Hanging meat - below freezing.

[id450]

Is it preferable to cover meat with a sleeping bag to prevent freezing? Temps will be mid teens .
Also, I’ll be in the desert truck camping . Still trying to figure out a meat pole solution if any one has an idea. Thanks


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[highcountrymuley]

I think inside a cooler (no ice) would be a better idea to keep it from freezing? I have had elk quarters freeze... very hard to break down and I think when they freeze "in rigor" they don't turn out very tender. Good luck

 

[Tod osier]

Is it preferable to cover meat with a sleeping bag to prevent freezing? Temps will be mid teens .
Also, I’ll be in the desert truck camping . Still trying to figure out a meat pole solution if any one has an idea. Thanks


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I wouldn't "hang" at all in those conditions after initial chilling. As said above, I'd think cooler as soon as i thought the internal was coolish (surface would be cold). I'd put them in a cooler or pile on the truck insulated to try to keep them from freezing as long as possible to avoid cold shortening.

 

[Tod osier]

There is a case made in Alaska to leave hide on caribou quarters during winter hunts to keep them from freezing so fast to hopefully eliminate cold shortening. I don't know how widely it is practiced, but it makes sense to me.

 

[Pony Soldier]

It takes 2-3 days for them to freeze. In warm years I throw them in the freezer as I have with beef. Then when it is convenient, I thaw them out, cut them up and refreeze them.

If its cows or deer I don't find any differance. In old bulls during the rut, they are going to be chewy nomatter what you do to them. I quit aging wild meat in 1971 and found vast improvements in flavor.

 

[IdahoBeav]

It takes 2-3 days for them to freeze. In warm years I throw them in the freezer as I have with beef. Then when it is convenient, I thaw them out, cut them up and refreeze them.

If its cows or deer I don't find any differance. In old bulls during the rut, they are going to be chewy nomatter what you do to them. I quit aging wild meat in 1971 and found vast improvements in flavor.

I like to partial freeze for butchering. I find it much easier to trim and slice.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Since you're in a remote area, a cooler with ice is how I'd plan to do it, the ice will still insulate it from freezing and will ensure it doesn't keep the meat too hot.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I place quarters in a cooler till I can hang em in a cool box (40*) to age before cutting. Freezing is no bueno.

 

[SBR Sarge]

As for the hanging question, I’ve seen ads for a winch/pole system that goes into a receiver hitch. I can’t recall who makes it right now. But it might work for you. Some folks find quartering easier if they are hanging.

And I agree about now letting it freeze. You’re probably OK the first night, especially if you shoot it later in the day. But beyond that I’d do the cooler as others have said.

 

[rayporter]

https://www.amazon.com/Highwild-HOTS-TH201/dp/B085DBS393/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=deer+hanging+game+hoist&qid=1670689576&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFUNjJKN09XMDdQTDMmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA0MDA5OTZQOVNFNVdPSVZYM00mZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDk0MzY5OTFLT0VHRENENE05NkYmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

[rayporter]

leave the hide on. lots of eastern whitetails hang in cold weather for a few days.

 

[Marche hunter]

Leave the hide on the quarters

 

[CentennialState]

It takes 2-3 days for them to freeze. In warm years I throw them in the freezer as I have with beef. Then when it is convenient, I thaw them out, cut them up and refreeze them.

If its cows or deer I don't find any differance. In old bulls during the rut, they are going to be chewy nomatter what you do to them. I quit aging wild meat in 1971 and found vast improvements in flavor.

You quit aging meat meaning as soon as the animal is down and transported home, you put it straight into a freezer? I assume you leave bone in before processing, or do you take the bone out?

 

[CentennialState]

I place quarters in a cooler till I can hang em in a cool box (40*) to age before cutting. Freezing is no bueno.

How long do you typically age for?

 

[Pony Soldier]

You quit aging meat meaning as soon as the animal is down and transported home, you put it straight into a freezer? I assume you leave bone in before processing, or do you take the bone out?

Bone in. In a normal year, I bring the quarters in, scrub them down after skinning the quarters and hang them in the barn. By morning they are frozen.

I usually can keep hunting until December when I start cutting a half an elk every 2-3 days.

 

[87TT]

Never had a problem with a animal hanging and freezing over night. I usually hang them in my shop over night and then into the freezer until I am ready to process later. I would be more worried about leaving the hair on and not cooling fast enough.

 

[CentennialState]

Bone in. In a normal year, I bring the quarters in, scrub them down after skinning the quarters and hang them in the barn. By morning they are frozen.

I usually can keep hunting until December when I start cutting a half an elk every 2-3 days.

Bone in. In a normal year, I bring the quarters in, scrub them down after skinning the quarters and hang them in the barn. By morning they are frozen.

I usually can keep hunting until December when I start cutting a half an elk every 2-3 days.

What do you scrub them with? And in September/October in Colorado it’s usually not below freezing at any time of the day, so let’s say I shoot my deer at first light. I’m home by 1pm. I hang him from my garage rafters overnight with a bag of ice in the chest cavity or would you just break him down that same day and put into the freezer? My understanding was the longer it hangs, the better it’ll taste, but temperature control is an issue here and I don’t have enough space to make a walk in cooler

 

[Pony Soldier]

What I learned in the meat labs at north dakota state was : beef and buffaloe -14 days at 33 degrees. Wild meat : cut and package as soon as the core of the meat is cold.

I have eaten it fresh as well as cutting it off the peel ( hanging meat) but I prefer it frozen once and thawed for dinner.

My Dad aged the meat as many of you do and I always thought it was normal that a thawed elk steak had black blood. My wifes foster father as well as a guy I worked with in Washington, would let the meat hang until it got a 1/4" of gray mold over it. My wife always thought all wild meat tasted like liver until I cooked up an elk steak on our first date.

If I lived in a warm place like Colorado, I would hang the quarters over night and cut them up the next day. I collect the hamburger meat in a double baged 5 gal bucket and freeze in a block. I usually get that ground and frozen in the off season so it doesn't get get mixed with eveyone elses meat.

This has worked for me for 50 years but what you do is up to you.

You asked what I scrubbed the meat with. I usually take a 1 gallon bucket filled with hot water and baking soda. I go over the meat with a new horse curry comb after its skinned and trimmed , that will gather up stray hairs. Then I washed the quarter with the water and soda with a washrag to get the blood off of it . Then I dry the quarters with a clean towel and wrap them with sheets to keep them clean until I cut them up.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I may of still left out a couple things. I put a 3/4" piece of plywood over the top of the dinning room table for domestic peace.

I bring in a half of elk or deer and set them on the table to thaw. Depending on the meat, they will thaw in two to three days. I then cut that up in an evening and start over.

When the kids were home and we had deer, I would have everthing cut by february.

When I lived in warmer climates I always figured to buy a refrigerated box off a wrecked truck. I never found one so that should give you a hint on how often that occurs.

I have seen advertisements of portable coolers on tv but nothing in Montana.

 

[bmart2622]

Ive done it a bunch, sometimes conditions dictated it other times the meat went into a freezer when I got home and Ive never noticed a difference in meat quality