Hot Water Rinse of Meat

treillw

WKR
Joined
Mar 31, 2017
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MT
I know a butcher who would rinse animals with hot water after skinning. Screaming hot. I think he said it would get the hair and dirt off.

This just seems like a bad idea to me. Cold water seems more reasonable. I mean he's the professional...

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 

SBR Sarge

Lil-Rokslider
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Jul 5, 2022
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I haven’t heard of doing a scalding water rinse after skinning, although my grandfather would pour boiling water over liver before cooking.

A local processor I sometimes use wil take a flame to the skinned animal to burn off the hairs after skinning.

If I did the hot water rinse, I’d follow up with an ice cold re-rinse. Maybe in a tub of ice water.
 
Joined
Dec 31, 2021
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Montana
I wash mine down with hot water and either baking soda or white vinegar. I scrub the blood off and then go over it with a clean horse curry comb. That will pick up bone chips (saw shavings) and hair. When each quarter is clean then I dry them off with a towel, wrap them in sheets to keep them clean and hang them till I can cut them up. They are usually frozen by morning or the next day.

Then I bring them into the house, let them thaw on the kitchen table for a day or two and cut them with ice chrystals in the meat. Then they are wrapped and refrozen until I eat them.
 
Joined
Jul 20, 2014
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Kirtland, NM
The only reason for a processor to wash a carcass with scalding water is to try and
Kill any bacteria on the meat. There are carcass washers for whole beef and hogs for this purpose but those are usually over 180 degrees and instant. Washing meat after the hair has set on the carcass usually won’t get it off. It needs to be trimmed off or singed off. If the carcass is extremely fresh, still wet, and
newly skinned, washing will work but I would use cold water not hot.
 
Joined
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Colorado
I just did this with several upland birds, but I used like warm warm, then patted them dry with a towel before freezing them.
 

G.Linden

FNG
Joined
Jul 10, 2020
Messages
10
I know a butcher who would rinse animals with hot water after skinning. Screaming hot. I think he said it would get the hair and dirt off.

This just seems like a bad idea to me. Cold water seems more reasonable. I mean he's the professional...

Thoughts?

Thanks!
I rinse / wash off in cool water to clean before storage. I soak in Hot tap water with salt to prepare before cooking .
 
Joined
Dec 2, 2022
Messages
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I’ve always been told absolutely no water on the meat. Seen people use a propane torch to burn off hair and pine needles etc. but we usually leave it as is because you trim off that outer “crust” after your meat has hung in a cooler for a few days
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2022
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iv always power sprayed using hot water, then let it drip dry before putting it in to a diy walk in, i also let the animal dry age in the cooler for 10 to 20 days before i process it. that being said the most important thing is to make sure after its wet that its dry before hanging.
 

Clovis

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
197
I am in the "no water on meat" camp unless dealing with a specific problem of something getting on a part of the carcass that I don't want on it. Even then, I am more likely to cut away the offending layer. I am happier with the quality of fish and game both when no water is involved in the processing.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
365
I do a cold water rinse and scrub quarters with wash towel when I get home. Dry thoroughly (even wrap with towels and change towel each day.)and put on ice blocks a couple days before butchering. Hot water rinse doesn't make sense - encouraging bacteria growth, imo
 

Larry Bartlett

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
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Feb 13, 2013
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I blow mine up with dynamite and drag it behind a truck after skinning...

Seriously though, just because someone "in the know" does it does not make it a good idea.

When i was learning to hunt and when my dad shot a deer, he would lay out a tarp in the driveway and spray it down with high pressure cold water. I remember asking him why he did it, which he said to clean it. When I asked him what all that slimy gel was on all the meat after he washed carcass he'd say "i don't know but its cleaner than when I skinned it." He was wrong. Meat taste better if it stays dry and clean, period.

Today i try not to let any water touch meat before eating it. Same with salmon. I see guys all the time washing off their fillets in the river or at the processing station. NO thanks.
 
Joined
Nov 3, 2014
Messages
634
Location
Montana
Keep it clean, dry, and cold. You’ll be set. I rinse very few pieces and only if hot guys or heavy hair. Usually not a problem though. If I do Rivne dry immediately.
 
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