deer toes

[sunbursthonor]

how long do i boil deer toes before they will pop off? please answer quickly because i am starting. i have heard 2 to 3 hours but i am not sure
thx,
mike

[Kyee]

Mike,
It only takes a few minutes in boiling water to loosen up the toe on the hoof, just make sure that the feet you are trying to get the toes off of are fresh, as we found that the older they are, the more messed up the toes will be when you get em off!!!! Try to use a fairly smooth jawed pair of pliers to grasp and then twist the toe from the toe bone/Kyee

[jmm]

deer toes

It all depends how many you are boiling. In my past experience, I found that it does take a few hours to have the toes fall off. My suggestion is to keep boiling the toes til they fall off, similar to when someone makes soup with a ham bone. You might also want to cut the leg off above the dew claws. unless you need the leg bones. When they are still hot you can do any clean up needed ie, remove cartilage still stuck in the toe, trim to lenght, etc. After that, start another pot of fresh boiling water with Dawn dish detergent place the toes and dew claws in the water and then rinse two or three times in hot water. The washing and rinsing steps are important since the toes and dew claws will be greasy. It is important to remember that the toes will be HOT!!!! and you could burn yourself. Set them out to dry. After the toes are cooled they will reharden. Store in a dry place. This process is something you want to do outside.

Hope this helps

[tcumonster]

Based on knowledge gained by pulling way too many toes over the past ten years or so, let me offer some thoughts.

The trick that we have used is to boil the feet for about 8-10 minutes, or until the "toe" pops of easliy. Someone suggested to use pliers, and that is what we have found that works the best. If you are using legs that are old or you boil them too long, they can be impossible to get off. If done correctly, you shouldn't have to clean anything out of the toe.

We usually pull the toes into cold water and rinse them really well before laying them out to dry. Once we have enough to make it worth the effort, we wash them in warm, soapy water and rinse well. They usually go in the back of the truck for a few days until they are dry. If they don't dry well, they will stink.

I usually pull toes with someone else so that one person pulls and the other person groups the leg, adds more water to the pot, etc. Hopefully your toe-pulling goes well. Deer season isn't unitl November here, so I have a little while to look forward to it all again. Let me know if you need some more information.

tcumonster