Butchering / Preserving meat

[Tonopah01]

Went archery hunting with my son in law in eastern AZ last September (Oracle area). My son in law dropped a four point Coues at 69 yards with an arrow. Shot was just behind the left front leg and the arrow went all the way through. Animal laid down after about 20 yards. Needed one more arrow to the neck to finish it. This was a very small but very healthy deer (prior to the arrow hitting it). Dressed it in the field and got it back to camp where we skinned it and butchered it. Did an amateur job of butchering but it worked. Wish I knew more about how to properly butcher.

I had my generator with me in camp and a seal a meal device. Plugged the seal a meal into the generator and took large pieces of meat, washed them down, and then vacuum sealed them. Put the vacuum seal bags in the bottom of a cooler and covered with ice.

This was the best venison I have ever tasted. It was great to be able to transport the meat keeping it really cold but not in water, and also keeping oxygen away from it.

The seal a meal worked great! Now I have to learn better how to butcher properly though.

[weekender21]

There are quite a few videos available from places like cabelas. They'll help you label the parts of the ham and give you ideas for future butchering. My advice is to watch a video and then keep at it. You can't experience. Good luck!

[Tonopah01]

Thank you for the tip. I will order a DVD or two from either Cabelas or Bass Pro.

[jkvshooter]

Frozen 2 liter bottles are a great way too keep meat cold without getting water on your meat. Last year I hunted in January and you could re-freeze the bottles by just leaving them outside your tent at night. LOL. I did try hangin a buck for a couple days and will never do that again. I lost alot of meat due to the "crust", but that's just my 2 cents.

jkvshooter

[weekender21]

I use a big (120qt) cooler and lay the meat on top of the ice. I haven't had any trouble with "bleaching". As long as the meat isn't submerged in water I think you're ok. I prefer to hose off a deer or pig when I have that luxury. Hanging skinned animals overnight has worked well for me too. I always cover the meat with mesh game bags to keep dirt and bugs off. I think I would avoid leaving the meat out over night if the temperature was over 65F or so. I know a guy that ages venison for weeks at fairly warm temperatures but I haven't tried that!

[dp1077]

If u are using a vacuum sealer u should have no problem.That is all I use anymore,your meat will last longer in the vacuum sealed bags compared to wrapping it.

[Tonopah01]

In the past I have put the meat in the bottom of a large cooler filled with ice, water and some lemon juice and some vinegar. The acid does stop spoilage but you do have wet meat of course. Too much vinegar and the meat turns a little blue in color but that does not hurt the meat.

I more recently have been doing the vacuum seal method in camp and am a lot happier with that. No spoilage issues as the meat is both cold and protected from both water and oxygen. Done this on a pig and also a buck. Worked great.

[weekender21]

Here is my best case scenario:

1-Field dress animal within 1/2 hour of it expiring

2-skin, wipe down with white vinegar, and hang in a cooler for a few days. If I don't have a walk in cooler, I put the meat in a large cooler on ice. The goal is to keep the meat at about 38F.

3-Butcher the meat, trimming any hair or dirt that I missed the first time

4-Vacuum seal!!! I have eaten vacuum sealed meat 2 years after I killed it and have had good results.

5-****NOTE****Meat with the bone in can be aged for quite a while (most butchers recommend 7 days) If the meat is boned out it will continue to bleed and loose too much moisture. Boned out meat should be in the freezer within 4 days.

6-As a side note, I've never had the luxury of aging meat more than 48 hours in a walk-in cooler. I think more emphasis should be put on a quick clean kill and getting the animal field dressed as soon as possible, especially on warm days like we have in CA.

[hogassin]

you dont hang wild game...keep cool.... next day remove membrane and bloodshot then make your cuts and grind then vacuum seal no need to wash meat...water carrys bacterias