Processing your own meat

[Txprowler]

How long do you let your meat set on ice before processing it? We always let it set and drain the blood out for 3 or 4 days.

[Bowhuntinonly]

About a week

[Stoof]

I do not like ice or water to touch the meat. If it needs to sit in the cooler, I dry the quarters off, bag them up in scent free trash bags and try my darndest to keep it dry until I have time to cut it up.

[TTU TX Hunter]

I do not like ice or water to touch the meat. If it needs to sit in the cooler, I dry the quarters off, bag them up in scent free trash bags and try my darndest to keep it dry until I have time to cut it up.

Same here, we’ve gon up to 10 days. The longer you wait the more of wet aging you are doing which is not a bad thing. 100% about the water not touching the meat though, no need turn the outside grey and discolored. Plus, no processor soaks deer meat in ice water when you take a deer to them.

[SwampRabbit]

I do not like ice or water to touch the meat. If it needs to sit in the cooler, I dry the quarters off, bag them up in scent free trash bags and try my darndest to keep it dry until I have time to cut it up.

But in reality, you are still wet aging it... just wet aging it in its own fluid. I think in order to dry age it, you really have to hang it.

I don't like mine sitting in water... but water dripping over the outside and dripping down to the bottom of the cooler, and the cooler being drained works well for us. The meat doesn't looked "soaked" or "soggy"... which can happen if you let it sit in fluid like water for an extended period of time.

The key is to keep the meat towards the top of the ice...

If I happen to have a blood shot shoulder... that one goes on the bottom so that the blood has a chance to drain out.

That being said, if I could hang it... I sure as hell would... I like meat that is hung better... but we obviously don't all have walk in coolers.

To the OP... How long I keep it on ice depends on how busy I am and how old the critter was. If it was young and tender... I might just let it go a couple days if I have the time in the early part of the weak to deal with it. If not, it might wait until closer to the weekend.

I let the "draining" fluid tell me about the readiness as well. If I am getting a lot of blood in the draining fluid... I want more to be purged... once the fluid runs very light pink/clear... then the meat for the most part has drained a bunch of the blood, etc.

So anywhere between 2-10 days... average is about 5-6 days.

[rtjh]

About a week, have gone longer though.

[Grand Passage]

I do not like ice or water to touch the meat. If it needs to sit in the cooler, I dry the quarters off, bag them up in scent free trash bags and try my darndest to keep it dry until I have time to cut it up.

^^^This

[ladybluearm]

About a week, drain water every day and add ice as needed. I take the backstraps and tenderloins out at day 2 or 3. Nothing better than processing it yourself.

[SwampRabbit]

About a week, drain water every day and add ice as needed. I take the backstraps and tenderloins out at day 2 or 3. Nothing better than processing it yourself.

Good point about the Backstraps... I've seen some fellas throw these right in with the ice... no bag or anything. They have WAY too much surface without sinew to soak up water from the ice. For those, I will put them in ziplock bags and put in the ice chest and pull them, like you said, at 2-3 days, cut and package for the freezer.

[BLACKFINTURKEY]

I do both just depending on when I’ll have time to process it.

If I won’t be able to get to it right away I like to let it sit in ice and drain water off daily for up to 5 days, this way IMO gets a lot of the games taste out but it’s kinda messy when deboning.

If I can dry age it I will do that for a few days then continue processing.


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[Balcones_Walker]

Never, I process everything immediately. It's rare to take 2 hours from shot to deep freeze. If I'm going to age a cut of meat I do it in the (redneck) curing chamber later.

[SwampRabbit]

I am always up to trying something new... so for the guys that put their quarters in bags... do you do this immediately after you have quartered the animal? Or do you put them on ice to chill some, then dry them, then put in a bag and then on ice. I was confused by Stoof's statement hat he "dries them" and puts them in a bag. Not sure how they got wet in the first place - unless you spray them down on the rack?

Do you loosely put the quarters in a bag, or are you trying to get it air tight as well. Do you drain the liquid out of the bags from time to time?

One additional comment that makes me decide how long to keep quarters on ice... the whole "aging" processes is letting the meat break down. Aging happens faster the warmer the temps are. But even frozen in a the freezer, the meat ages. Backstrap that has been in my freezer for 2-3 years is always more tender than 6 months. So, how long I plan on keeping meat in the freezer determines how long I will let the aging happen up front, vs in the freezer, vs back in the fridge when it thaws. If I know I am going to process it later, I don't let it age on ice for very long. I debone and freeze within a couple days as it is going to age some in the freezer for the next 6months to a year before I get around to it.

If I know I am going to consume it within a year most likely after freezing... then I will let it age on ice (32-36 degrees) for longer.

[Smart]

I set it in the cooler with ice on top.. Crack drain plug with opposite end up higher to help drain in yard.. Never sets in a pool of liquid. Check ice twice a day. Love it when it is cold outside doing this because the ice stays. I go 4-5 days but have gone up to 9. Depends really on when I can get to it. We have three deer in a 110 quart cooler right now about to be cut up tonight.

[No-Tox]

I've got some in the ice chest going on 9 days. Got to half of it last night and hope to finish it up tonight.

[TacticalCowboy]

Anywhere from 2 to 10 days. Keep it cold and it’ll be fine. It’s not rocket surgery.