Age Venison in ice chest

[Kevin]

I quarter them and leave them in the walk-in cooler at the ranch I hunt until we leave. Then I put the quarters in a large ice chest, elevated with a cookie cooling rack in the bottom. I place a plastic bag on top of the meat and fill with ice, remove the drain, tilt it in my cargo tray on the way home and leave it outside in the shade for a week or two until I am ready to process. I refill with ice as needed, but my Brute/Bison coolors rarely need much ice added!

This is what I have been doing recently. It works. Seriously the beat deer I’ve had in a long time after doing this.

[Kevin]

What about two animals together in a ice chest like a hog and a deer?

Really you shouldn’t mix species like that. If you do, at that point you should be cooking temp to the “worst common denominator” which means you would be over cooking all of your venison.

[twosixteens]

Never understood why someone soaks red meat or any meat in ice water. I’ve seen it and it turns it white like chicken.



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My family has been doing for a very long time never tasted like chicken. My great grandfather had a bath tub that he would put them in with salt water and big blocks of ice.

[Pineywoods]

I have always left mine on ice in an ice chest for 7 days or so. I keep the water drained. The old timers who taught me how to hunt when I was a kid did the same thing. I usually process 5-7 deer per year plus hogs for the family and I do all of them that way.

[Huntindad]

How many of you guys age your deer in a ice chest. We are doing a hunt in Dec and there aren't any facilities so we will be aging anything in an ice chest.

Alternatively we could just butcher the whole thing straight away


Thoughts?

if you are not at your final destination, do not cut it up past quartering. You'll get a ticket if caught.

[sharpstick35]

I always have it quartered and in the freezer within an hour or 2 of its last breath. Never had an issue with the meat and the whole family eats it. i actually havent bought beef at the store in years

[txheartshot]

I always leave my deer for 7 days on ice with the drain open and one end propped up to drain better. No issues

This. I’ve done it this way all my life, and even people that “don’t like/eat venison” always love it when they eat it.


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[TB80]

When putting the meat in the cooler on ice, are you putting it in game bags or is the ice directly touching the meat?


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[muddydog]

Always quartered and placed on ice for 3 days with the drain open. Add ice daily. I've done this for years but think I may start putting the meat in large trash bags. I've heard that having the meat wet inhibits bacterial growth.

[TacticalCowboy]

Throw it in a cooler on ice with the drain open for however long it takes me to get ready to process. Add ice as necessary.