Need Advice! Recommendations on meat storage in the field

Get a few good 120qt coolers. Quarter the animal and put in cooler and fill it completely with ice. drain the water every day (at least every couple of days) and add ice. Your meat will be fine for well over a week like this.
 
Down here we gut and pack the cavity with ice bags to get the cooling process started, you don't get much time when the temps are 70-80*s.
Click to expand...

Good post.

When the temperature is 80 degrees one has about four hours to get a hog on ice or in a cooler.
 
Why not rent a small U-Haul trailer to carry a small freezer and generator? The freezer can be purchased at Wally World for about $150. If you have access to a portable generator you can freeze the quarters and bring them back to your favorite butcher when you come home. J
Click to expand...

I do my best to NOT freeze my meat until rigor has "un"-set. I usually age mine for as long as I can in a freezer. Once the ice has melted I butcher. Try to keep the game off the water.
 
The main problem with water.. When you make sausage with water soaked meat, it tends to get squished out of the sausage grinder in these really kinda "fart episodes" that the grinder goes through with wet meat and ends up on your wifes kitchen curtains.
 
The main problem with water.. When you make sausage with water soaked meat, it tends to get squished out of the sausage grinder in these really kinda "fart episodes" that the grinder goes through with wet meat and ends up on your wifes kitchen curtains
Click to expand...

LOL, That would be a problem. I never tried to make sausage out of it. I just covered it with ice and water and put a touch of vinegar in it. The meat would turn almost white on the outside for maybe 1/4 inch. I never saw water get in it. There is no doubt that deer hung in a cooler at 40 degrees or so for a couple of weeks is much more tender and has less "wild taste". If you go to a restaurant and buy a high dollar steak you can bet it's aged. I haven't forked over the money yet for a walk in cooler so I just keep mine on ice for a while.
On the other hand elk is good if you put it on the grill the day you killed it, and I suspect hogs are too.
 
I see this is an older thread, I've been away a while, and I'm not going to debate the water/non-water stuff, but to keep the water/ice/frozen stuff separate, in my huge igloo marine cooler, I put some "honeycomb" material years ago. I got it from Home Depot, the kind you use for drop ceilings and fluorescent fixtures. It's cheap, cut it to fit, slide to the bottom, then leave the drain open. Replace ice as needed and it keeps water off whatever is in the cooler if that is what you need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top