45 degrees F ... or lower ...

 

as long as flys arent around 50f +/-

 

agreed.

 

A microbiologist at work told me below 40. But it depends for how long. Even when its 70, the body is hot, I'd hang it a while before the body cooled down. I get them on ice asap, unless its as cold or colder than a frig. or freezer.

 

A microbiologist at work told me below 40. But it depends for how long. Even when its 70, the body is hot, I'd hang it a while before the body cooled down. I get them on ice asap, unless its as cold or colder than a frig. or freezer.

exactly. flies won't fly below 40. Let it get above that and they will start perking up. I disagree with putting them on ice immediately. The meat needs to get to ambient temp before putting it in the chest. Reason is it can spoil when put on ice when still warm and it can also toughen up the meat.

 

I agree with the temps mentioned above. Another suggestion is to put the carcass in a cheese cloth bag to keep the flies off of it. They go for about $1

 

The ranch owner where we hunt always talked about letting their deer hang all winter... be it cold or warm, and carving off what they wanted to eat that day. He said it would get a crust on the outside that they would trim off...LOL not for me but it worked for them.

 

Rancher on one of the ranches I hunt said the same thing....doesn't matter what the temp is, just trim the outer layer off.....

The ranch owner where we hunt always talked about letting their deer hang all winter... be it cold or warm, and carving off what they wanted to eat that day. He said it would get a crust on the outside that they would trim off...LOL not for me but it worked for them.

 

It never fails , I'll see atleast a couple of trucks comming down I10 , 60+ degrees with whole carcasses laid in the back stiff legged and all .
Then think of all the people that take their deer to places where it all gets dumped together and rationed out later when they package it.

Food for thought , pardon the pun...

 

It never fails , I'll see atleast a couple of trucks comming down I10 , 60+ degrees with whole carcasses laid in the back stiff legged and all .
Then think of all the people that take their deer to places where it all gets dumped together and rationed out later when they package it.

Food for thought , pardon the pun...

The main reason I process all my own deer........

 

Don't forget the bag of ice that they push into the rib cage to keep it fresh.

That's why we take ours to Jackson's in Crosby. He will not accept them if he thinks that may be spoiled, and they keep each deer sperate through the whole process.

I will not let them hang unless it at least 45 or <. We most always get them into the cooler right after they have cooled down to ambient temp. Proper care after the kill is the difference between great deer meat and real bad.

Shallow

 

somewhere in the 30's

 

Chinese hang everything from a tree till' it falls off... works for them!

 

At or near 50 degrees if it's just overnight. Any longer than that, 45 or below.

 

We keep our deer cooler on the lease at 37 degrees. It's a 6' x 8' model that pulls ~9 amps - good for beer too!

I also believe in temps <40 degrees.

 

Thanks,
I've always used the mid forty's as my max for overnight. Perhaps even up to 50 like PalRider says.

FlakMan, is your cooler store bought or did you make it.

Perhaps, this next question should be another thread; however, I will still ask it here. I've been told to just build a small 4 x 6 foot room and insulate it big time and put an air condition in it. I seem to remember that an A/C will not cool if the ambient temp is say in the low 60's. Anybody have input on this.

 

Our cooler was an old commercial one that we bought off a closed resturant in San Angelo, Texas. Cost us $500 and we had to get it out and haul it off. I expect new ones would run you close to $4,000. Ours sits in a little tin roofed and slided building next to the generator shack. Keeps the sun and elements off it.

 

Our cooler was an old commercial one that we bought off a closed resturant in San Angelo, Texas.

Zentner's Daughters ... ?

I'm still crying about that one. Yes, I cry over lost beef ... who cares ...

 

I believe Zenter's Daughter Steakhouse is still in business off Knickerbocker Rd in San Angelo. We got ours out of a place that closed down near Goodfellow AFB - creditors were selling everything anybody could drag off for cash. Seems we bought a satinless blender, mircowave and some other bar equipment.

 

Time and temperature are the two factors to consider. Microbial growth begins immediately after the blood stops flowing through the body. Cooling the carcass, even freezing is only to slow down the process of microbial growth and decomposition. It happens no matter what you do. The longer the meat is exposed to higher temps, the faster these processes take place. With that said, you decide.

I don't have a problem letting a carcass hang overnight in 45 degree temps if I get it in the cooler before the temps rise the next day.

 

Aged venison - Yummmm

I do my own processing, and I let mine age quite a bit - regardless of temp. I'm probably one of those seen "...driving down I10..." but have never had a problem in using the 'trim off the crust' method.

What I actually do is protect the meat from flies and going sour (when wet) then cut wrap and freeze immediately AFTER smelling the first bit of spoilage (trimmed away). This invariably occurs in the areas damaged by the bullet or arrow.

As mentioned, I do lose (I think less then 5%) some, but I grind very little of nature's best red meat into sausage. I do like venison sausage, but instead I wind up with steaks and roasts so tender that they can be cut with a fork. It boils down to that as good as many processors can do sausage, I'll go for a hind-quarter (or front) roast that's been smoked, then rebaked in a cream based wine and garlic sauce (wife's a great cook) every time.
I DO field dress (including removing the tarsals) immediately.

That is NOT the way I treat my (also delicious) feral hogs. Pork is 100% a different meat. However hanging/aging deer longer then most do has worked well for me for the last 50 or so deer that I've done it to.

 

Enjoy your salmonella roast. j/k. This is the european method of aging game, and it apparently has worked for hundreds of years, but we know a heckuva lot more about food borne diseases now then they did in the 1800s. But, if it works for you, and nobody gets sick, more power to you.

I do my own processing, and I let mine age quite a bit - regardless of temp. I'm probably one of those seen "...driving down I10..." but have never had a problem in using the 'trim off the crust' method.

What I actually do is protect the meat from flies and going sour (when wet) then cut wrap and freeze immediately AFTER smelling the first bit of spoilage (trimmed away). This invariably occurs in the areas damaged by the bullet or arrow.

As mentioned, I do lose (I think less then 5%) some, but I grind very little of nature's best red meat into sausage. I do like venison sausage, but instead I wind up with steaks and roasts so tender that they can be cut with a fork. It boils down to that as good as many processors can do sausage, I'll go for a hind-quarter (or front) roast that's been smoked, then rebaked in a cream based wine and garlic sauce (wife's a great cook) every time.
I DO field dress (including removing the tarsals) immediately.

That is NOT the way I treat my (also delicious) feral hogs. Pork is 100% a different meat. However hanging/aging deer longer then most do has worked well for me for the last 50 or so deer that I've done it to.

 

I've been hunting along time. The way I do it is let meat get to ambient temp then put in the ice chest. Drain the water from time to time but make sure the meat soaks in the cold water. This draws the blood out of it especially around the entrance/exit wounds. When I get home I take it to the processer. I'm not leaving it in the ice chest for a week or hanging for a week. Not gonna let it rot then cut off the rotten meat. That just sound disgusting to me. When I cook it it is not bleeding when I'm done. I don't have to have a plate full of blood and grunt while I eat to prove I'm a man when I cut into my backstrap. Yes rotted/decayed meat is gonna be more tender than fresh cut backstraps but thats what they make a meat tenderizer for. Take these percautions and you will not get brain worms. Oh btw, I never use gloves when cleaning an animal. I'm not scared to get blood under my fingernails. Each to his own but I sure hope the rotted meat guys stuff don't get mixed in with mine.