Too Warm?

[broken line]

Harvested a doe last night, brought her home, rinsed everything well with cold water and now its hanging in the garage. It's supposed to be 65-68 degrees today....will it be ok hanging for then day and one more night so I can get to the butcher tomorrow?

[gr8icefishinmind]

I think i would be butchering it this morning while it is still somewhat cool out!!! Letting the meat get that warm for a whole day wouldn't be too good and it would be terrible to waste the deer!!

[Archerysniper]

Nope you better get those knifes sharpened and the freezer paper out.

[nonteepical]

it will be fine. keep the garage closed up.

[Archerysniper]

University of Minnesota, Regional Extension Educator, Food Science

Successful deer hunters will want to continue the thrill of the hunt to the dinner table by keeping venison from becoming contaminated, starting with the field dressing. For starters, you need to keep the carcass clean and quickly cool it to 35-40°F. to prevent bacterial growth. Here’s a checklist of basic food safety guidelines:

Field dressing / transporting

Dress the carcass as soon as possible.

Remove any visible dirt, feces, hair and bloodshot areas.

Clean your knife frequently between cuts to avoid contaminating the meat.

Wipe out the cavity with individual paper towels and prop the cavity open with a clean stick to aid in air circulation.

If you wash the cavity with water, dry the area quickly to prevent spoilage.

After cleaning the cavity, you can add ice or snow sealed in plastic storage bags and pack them in the cavity.

Keep the carcass out of direct sunlight. Don’t tie the carcass across the hood or roof of a car or put it in the trunk while it is still warm.

If the carcass is skinned in warm weather and flies are a problem, keep surfaces clean, sprinkle with ground pepper and cover with cheesecloth.

[broken line]

Thanks for the advice all .... I have to work today so cant butcher. The deer now is in a sled, filled with ice, has bags of ice on top of it, wrapped in a tarp and covered with blankets. I hope that this will stay cool enought for the day and night and off to the meat shop first thing in the morning.

[jeffreyd]

should be fine, you just dont want it to get to ambient temp. thing to remember is when cattle are slaughtered they go to a chill down cooler then to the hot box to encourage some aging and then to the cold box. so what you did should not bring on issues.

[stifler51]

i heard freezing gallon milk jugs and putting them inside the deer works pretty good since the water stays in the jug and ice will just melt all over. Plus a solid ice chunk takes long to melt then ice.