Washing game meat

[WoodDuck]

Do you wash your game meat?

If you do, why? I understand trying to clean up blood shot meat or anything that has gut matter on it, but I have family and friends that wash all wild game under running water after processing or before cooking. In my experience, this causes it to water log and dilute flavor, makes it impossible to get a good sear, and spoils meat more quickly in the fridge.

This is a pet peeve of mine, but I’m genuinely interested to hear how others treat their meat.

 

[Taudisio]

Do you wash your game meat?

If you do, why? I understand trying to clean up blood shot meat or anything that has gut matter on it, but I have family and friends that wash all wild game under running water after processing or before cooking. In my experience, this causes it to water log and dilute flavor, makes it impossible to get a good sear, and spoils meat more quickly in the fridge.

This is a pet peeve of mine, but I’m genuinely interested to hear how others treat their meat.

Wife washes it after thawing and trimming. I’m not perfect, and she does a good wash and once over looking for dirt/hair (or feathers). Calms her mind and makes her more enthused to cook it I suppose.

 

[wapitibob]

Do you wash your game meat?

If you do, why? I understand trying to clean up blood shot meat or anything that has gut matter on it, but I have family and friends that wash all wild game under running water after processing or before cooking. In my experience, this causes it to water log and dilute flavor, makes it impossible to get a good sear, and spoils meat more quickly in the fridge.

This is a pet peeve of mine, but I’m genuinely interested to hear how others treat their meat.

MY 55+ years of experience leads me to believe you're mistaken, Elk meat isn't a sponge.

I crock potted Deer shanks yesterday; 7 hours worth. If faucet water, water logs meat, those shanks would have sucked that crock pot dry.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Only if I absolutely have to, to get dirt off or whatever. I hate wet meat, when cleaning and butchering I keep it as dry as possible and carefully trim so there's no need to wash. Most of the animal will go from alive and breathing to frozen in vacuum sealed bags without a drop of water.

 

[Laramie]

I do not wash, I trim outer layers as necessary to get rid of anything unwanted. Soaking meat can water log it but a quick rinse probably doesn't hurt anything at the time of cooking.

 

[Pony Soldier]

After skinning, I trim the bloodshot out. Then I go over the meat with warm water with baking soda on a dishrag. Then I go over the meat with a horse curry comb and remove hair, needles from trees and grass that may have survived the washing. My last step is to dry the finished meat with a towel.

Then I wrap the quarters with sheets to keep them clean and bug-less until they freeze.

I don't hose my meat but I make it butcher shop clean.

 

[justinspicher]

Kinda makes me wonder what the animal would taste like after a solid rain…..

 

[ColPenguin]

I rinse off the heart and liver before eating, because there are usually some blood clots encountered when trimming. I wouldn't call it washing. I don't want to eat a nasty blood clot.

I salt brine most deer meat in water and ice for 3 days, changing out water. Drain the water and let the surface dry off before vacuuming and freezing. This is fuddlore passed down from my FIL. I think there is probably a 3 day aging/tenderization process, prior to freezing, that he was right about by accident. Wet brining can remove hair, leaves, dirt left on the muscle. If a deer happened to be gutshot, I would rather brine it to reduce the quantity of spoilage.

The meat is not a sponge. It can only get so saturated with water. It cannot get "waterlogged", it will take on about 5-6% water weight. There cannot be any more "flavor" exchanged in the solution than the absorption of water. The salt will not significantly permeate the meat. If you drop a whole muscle roast in a salt solution with food coloring then the coloring will only penetrate the outer surface within an inch of depth. Same with a dry brine, dry rub, or a smoke ring on a roast. Unless you use an injection, a solution cannot penetrate very deep in whole muscle.

Sometimes I take a deer sirloin or round that has been wet brined in a cooler for 3 days out of my freezer and dry brine it in Mortons Tender Quick (quick cure based on weight) for 5-10 days. Put a pickling spice dry rub on it, smoke it rare and make deerstrami. It's not overly salty and its way better than some bullshit corned beef packaged in cryovac at the supermarket.

The people saying brining, or soaking, causes significant flavor loss are just as full of fuddlore as people that soak and brine. I think some people see a little bit of surface discoloration on the outside of a whole muscle and think, oh it's ruined and it's probably lost all this flavor. You can try this yourself and see that it's not really the case.

This is a repeatable experiment. One can salt water brine their meat, dry brine, dry rub, or cure meat.

Wet brining or a light rinsing isn't going to ruin meat. If you can't put a sear on it then your fire isn't hot enough.

 

[MuleyFever]

When I thaw a steak there is usually a lot of blood that comes out and the meat is soaked in it. I rinse it off then pat dry and season.

 

[ColPenguin]

When I thaw a steak there is usually a lot of blood that comes out and the meat is soaked in it. I rinse it off then pat dry and season.

It is not really even blood when it's thawed meat.

The blood comes out of a slaughtered animal.

The red liquid from thawed meat is just water and protein called myoglobin. A result of cell rupture from ice crystals forming in meat. If there is significant cell damage and dehydration from air exposure when frozen that might be referred to as freezer burn.

 

[Yung6ix]

I've rinsed meat lots of times, both on the bone and while butchering in the kitchen. I'd prefer not to rinse it while butchering, but can't honestly say that I have ever experienced a negative consequence from rinsing. Why do people not rince? Bacteria growth?

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Washing drives whatever is on the surface deeper in the meat fibers, promotes bacterial growth, and becomes a watery mess depending on what you’re cooking.

Trim off the outer layer and be done with it.

 

[TSAMP]

I usually rinse out the body cavity before hanging. I do it even if no guts were nicked. I think its just habit at this point. I take my time on skinning and don't rinse anything else.

 

[Poser]

I'm not sure why you would introduce water to meat unless you need to wash dirt off of it. There's no water introduced at butcheries. Dry meat is always more pleasurable to work with vs. slimy wet meat. "soaking the blood out" is some redneck shit. I used to hear that from the old timers growing up in the South, but, realistically, the old timers weren't super knowledgeable about game meat as they were hunting in a time when Whitetails were fairly rare and a lot of the hand-me-down information was lost due to the fact they people didn't regulary kill animals like they used to as we do now. The conclusion I came to was that, when it came to handling game meat, the old timers were just making stuff up.


All of my elk meat from this past season got exposed to wet snow/rain/freezing rain for several days during the packout process and I have to say that, while it doesn't taste bad, its not my favorite venison I've ever had. -it did not get a chance to really form a crust the way that it typically does when it exposed to circulating cool air.

 

[LongWayAround]

There is absolutely no reason to wash clean meat. Wet meat is a recipe for bacterial growth.

I might use a wet paper towel to wipe something off if it has dirt or hair on it.

Birds typically get washed more since they have more shot wounds, feathers, etcetera.

 

[cnelk]

Wipe with vinegar if necessary. Its a natural disinfectant

 

[ColPenguin]

Washing drives whatever is on the surface deeper in the meat fibers, promotes bacterial growth, and becomes a watery mess depending on what you’re cooking.

It will not drive it deeper into the muscle fibers far beyond the outer surface and this is easily tested by soaking in a solution with food coloring to observe the cellular absorption of dye. Example here: https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/salting-brining-curing-and-injecting/salting-and-wet-brining/

What can happen when rinsing meat is cross contamination of other preparation surfaces and foods. Spreading surface bacteria from meat onto other kitchen preparation areas and foods. This can be particularly dangerous with commercial poultry which is assumed to always be contaminated with salmonella.

 

[gbflyer]

I'm not sure why you would introduce water to meat unless you need to wash dirt off of it. There's no water introduced at butcheries. Dry meat is always more pleasurable to work with vs. slimy wet meat. "soaking the blood out" is some redneck shit. I used to hear that from the old timers growing up in the South, but, realistically, the old timers weren't super knowledgeable about game meat as they were hunting in a time when Whitetails were fairly rare and a lot of the hand-me-down information was lost due to the fact they people didn't regulary kill animals like they used to as we do now. The conclusion I came to was that, when it came to handling game meat, the old timers were just making stuff up.


All of my elk meat from this past season got exposed to wet snow/rain/freezing rain for several days during the packout process and I have to say that, while it doesn't taste bad, its not my favorite venison I've ever had. -it did not get a chance to really form a crust the way that it typically does when it exposed to circulating cool air.

You sure? I think I’ve seen the locker plant guys using a hose inside a carcass.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I'm not sure why you would introduce water to meat unless you need to wash dirt off of it. There's no water introduced at butcheries. Dry meat is always more pleasurable to work with vs. slimy wet meat. "soaking the blood out" is some redneck shit. I used to hear that from the old timers growing up in the South, but, realistically, the old timers weren't super knowledgeable about game meat as they were hunting in a time when Whitetails were fairly rare and a lot of the hand-me-down information was lost due to the fact they people didn't regulary kill animals like they used to as we do now. The conclusion I came to was that, when it came to handling game meat, the old timers were just making stuff up.

You have to do that when you toss it up on the hood of your '84 F150 and drive around with it all day in the sun showing it off to your buddies at the bar before going home and waking up the next day to start skinning it.

 

[Poser]

You sure? I think I’ve seen the locker plant guys using a hose inside a carcass.

I'd be tempted to do the same on a gut shot animal, but no reason for it otherwise.