Processing your own meat

[diamond10x]

If able between 7-14 days

[macguyverberry]

7-10 days. In a cooler with ice on top. Drain open and cooled at angle to keep water from collecting. Add ice as needed. keeping the cooler out of any direct sunlight helps the ice last longer.

[Geoff995]

I try and process the day of the kill.

[salth2o]

Usually a week.

I process everything except the backstraps at home. My processor charged me $15 to slice, tenderize, and vacuum seal the backstraps from my last deer.

[Stolle]

I've has some hang in the walk in cooler for a week then directly on the ice for 5 days.

I've never bagged any portion of the deer and it turns out great. You can go to all that trouble if you want. I'm willing to bet my bank account that once my backstrap is processed and vacuum sealed that you can not tell the difference from one that was bagged. Appearance or taste. The light coloration of the meat goes away shortly after you pull it from the cooler. You don't have to believe everything you see on the internet

[AWnNETX]

Usually 7-10 days. Have gone up to 16-17 with a doe a couple seasons ago. If it's cold enough outside I will just let them hang as long as possible. If not, on ice in cooler. I let it all age the same amount of time, however the tenderloins, liver, and heart usually get eaten withing the first 2 or 3 days of kill.

[sec]

We will process it within the next day or two, but I thaw it out and age it for about a week prior to cooking. Seems to get the same results. No so called "wild" taste and tender.

[Mayhem]

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.

Exactly what I do.


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[grizzman]

7-10 days. Drain the water every day and put more ice in.

[Strummer]

5 to 7 days for me .

[Graysonhogs]

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. I used to "soak". Now I keep dry and it's a much better meat IMO.

[mastercraftka]

I never soak them in water! Only dry age them anywhere from 5 to 14 days.

either in the walk in or in my fridge.

[Stoof]

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.

I wipe the quarters down good and let them air dry for an hour or two. Depending on the outside temps and the number of fly's and bugs cruising of course. Then pack them up in bags and try to get the air out.

I would much rather hang them in a walk in but most of us don't have that luxury. I do wet age individual cuts in the fridge.

[Gambler2200]

7-10 days. In a cooler with ice on top. Drain open and cooled at angle to keep water from collecting. Add ice as needed. keeping the cooler out of any direct sunlight helps the ice last longer.

This is exactly how we do it. 5-7 days is normal for us. I put a brick under one side of the cooler and leave the drain plug cracked on the other end. Meat bleeds out and never sits in water. Just keep adding ice as needed.

[ATI]

if you cant hang in a cold, dry and dark place, this is what I do...
1. leave the drain open on you ice cooler
2. put the skinned, quartered and cleaned deer in the ice cooler
3. cover with ice
4. add more ice everyday or other day (depending on the outside temperature)
5. Let the ice melt through the meat and drain from the bottom for a week rotate or move the meat so that all parts are exposed to the moving water.
6. take the meat out, wash/rinse, cut up and refrigerate/freeze the way you want.