Thawing out Deer Quarters for Deboning and Processing

[dk_ace]

I quartered my dear this year and left the meat on ice to drain for a few days. My intention was to debone it, freeze it, and thaw it later for final processing. An approaching ice storm interrupted that plan, so I froze the whole quarters to deal with later. Now it's later...

I've only done the grinding and processing (packaging, making sausages, etc) before, never the thawing and deboning. I've read that it's best to grind the meat while it's still frozen somewhat, but I'm not sure if it's possible to debone it and trim it in a partially frozen state.

So my questions:
When should I start thawing the quarters to have them ready to debone and process Saturday afternoon? Unless it's a bad idea, I plan to put the quarters in ice chests to let them thaw.
How frozen/thawed do I want them to be for deboning and processing?

Thanks for your help!
D

[bassmatt72]

I'd thaw them only enough to get the meat off of the bones.

[dk_ace]

Thanks, but any idea how long that will take? And how will I know if they're thawed enough to get the meat off the bones? I need to time it so that they're ready on Saturday. I've never deboned before. I may have someone there with me who has, but that isn't confirmed yet. It may be just my dad and I, neither of us have deboned a deer before.

D

[BigThicketBoy]

I have thawed and refrozen deer meat several times with no ill effect or freezer burn .

[dk_ace]

I did it last year and it worked well, however we were thawing partially processed meat and not entire quarters. I was told it will grind better if it isn't completely thawed, so that's why I'm trying to only thaw it just enough by Saturday to be able to work with it.

Anyone have an idea as to when I should start thawing? Tonight or tomorrow night maybe?

D

[BigThicketBoy]

Maybe tonight if you put it in the frige. Check on it in the morning to see how its doing.