Washing out cleaned deer

[Hunt NXS]

I read an article years ago about washing out a gutted deer. The article stated that by washing the blood out of the body cavity would promote bacteria growth. Has any read this article?

Thoughts?

[Snakelover]

I consider blood to be "cleaner" than water when it comes to meat. So I'd rather see the meat with a protective layer of dried-on blood until I get home than to wash it. I normally put it in ziplocks not directly on the ice. But if it's in contact with the ice, that's not nearly as bad as washing it because the temperature is below 40 degrees. When I process the meat, I trim off the thin outside later anyway, so any dried blood, hair, etc. is done away with at that time and the meat inside is clean.

[Howard]

everything I have read from sources I trust as well as people that have taught me, water on meat is the worse thing you can do for several reasons. Unless the meat gets dirty, I dont use water at all. I scrape or cut off blood shot meat and no water is generally needed. Sometimes of course it is to clean it up a little. The deer I cleaned for my wife this weekend I never once had to spray water on it.

I do not let it sit in ice/water neither. Plug open and add ice daily or as needed for about a week is what I do! My way is not the only way or right or wrong but just my way!

[jerp]

I fill several 1 gallon milk jugs with water and keep them in the freezer at the lease. They fit perfectly in the deers body cavity, stay frozen longer than bags of ice and don't get anything wet as they melt.

[TXJon]

I don't think it matters as long as you get it quartered and on ice as quickly as you can. I'll wash mine if I got some gut or liver, otherwise I don't bother. I've never noticed a difference. Just thinking about it, it seems like you'd get more bacteria from gut funk all over your meat than you would from washing it off then chilling it.

[Deerhunter30]

I've always washed mine down. I'm not saying that it is right, it's just the way I've done it. I'm not concerned about blood, but all hair has got to go and a good washing with a water hose seems to work. I also have no problem with water contacting my meat. I soak my deer & hogs on ice for five days before processing. It does turn the meat a slight grey color, but I think it's just about appearances.....my deer always taste good.

[Trophydoe]

I have done both...up in michigan where it's cold enough to let them hang for a couple of days we rinse them out with the hose and leve them skin on with a stick stuck inside to open up the body cavity...when I clean mine here I put the meat in one of those cloth game bags and let it sit on ice for about a week before i process it. (I may drain the water and add ice every couple of days)The meat looks a little grey since the blood is drained out of the tissue. I think the meat tastes less gamey the less blood it has in the tissue...so when i cook it there is no blood in the pan. If i don't let the meat stay on ice there's usually a lot of blood in it and it has a gamey taste and smell to it. I geuss to each his own. But when you cook it - the temperature that the meat gets up to should kill any bacteria...unless you just sear the outside and leave it very rare in the middle.

[Cur_Dog]

I have always used water to wash out my deer. I also let mine sit in a cooler for 5 days with water and ice. Drain and add ice as needed. It always taste good to me and the other people I give some of it to.

[Deerhunter30]

I forgot to mention that I either leave the drain open on my coolers or I drain the water/blood every day and add ice as needed. As Trophydoe mentioned the water/blood has a gamey smell to it.....I have never tasted it though...LOL.

[Snakelover]

I don't think it matters as long as you get it quartered and on ice as quickly as you can.

Hey, I'll go along with that!



Getting the meat cooled down quickly and maintaining it at refrigeration temperature will cure a lot of problems before they ever start. There's a reason the area above 40 on a refrigerator thermometer is labeled "SPOILAGE!" I know a lot of people leave venison hanging out in temperatures above 40 degrees. I guess it may still be edible, but I feel confident that I can put some better groceries on the table! I prefer to handle it as though it were FOOD! You wouldn't treat your other food that way, so why do people do it with wild game? Has never made sense to me.

[KRB]

I concur with Howard I was always taught to never let the meat come in contact with water. Its what my Dad taught me and I will go with it.

[orion]

this is a very interesting thread. as i have always thought washing a deer down with water is what evrybody has done. let it sit for a few days on ice, then process.

Learn something new everyday.

[Loneaggie]

I try to keep a gallon jug of 50/50 water and vinegar for washing out the body cavity. Let's me clean it up a little, and the vinegar prevents bacterial growth. My processor gave me this trick over the summer for keeping my hogs edible till I got them to his cooler.

[shotgunsmitty]

Just out of curiosity, though, and this is kind of on topic....

We as hunters talk of getting the meat on ice and how we tend to it prior to, during, as well as after processing. A lot of common sense goes a long way, and I know I do everything I can to take precautions against doing anything that I might consider questionable. But I have a question....has anyone here actually gotten sick from (for lack of a better word) mistreated game? I'm sure there are accounts, I don't doubt that a bit, but I was just curious if anyone could relate that to personal experience?

[TXJon]

It's hard to trace food borne illness to a specific "grocery" unless you keep samples and have them tested.

For that matter, it can be hard to identify an illness as food borne. People who know a lot more than I do about this will say that mild to moderate food borne illness is not at all uncommon. People usually think they have a case of 24 hr flu, or something like that.