Icing Hog meat

[CastAndBlast]

I know a lot of guys leave their butchered hogs in a cooler on ice for 3-7 days and change/add ice daily. I was wondering, are you guys that do this using ice from your freezer's ice maker or do you buy a bag of ice everyday?

I have about 10 orange juice bottle that are frozen with water. Those go on the bottom, then store bought ice on the top. 5-7 days. Drain and fill with ice 1x/day

[SwampRabbit]

What's the advantage of leaving the butchered meat on ice as opposed to in the freezer?

Ice keeps the meat around 40 degrees. It is equivalent to keeping it in the fridge. Some meat do well with being at this temp for periods of time called "aging" whereby it gets tender, etc.

Ice chests are easier to deal with when dealing with meat on bone... otherwise you debone and convince the wife to clear a whole shelf in the fridge for 40 to 80 lbs of meat

Freezing the meat severely slows down the process.

I like to drain manually so I can observe the color and quantity of the melting.

[Fuzzy Dog]

Thanks.

[Bowyer]

What's the advantage of leaving the butchered meat on ice as opposed to in the freezer?

Meat hardly ages at 33 degrees for 7 days. I do it as a way to prolong the agony of processing, or at least until I have time to do it
Seriously though, the hunt ends on Sunday and it's back to work on Monday so keeping it iced until the next weekend is easier than doing it late Sunday evening after I get home.