I dress the animal shortly after killing it. Instead I remove the flesh from the carcass while hanging from the head. When and if I do gut I do have the issue of reversing the the direction the carcass is hanging. I dressed a yearly steer using this technique and there was no problem. I am gathering the components to make myself a clamp similar to yours. Got a nice u bolt off a pickup spring hanger today. The square bar stock will take a little time to locate


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## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

Im going to try this way with kangaroos for the dogs. 
I noticed it looks like you didnt bleed out the deer. Is there much blood in the meat when you go to cook it?


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

A shot deer will have no heart beat by the time the hunter gets to it and therefore will not bled out other than what was lost through the bullet hole until the heart ceases. I soak the meat in near freezing water and change the water frequently. Most of the family thinks they are eating beef. My wife is a good experienced cook. There is no "wild taste" with her venison preparations.


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## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

agmantoo said:


> A shot deer will have no heart beat by the time the hunter gets to it and therefore will not bled out other than what was lost through the bullet hole until the heart ceases. I soak the meat in near freezing water and change the water frequently. Most of the family thinks they are eating beef. My wife is a good experienced cook. There is no "wild taste" with her venison preparations.


Thats really interesting. I'm on a cattle and sheep station about 5000 acres almost totally surrounded by forestry. We are only just starting to get sambar deer coming on to the property. They are more of a novelty to see them at this stage but hopefully they will breed up so I can try and see what they eat like. I like your way of "bleeding" the meat. Thanks for the info.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

In the original video, the only thing I would do different is the way you bleed it. It is important to stick it while the heart is still beating. The way I learned to do it in a meat and animal science class in college (45+ years ago) is this. Put a longer bladed knife into the soft part of the chest just below the brisket bone. Feel your neck in the where your collar bones come together, it would be in that area of the cow. Insert the knife with the dull part of the blade toward the brisket and the sharp part toward the heart. Once it it straight in bring the sharp part down toward the heart area. This cuts the main arteries coming out of the heart. You won't believe how much blood shoots out. Hope I explained it understandably. It is quick and easy but run right over to the cow and stick it as soon as you can after stunning it!


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## alecl (Aug 21, 2013)

Ok I have never heard of that one before. Thats something I think I might need to be shown first before I try. Not something I would like to have a go at without proper instruction, if you know what I mean


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

I'll keep my eye open for a picture somewhere.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Here is some more for you. Still looking for a picture

Earlier studies suggested that cutting the throat fails to sever
the vertebral arteries supplying the brain. This may prolong
duration of sensibility following slaughter. Interruption of
the blood supply through the vertebral arteries in cattle
may be achieved by severance of the brachiocephalic trunk
by the use of a &#8216;thoracic stick&#8217;&#8212;an incision with a knife
through the thoracic inlet. Thoracic sticking, which severs
the brachiocephalic trunk near the heart, is reported to have
resulted in greater rate of blood loss than that following
bilateral neck severing. The thoracic sticking intervention is
widely practised, and is commonly associated with enhanced
bleeding and a hastened death process.


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