From Carcass to Braai: The Home Butchery Playbook for South Africans
By the Claasens team, makers of South African meat processing equipment since 1955.
Bringing a carcass home is the beginning of the work, not the end. Whether you have shot a kudu in the Limpopo bushveld, taken a springbok in the Karoo, or bought half a beef carcass from a local farmer, what happens between the field and the freezer decides how good the meat will taste a year from now.
This guide is the playbook we wish more hunters and home butchers had on the wall when they started. It covers hygiene, hanging, breaking down a beef hindquarter, butchering a kudu or springbok, what to do with the trim, and how to package the result so it is still good in twelve months. It is written for South African conditions, with South African game in mind.
Before you start. Hygiene, temperature, workspace
The single biggest factor in whether your meat tastes good in a year is whether it stayed cold and clean from the moment the carcass arrived. Cold meat does not spoil. Warm meat does. Clean meat does not pick up off flavours. Contaminated meat does.
The cold chain
Meat should sit below 4 °C from carcass to freezer. The danger zone is between 4 °C and 60 °C, where bacteria multiply rapidly. If you cannot keep the meat below 4 °C, you should be working with it. The longer it sits in the danger zone, the worse the result.
For a hunter, that means getting the carcass to a cold room or chiller within hours of the kill. For a home butcher, it means clearing the fridge before you start and working in cool morning hours, not late afternoon when the kitchen is at 28 °C.
Workspace and surfaces
HDPE cutting boards beat wood for raw meat. They are non porous, dishwasher safe, and easy to sanitise. Wooden boards are fine for finished, cooked meat but they harbour bacteria when used for raw work. Stainless steel surfaces are even better, which is why butcheries are built from them.
Sanitise everything before and after. A 1 percent bleach solution wiped over surfaces is the simplest, cheapest way to do it. Rinse with clean water afterwards so no bleach taste transfers.
Personal hygiene
Tie back long hair. Wear a clean apron. Wash your hands every time you touch your face, the phone, or any non meat surface. If you have a cut on your hand, cover it with a waterproof plaster and a glove. These sound obvious but they are what separates the home job that gives the family food poisoning from the home job that does not.
Hanging and aging
Fresh meat is tough. Hung meat is tender. The difference comes down to enzymes inside the muscle that break down connective tissue when given time at the right temperature. This is called aging, and it is what makes a properly aged steak melt in the mouth.
Why aging matters
For the first 24 hours after slaughter, muscles tighten into rigor mortis. Cutting meat in rigor gives you tough, chewy results no matter how well you cook it. Allowing the carcass to hang for at least 3 days lets the rigor pass and the enzymes begin their work. Longer aging continues to tenderise and concentrates flavour as moisture evaporates.
How long, at what temperature
| Meat | Temperature | Humidity | Hanging time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beef | 1 to 3 °C | 75 to 85 percent | 14 to 28 days |
| Lamb / mutton | 1 to 3 °C | 75 to 85 percent | 5 to 7 days |
| Pork | 1 to 3 °C | 75 to 85 percent | 3 to 5 days |
| Kudu / large game | 1 to 4 °C | 75 to 85 percent | 7 to 14 days |
| Springbok / small game | 1 to 4 °C | 75 to 85 percent | 3 to 7 days |
Dry aging at home
You can dry age primal cuts in a domestic fridge. Choose a primal with the fat cap and bone still attached (a rib roast is ideal). Set it on a wire rack over a tray to catch drips. Leave at the back of the fridge for 14 to 21 days. The outside will darken and harden into a pellicle, which you trim off before cooking. What is underneath is concentrated, deeply flavoured meat.
Game does not dry age the same way as beef. The flavour can turn livery if hung too long. Stick to the times in the table and you will not go wrong.
The tools you actually need
You do not need a fully equipped butchery to process meat at home. You do need the right knives, somewhere to hang, and a way to deal with bone. Everything else is an upgrade.
Knives
- Boning knife. 15 cm flexible blade. The most used knife in the kit. Used for separating muscle from bone.
- Breaking knife. 25 cm stiff blade. For longer cuts through large primals.
- Slicing knife. 30 cm thin blade. For portioning steaks and roasts after the breakdown is done.
- A sharpening steel. Used every five minutes during a long session. A dull knife is dangerous because it slips.
Hooks and hanging
Stainless steel meat hooks and a gambrel let you hang half or quarter carcasses for breaking down and aging. A galvanised meat rail in the garage or shed is the home butcher's best friend.
Band saw
A meat band saw cuts through bone cleanly, which a knife cannot do. Splitting a carcass, sectioning ribs, or cutting bone in steaks all need a saw. The Claasens Meat Band Saw and Mincer combines a heavy duty bone saw with a built in mincer in a single frame, which is exactly what most hunters and small butcheries need without taking up half the garage.
Mincer
Half of every game animal becomes mince. Boerewors, frikkadel, droëwors, hamburger. A mincer is essential. The No. 22 mincer handles up to 100 kg in a session comfortably. The No. 32 mincer is built for serious game processing, where you might do an entire kudu in one day.
Vacuum sealer (optional but recommended)
Vacuum sealing extends freezer life from three months to over a year. Butcher paper is the cheaper, traditional option. Pick one and use it consistently.
Breaking down a beef hindquarter
A beef hindquarter is roughly 70 kg of meat off a 280 kg carcass. It contains some of the best cuts on the animal and most of the primary biltong meat. This is the breakdown most South African home butchers will do at some point.
The four main muscles to separate
- Topside. Lean. For roasts, biltong, and slow braises.
- Silverside. Lean with an external fat cap. The classic biltong cut, also for corned beef.
- Knuckle. Smaller, lean. Best portioned into steaks or stew cubes.
- Eye of round. Cylindrical, very lean. Beautiful for thin sliced biltong.
Step by step
- Hang the hindquarter from a gambrel so you can work at chest height.
- Find the natural seam between the topside and silverside. There is a sheet of fat that separates them. Run your fingers along the seam, then follow the seam with a boning knife, keeping the knife angled towards the silverside.
- Lift the silverside away as a single muscle. It has a flat side that was lying against the bone and a rounded side with the fat cap on it. This is your biltong meat. Set it aside whole. For drying instructions, see our biltong guide.
- Remove the topside. The topside sits above the silverside, attached to the femur. Cut along the bone and lift the muscle off in one piece. Trim silver skin before portioning into roasts or biltong strips.
- Lift the knuckle. The knuckle is on the front of the leg. Smaller, slightly rounded. Portion into 200 g steaks or 25 mm stew cubes.
- Pop out the eye of round. A long thin cylinder near the silverside. This makes the prettiest biltong sticks. Strip the silver skin carefully so it does not pull the muscle apart.
- Trim and bag. Everything left is trim. Silver skin to the bin. Fat saved for boerewors. Lean trim minced for hamburger.
An entire hindquarter takes a fit home butcher about three hours, working steadily.
Butchering a kudu, springbok, or impala
Game butchery is simpler than beef in some ways and harder in others. Game animals are leaner, so there is less fat in the way. They are also bigger boned proportionally, especially kudu, so a band saw earns its keep. The key is to work fast, keep things cold, and respect the meat.
From the field
Field dressing happens at the kill site. Gut the animal, remove the diaphragm, and let the carcass cool quickly. Hang upside down in shade or get it into a cold room within four hours. Skin while the carcass is still warm if possible. The skin comes off more easily and the meat cools faster once the hide is off.
Skinning and quartering
Hang the carcass from the back legs. Make an incision around each hock and a long incision down the inside of each leg. Peel the skin downwards, using the fist or the back of a knife to separate skin from membrane. A cleanly skinned carcass should leave almost no meat on the hide. After skinning, split the carcass down the spine with a band saw. You now have two sides.
Quarter each side into a front quarter and a hind quarter. The front quarter contains the shoulder, ribs, and neck. The hind quarter contains the leg, rump, and lower back. From here, the breakdown follows the same logic as beef.
Primal cuts on a kudu
| Primal | Best use |
|---|---|
| Back strap (loin) | Medallions and steaks. Tender, must not be overcooked. |
| Fillet (tenderloin) | The best eating cut on the animal. Seared whole or sliced into medallions. |
| Silverside | Biltong. The classic kudu biltong cut. |
| Topside | Biltong or slow roast. |
| Shoulder | Slow braise, potjie, or boned for mince and wors. |
| Neck and rib trim | Wors and droëwors. |
| Leg (hind) | Roasts, steaks, biltong. Can be left whole or broken into the four hindquarter muscles. |
Springbok and impala
The same logic applies, scaled down. Smaller animals make smaller primals. The back strap and fillet are still the best eating cuts. The silverside is still the classic biltong cut, just shorter. Springbok in particular has a delicate, almost lamb like flavour that takes spice well. Impala is leaner still and best for wors, droëwors, and slow cooked dishes.
Trim, fat, and offcuts. Turn waste into product
A surprising amount of a carcass ends up as trim, the bits that come off the primals. The home butchers who get the most value from a carcass have a plan for every gram.
Trim becomes mince
Run lean trim through your mincer for hamburger, frikkadel, or wors. Always chill the trim and the mincer parts (the worm, plate, and knife) in the freezer for an hour before mincing. Cold equipment cuts meat cleanly. Warm equipment smears it, which gives a poor texture.
Fat saves the wors
Game is lean. Boerewors needs fat. Render down or freeze any fat you trim from your game carcass to add to the wors mix. Pork speck from the butcher is the easiest backup. For full boerewors instructions, see our boerewors guide.
Bones for stock
Roast the bones at 200 °C for an hour, then simmer in water with onion, carrot, and a bay leaf for 6 hours. Strain and freeze in 500 ml portions. The base for any winter soup, risotto, or stew.
Patties
If you mince more than you need, press patties on a patty former and freeze flat between sheets of greaseproof paper. You always have the basis of a meal ready. The 100 mm, 130 mm, and Dagwood patty formers all live in our patty former collection.
Packaging, freezing, and storage
Vacuum sealing
The gold standard. Vacuum sealed meat keeps for 12 to 18 months in a domestic freezer without freezer burn. Label every bag with the cut and the date.
Butcher paper
The traditional method. Wrap tightly with two layers of plastic against the meat and a layer of brown paper on the outside. Keeps for 3 to 6 months, less for fattier cuts.
Freezer life by cut
| Cut | Vacuum sealed | Butcher paper |
|---|---|---|
| Steaks and roasts (lean) | 12 to 18 months | 6 months |
| Mince | 6 to 9 months | 3 months |
| Wors (raw) | 6 months | 3 months |
| Cured meats (biltong, droëwors) | 12 months | 2 months in greaseproof paper |
Frequently asked questions
How long should I hang a kudu before butchering?
Seven to fourteen days at 1 to 4 °C, depending on the size of the animal and your patience. A bull kudu benefits from the full 14 days. A young cow is ready at 7. Game does not benefit from longer aging the way beef does, because the flavour can turn.
What is the best cut of kudu for biltong?
The silverside, hands down. Topside is a close second. The back strap also makes excellent, premium quality biltong if you cut it lengthways into long thin sticks.
Do I need a band saw for home butchery?
For boneless work, no. A boning knife handles everything. For splitting carcasses, sectioning ribs, or cutting bone in steaks, yes. A band saw is the difference between a job that takes two hours and a job that takes two minutes.
Is it legal to butcher game at home in South Africa?
Yes, for personal use. Game shot under permit and processed for your own household requires no further permission. Selling the meat is regulated and requires an abattoir certified facility. If in doubt, contact the provincial conservation authority.
How quickly does game need to be cooled after shooting?
The internal temperature should be below 7 °C within 24 hours. In hot bushveld conditions this means a cold room or chiller, not a tree. A trailer cooler box with ice packs is the minimum acceptable solution for an overnight stay before reaching town.
Can I dry age venison at home?
Short hangs (5 to 7 days) work well. Longer dry aging is risky with venison because the flavour can turn livery. If you want concentrated game flavour, biltong is a more reliable route than dry aging.
About Claasens
The Claasens family has been making meat band saws, mincers, biltong slicers, and sausage fillers in South Africa since 1955. Three generations of the family have refined the machines you find on our site. Many of the band saws we built in the seventies are still in daily use on farms and in butcheries across the country. If you have a question that is not answered above, our workshop is a phone call away.