What is the best way to prep meat before butchering if you don't have access to a walk in cooler. Soak in what and for how long or etc.....

i use an Igloo MaxCold 5-day ice cooler & keep it packed in ice & water age my meat; drain every morning & re-fill for 7 days

You don't have to do anything before you freeze it. Just soak it in salt water a couple of days before you cook it.

you can age it in a cooler for a week or 2..................Now, "water aging" (like BGD mentioned above) vs "dry aging" is a hotly debated topic and you can read plenty of opinions, either way, by googling, but if you have a decent size cooler you can dry age in a cooler by just putting a rack in it to keep the meat above ice.

I'm wanting to make it tender as possible and I like a bit of the wild taste.



Good idea, didn't think of that one.

What G omer said. I did my last tenderloin for 10 days in a cooler with ice and I could cut it with a fork when I cooked it. It was the best I have had and the first one I have aged. I will do 10-14 days of I kill another

I've aged 2 boneless venison quarters in a large off shore cooler for 21 days. The meat was fantastic.

Makes me want to build a walk-in.

In the past I have only soak aged for 3 days and some of it was mighty tuff.



Was that dry or with water?

Do you soak your steaks in water? If you want to age, put in a cooler with ice, but put meat on a rack or something to keep it off ice and out of water

I always age mine in a ice chest covered in ice for 5-7 days if its a old buck or doe. Young buck or doe I’ll take them to the processor who hangs them a week before cutting.

I used to waste my time soaking, draining, blah blah blah. It finally dawned on me that I don't want brown steaks or hamburger meat, so why would I want to remove everything from the deer meat? I kill it, and sometimes drop it off at the processor the same day. My meat tastes great.

I usually de-bone mine while it is still hanging(everything except front shoulders). I then pack it on ice. Drain the cooler and repack it with ice. I will usually have it in the freezer within 5-6 days. I slice up what I plan on grinding into sizes that will fit into my grinder. Freeze that in gallon sized bags until I have enough to grind. I have a big grinder and usually wait until I have 3-4 deer before breaking it out.

Aged meat taste no different to me than if I just killed it and slapped it on the grill. I don’t get it either. Tough deer are tough and tender deer are tender. The key to having great tasting and tender meat is what you do it it in the hours leading up to cooking and the cooking itself. Most importantly, do not thaw meat and cook it the same day. Let it thaw over night and then cook it when it reaches room temperature.

there's a lot of truth to this comment; i will say, on the whole, doe are more tender than buck (unless it's a young buck like Gomer likes to shoot). based on my experiences, an old buck w/big horns looks great on the wall but tastes like chit on the plate.

Do what i did. I found a used refrigerator on Facebook marketplace with no freezer. I put racks in it where i can hang my quarters. I let them dry age for 10 days. The meat is fine and i don’t have to deal with coolers and ice.

I’ve killed a lot of mature bucks that were great eating. I don’t think they’re any different than a doe. Actually, the two most tender deer I’ve ever eaten weighed 240 and 215. They were fine.

interesting; by "mature", what do you mean - age-wise? my comments were more along what i said -- OLD buck (ie 7+ years old) ... i shot & mounted a 9 year old buck & the meat off that deer could be used for retreading tires ...

discussions like these remind me of cornbread discussions - everybody has their "formula" & they by God almost take a religious stance on it, too ... LOL

Never understood the "soak in ice and salt for x-days" deal. Cut it up, trim and clean it, eat it or freeze it.

Yep, that’ll work great! Luckily I have access to a walk in cooler

Run him with 4 or 5 different packs of walkers, gut shoot with 5 rounds of 00 buck, throw on the dog box and ride it around till late afternoon and won't nothing eat it.