Keeping cleaned deer in cooler before processing

[timfish]

How long do yall keep yur deer on ice in cooler with drain open before processing ?

[Razorbass P3]

5 6 days normally. Change your ice frequently.

[Cgs1967!]

I don't leave it there very long. As soon as I am ready to process it I do. If it is hanging in walk in cooler you can leave it for a week if you 2ant to.

[okhawg]

I try and find room in the fridge if it isn't cool enough outside. Deer needs to age.

[Roosterman]

We debone ours immediately while it’s hanging. Soak the meat only in ice water 2-3 days changing water twice a day and adding more ice when needed. Then process. We’ve never hung deer in coolers.

[basscat21]

I try and find room in the fridge if it isn't cool enough outside. Deer needs to age.

Old wives tail, actually you want to process immediately, tallow is not like beef. Process by removing all fat and silver skin. Gammy taste come from the tallow.

[Roosterman]

Old wives tail, actually you want to process immediately, tallow is not like beef. Process by removing all fat and silver skin. Gammy taste come from the tallow.

Bingo

[JTN]

Ive never left them,sometimes the same day if it's a morning kill, Evening kills the next morning.

[fishnfool38]

Old wives tail, actually you want to process immediately, tallow is not like beef. Process by removing all fat and silver skin. Gammy taste come from the tallow.

I agree, l cut all sliver and fat just prime red meat is all that's left. Doing this no part taste different than the other it's all the same.

[okhawg]

Old wives tail, actually you want to process immediately, tallow is not like beef. Process by removing all fat and silver skin. Gammy taste come from the tallow.

I’m going to disagree with you. Everything I’ve ever seen or heard says 1-2 days for young deer and up to a week for older deer.

[pa.X19]

Old wives tail, actually you want to process immediately, tallow is not like beef. Process by removing all fat and silver skin. Gammy taste come from the tallow.

This ^^

[RANGER487]

If I kill a deer in the morning it usually skinned deboned and put in gallon ziplock bags in fridge the same day. Then the next day vacuum sealed

[big_o_tom]

Best deer I ever ate and the most tender was skinned and cleaned up then put in the fridge in the garage for 3 weeks. I have some in a cooler right now that's been chilling for a week.

[THOEFT]

I’m going to disagree with you. Everything I’ve ever seen or heard says 1-2 days for young deer and up to a week for older deer.

Venison doesn’t have internal fat like beef. It’s makeup is more like pork. It’s the fat that breaks down with the aging process that makes beef “age”. Pork as with venison rot they don’t age. So getting the venison cool is all that’s needed. Anything more is unnecessary. Formerly owner of a custom butcher shop that processed a couple thousand deer. And even more beef and pigs.

[basscat21]

If I kill a deer in the morning it usually skinned deboned and put in gallon ziplock bags in fridge the same day. Then the next day vacuum sealed

Yes sir, huge for the best tasting meat!

[grout-scout]

Used to always hang ours for several days in a walk in cooler, if nothing else, at least the meat isn’t bloody when cutting it up.

[CaymasMan250]

I take it to the processor and let him deal with it. He’s a good friend and just ground up 50 for us to send to an orphanage on the border. He usually lets them hang a few days before cutting them, but will skin them and clean them up really good.

[okhawg]

I don't know why we aged our venison at the beginning. I was just a kid and that is what we did. I know I've never had any tough or gamey family venison (this includes old does and bucks), with the exception of one family member, who throws it in the freezer asap. I overheard one conversation at a processor and he praised aging game. Skip forward to 2001 and we are at a processor in Colorado and the butcher is talking about it to a group of hunters bringing in elk. He explained it, the best I can remember, as breaking down proteins and connective tissue. A look online shows North Dakota State Univ putting out a paper discussing this, so my memory isn't completely gone. He also said, before he had the bandsaws he had then, they hand cut the meat. He said you could absolutely tell the tenderness of 10 day aged venison and the silverskin comes off easier also. We always eat venison from the time of the kill, but we age everyone, also. YMMV seems to apply.

[August west]

Venison doesn’t have internal fat like beef. It’s makeup is more like pork. It’s the fat that breaks down with the aging process that makes beef “age”. Pork as with venison rot they don’t age. So getting the venison cool is all that’s needed. Anything more is unnecessary. Formerly owner of a custom butcher shop that processed a couple thousand deer. And even more beef and pigs.

excellent information. I’ve never let mine age but it’s nice to know the science behind it.

[rianb8]

It depends just had to process after 2 days before it froze solid.