Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Question on processing meat at home.

Got my first deer in over ten years yesterday afternoon. It is a big doe, and I decided to process this one myself to learn about it. I did a lot of reading and figure I did a pretty good job. The only thing I did not save was the front shoulder where the entrance wound is and the meat on the neck closest to the head. I had washed the body cavity out with water before hanging up, and I didn't like the look or smell of the meat down there near the head.

I hung the deer up over night and began processing this morning. I could not have done this in a better time..it got down to about 37 last night and I'm glad it was a colder night.

Anyway..it took me about two hours today to get the deer cleaned up completely. I noticed a few flies on some of the meat, and I'm just nervous about it. Will everything be ok? I did not noticed the flies until around lunch when the temp got warmer.

The meat was only outside sitting after being cut for maybe an hour while I finished the deer. It went to an iced cooler and the refrigerator after that.

I just don't want to mess this up. Never done my own processing before and I'm excited to have so much meat. I'm fixing to take it out and wash all the hair off and trim the fat. I've heard it is good to let it sit in the fridge for a week or so before freezing to let it age. Is washing the meat off with water to get the hair and any other contaminants ok? And also leaving it in covered containers in the refrigerator to age?

Thanks and Happy new year

First. The more water you put in it the more likely it is to grow bacteria.if you are aging it, you don't want to put it in an airtight container. You want air to get on it. In the fridge or in a cooler one ice, it will be fine for a week. If you leave it in the cooler, don't let it sit in water. Leave the drain plug out and let the water drain. You want the meat dry.

Don't worry about the flies. Your meat is fine. Processing at home is rewarding. Now that I have a vacuum sealer, I like to do most of my deer.

If I have a little hair on the meat, I don't worry about it until I am ready to cut it up and grind it.

What he said.


I also debone mine while hanging and let drain in cooler adding ice daily (depending on temps) for 4-8 days. I did a batch a couple weeks ago adding bacon ends and trimmings at %30 and it was fine. Even with a pretty decent grinder plan on it taking several hours to trim, grind, mix and pack. The actual grinding time was about 15 minutes for me, the rest is what takes the time.

I did about 5 lbs a little heavier in bacon and made some burgers sunday night with some of it to try. It was honestly the best deer burger Ive had yet. You could really taste and smell the bacon like I had two fresh strips on the burger. The family raved as well. When its drained well and ground yourself at home theres nothing any finer IMO.

Also it grinds the best when REALLY cold. Even frozen and then partially thawed works well. Im bagging the one I have on ice now from the weekend to freeze and then will spend a day after season doing it along with whatever else I get to add to it.

Yep, Sunday before Christmas my bother in law and I did 4 does. We had about 4 hours of work cutting, trimming, grinding and sealing.

I always debone while it is hanging too. You can fit more in a cooler without the bone and it helps it cool.

My hunting partners and I skin and butcher our deer while they hang from a tree near our camper. We rinse off the meat and double bag them in new ice bags. We layer the bags with clean ice and they stay iced until ready to be trimmed and portioned for the freezer. We let the water drain and add ice as needed.

At home I rewash my venison, and re-bag it with a Food Saver when I can get to it, anywhere from 4 to 8 days after shooting it. If I need more ground I go ahead and grind some and package before freezing. This has worked well for me.

Opinions differ about aging venison. Several butchers have told me deer meet has less moisture in it than beef and aging does little for deer.

It sounds like you are on the right track.

I concur. Let me be clear, you arent "aging" venison with the cooler draining method. You are doing just that, draining it. It will get all the blood out and turn light pink/white if you do it right, especially deboned.

I "age" mine hanging in a walk in cooler for seven to ten days.

I never age mine, I just skin, de-bone and bag it up in a 55 gallon black plastic garbage bag and put it straight into the freezer until I'm ready to cut it up and process it into whatever I'm doing. Will be good for a very ling time that way. I usually find and I mean no disrespect in saying this but I usually find that folks that have to soak and do special things to their deer meat in order to get it to not taste like deer meat really honestly don't like deer meat in the first place. Again no disrespect at all.

I agree. If you are having to soak it you are doing something wrong. I don't like to freeze meat, thaw it and then freeze it again. So, I never freeze it before I process it.

I don't worry about aging. I just keep it cold until I get time to cut it up.

I agree as well doe killer and bowtechdan, I just thaw enough to work with it. Actually it really helps in cleaning it up really good by it being half froze so to speak. I cut all the sinew and glands out mine. I can make some pieces of shoulder meat taste like tenderloin. Well that might be stretching it a little but if you cut it up right it's almost as good.

let me be clear about what I have. I have two pots full of cut meat.

I put the tenderloins and the back straps in a soup kettle that is around 2 gallons.

The rest of the meat I managed to get off (everything I could get), went into a larger 3.5 gallon pot. I then sealed the tops of both pots with plastic wrap. I put the larger one on ice in the big cooler I have. No part of the meat is touching the ice. The pot is touching the ice.

The smaller piot with the back straps and tenderloins was covered with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator. Only reason I put it in there and not in the cooler is because both pots did not fit in the cooler.

Do I need to remove the plastic from both? Just leave the open containers uncovered?

To be clear about the meat in the 3.5 gallon pot in the cooler..the only reason it is in there is because I didn't have room in the refrigerator. I will have to transfer it to a large Tupperware container or something. It is only temporarily sitting in the ice.

In any event, a I've decided to wait until tomorrow to do anything with it. I will be up all night if I pull it out now.

I would leave it without the cover on the pots. Also, if you are going to leave it in the pots very long, you need to drain any blood out of the pots every day until their isn't sny. You don't want it sitting in blood. In the future, there is no problem with the meat sitting directly on top of the ice. Just don't let the ice turn to water and have the meat sitting in water.

On ice, good, in icie water, bad.

No disrespect taken, Ive cut if up "fresh" before or put a roast straight in the crock pot the day after/of a kill and like it just fine.Draining it is just the way Ive always done it. (As a rule, with a few exceptions)

This meat was in cooler for 5 days just like doekiller had explained. I do it all time notice how nice the color of meat is. Cannoy stand it sitting in any water

Bring it home, hang it in the garage, butcher, bring large parts in house, wife debones and cuts into parcels, by the time I'm through and cleaned up outside its ready for packaging. Use butcher paper and freezer tale, approx 2 lb packages, then into freezer. Dead deer to freezer time - two hours.

Instead of letting it sit in the fridge, I'm just going to get it out and trim all the fat and silver skin off and go ahead and package it up for freezing. I picked up some gallon freezer bags and some freezer paper.

Anyone who does their own meat cutting needs to invest in a vacuum sealer. The meat keeps much better.