Gutting

[deerminator]

I rinse it out with a hose quickly when I get it home and then pat dry with an old (but clean) towel or big rag that I had planned to toss in the garbage and hang. I think the key is no pooling water or excessive mositure combined with heat.

[HarmonH]

thats weird

[kkahmann]

There are 2 kinds of bacteria--anerobic and arobic--one(arobic) reguires air to survive. Arobic bacteria requires moisture to multiply and the speed of multiplcation is controlled by temperature. Dry the meat off with a clean rag or papper towels and it will form a pelicule on the outside of the meat--protecting it. Except if it is real humid out. High humidity causes moisture to gather on the outside allowing bacteria to grow and cause that slimy off-tasting surface to form eventually ruining the meat.

Most really bad bacteria is anerobic--it dies on contact with air and produces various toxins which affect meat quality. Remember that a deers rumen (stomach) is full of anerobic bacteria. Get the contents of that rumen on your meat and it spoils very guickly. Thats whats so bad about a gut-shot. Gut-shot thru the lower intstines is not so bad. Lower intestine contents and fecal matter still inside the deer is relatively sterile.

Most people are concerned more with getting the arse out when really the concern should be the windpipe. Or more properly the esouphagous(sp?) is full of anerobic bacteria.

[BobT]

What is inside the cavity that is at risk besides the tenderloins, which in our case don’t stay in there long enough to be at risk. Ninety-five percent of the meat is clinging to the outside of the body cavity under the hide unless you like to scrape the membrane off the ribs or something.

In my opinion it is much more important to get that hide off and allow the meat to cool. Bacteria has all the moisture it needs to grow in the meat already and adding a little water is not going to make any significant difference. In fact, bacterial growth is essential for proper aging. I find the biggest factors are to skin the deer as soon as possible to help cool the meat rapidly, protect the meat from drying out, leave it alone for a minimum 24 hours to allow the meat to relax from rigor, and age it for about 7-10 days in a controlled environment before processing or freezing. Aging can be done without a walk-in cooler. I age mine in a refrigerator. You’d be surprised at the difference this makes.

[mntatonka]

assuming you're cooking the meat properly anyway, it wouldn't make much of a difference whether you wash the body cavity or not.

We've rinsed the body cavities out on our deer since people started hunting on our land (essentially as long as there's been deer hunting in Minnesota). I know in the last 20 years no one has had any problems getting sick off the deer meat, and we used to have a guy that would cut a hunk right out of the deer hanging on the rack and eat it.

[Walleyehooker]

I always rinse out my deer when hanging and let dry. I think it is more important to get the hide off and let the meat cool down. And the hide comes off a lot easier when the deer is still warm.Then I quarter it up and put it in coolers with ice if needed.I see guys do a horrible job gutting a deer then drag it out threw the mud and swamps then hang it in a tree at marginal temps for a few days with the hide on.Then throw it in the back of the truck and drive down dirt roads on the way home.And these guys are still alive.I guess they just cook it longer.If I were to have any meat made into sausage I wont take it to a processor that mixes the meat with others. I take the time to remove the fat from the meat and burn off or remove any hair and I want my meat back. Ive had butchers comment on how nice my meat looked compared to others that came threw the door.

[Bear55]

If there are any guts or stomach contents I rinse as well as possible. If not I hang em and skin em asap!

[Boar]

Hey bob, u actually let sit in a fridge for 7-10 day before doing anything with it? Whats the difference? taste? tenderness? I have a fridge in my shop an an generally quater it an put it in the fridge till I can debone it, but its only a day or two, but 7 to 10 really? What do u actually do? just that, let it sit in the fridge for 7-10 days an instant major difference in taste/ really curious about this. boar

[BobT]

Yes, I store it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 7 days. Some places I've read recommend 10-15 days. I don't have enough room to store it on the bone so I will bone mine out and then put it in containers with lids to prevent the meat from drying out. I just leave it in larger pieces and don't cut it up. I drain off blood daily as it will accumulate on the bottom of the containers but it would work nicer if I had some kind of rack to set the meat on so it could bleed out.

Here's how I would do it if I had a large enough refrigerator. I would quarter the deer and wrap it in a cheese cloth on a rack with a pan to catch the blood drippings. I'd keep the cloth moist so the meat doesn't dry out. After about 7-10 days I would process the deer.

I have found the meat is more tender and more flavorful. The bacteria begins to break down the meat so it naturally tenderizes it just as it does with beef. There will be those that call this hogwash but I disagree. I don't even grind any meat until I age it. I no longer blend my venison with pork to make my sausage. I do add a little water to the sausage but that is also common with pork or beef sausages so nothing new there either.

[mntatonka]

aging the meat in a cooler in the 35-45 degree range will indeed make the meat more tender and more flavorful (just like it does with beef). It works for essentially all red meats. However, to be done properly the humidity level and temperature have to be very consistent.

[reinhard1]

in my opinion, unless the aging proccess is done in a controled manner, aging should be no longer than 3 to 5 days with wild game. in the beef buisness we have constant temp control and the meat is hanging with all it's fat intact. well that was a few years ago. i dont know of any place that have truly aged beef. there may be. the beef for example that is proccessed today comes in vacume bags and cut at the location of the store sold. this vacume bag is dated at times 30 days or more.

is that natural aging? no. but it's the way most beef is handled at this time. i think Bob takes care of his venison as he describes and it works for him. it's just too long of a period of time in my opinion even with the care he takes. however remember when a person moniters his game and follows through with the drainage and temperature controls the life of the game can increase. most of us just dont have the proper temperature control to make this a for sure safe situation. good luck.

[Boar]

Think im gonna have to try this. Thanks guys an bob.

[BobT]

One of the things to remember is to protect the meat from exposure to air as this will dry it out. Anyone that has left a carcass hanging for more than a day has experienced how the exposed meat gets leathery from dehydration and you often end up trimming this off. This is the primary reason many prefer to leave the hide on but leaving the hide on creates other problems. Leaving the hide on the meat slows down the cooling process for the meat and allows decomposition to begin more rapidly, resulting in slightly tainted meat. For better flavor you are better off skinning it as soon as possible and cooling that meat down. As described below do allow time for rigor mortis to complete before cutting your meat as this will also improve tenderness. A moist cheese cloth works nice for wrapping the skinned carcass because it allows for drainage while preventing the meat from exposure to drying air.

In a nutshell for best results…

* Make a clean kill shot so the deer dies quickly. A deer that is wounded and tracked down will be full of adrenalin and this can alter the flavor of the meat. A deer that drops dead in its tracks will be better flavored.

* Field dress it quickly and rinse out the cavity as soon as possible to remove coagulated blood and entrails. These decompose rapidly and will taint the meat.

* If you must leave it in the woods for a time, consider taking steps to help the carcass cool down and remain clean such as spreading the cavity open. We actually have a means to hang our deer in the woods near our ATV so it can hang until legally moved.

* Skin your deer as soon as practical. This will help cool the meat more rapidly plus it is much easier to skin a warm hide.

* Let the deer hang for 24 hours to allow rigor mortis to complete its process before doing any cutting otherwise the meat will be tough.

* Cover exposed meat with a moist cheese cloth to protect from drying and allow drainage.

* Age your venison for 7-10 days IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT at 35-40 degrees F. such as a walk in cooler or refrigerator.

The following quote is from American Hunter HSOforum. The two primary ingredients for aging according to all of the results I found are “Temperature Control” and “Protection from Dehydration.”

Quote:

How to Age Venison

Properly aging a deer begins as soon as you have made a clean shot. The entrails have to be removed impeccably and the chest cavity cleaned and kept dry. Hang the deer from the rear legs, high enough to avoid touching the ground, and remove the hide.

During this time, the muscles will go into rigor mortis, stiffening which lasts about 24 hours. Butchering or cooking during this time is a very bad idea because the muscles will contract and become irreversibly tough. The same is also true for fish. In fact, a piece of fish can be too fresh. If it hits the pan before it goes into rigor mortis, the cell walls tear, forming the white albumin that you sometimes see emerging from a piece of salmon. Most importantly, the flavor and texture suffer.

Once rigor mortis is complete, hang the deer at a temperature above freezing and below about 40 degrees. This holds bacteria and rot at bay, allowing natural enzymes to do their work.

The enzymes break down collagen—the stuff that the ladies of Orange County use to puff up their lips. It is also what causes meat to be tough. Young animals have very little of it between their muscle cells, but as an animal gets older, more develops. Natural enzymes break down this collagen as the meat ages, so the longer it hangs, the more tender it becomes. That is why an aged steak is so expensive—it takes extra time and energy, which cost money. Your supermarket beef may only age a few days, which means it usually falls short of its full flavor potential.

At 40 degrees F, seven days of aging is usually sufficient, but for larger deer longer is better. I usually age deer up to seventeen days. If you don’t have a cool basement or walk-in cooler to age your meat, you can home-age your venison in the refrigerator. Skin the quarters and bone-out the other large sections of meat once the deer has come through rigor mortis. These will fit in the average refrigerator. Once the aging is complete you can then break the meat down further, into rounds, tenderloins, loins, ribs, stew meat, shoulder, ground meat, sausage, etc.

[Boar]

huh. neat. Ok we shot the deer on sat. an skun sunday, monday I quarterd, an tonight, I deboned. I was able to to get the meat into a 6 gal. bucket, I took some freezer paper an tucked it down the sides of he bucket covering the meat, then put the lid on, barely. I actually drilled drain holes in the bottom of the bucket on one side only an tipped the bucket so it sits cocke eyed in one of the crisper drawers to catch the blood. so far so good? about 7 days huh? will the meat discolor? or give off any type of oder other than what Im used to now?

[BobT]

If you keep it cold (below 40 F.) in a refrigerator it sounds like it should be fine.

[reinhard1]

here is a site that should be read by all who want to know how to properly handle wild meat from the field to the fridge. there are some good points made by all on this thread. after reading this site, it gave the best methods of handling wild meat.

www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/.../hgic3516.html

good luck.

[psepuncher]

here is a site that www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/.../hgic3516.html

good luck.

link didn't work for me.

[reinhard1]

i copied it as it is, but who knows. google storage of wild game, and scroll down to HGIC3516 Safe Handling of Wild Game. Extention... there are some other sites but this one went from the field to the fridge. good stuff. good luck.

[Walleyehooker]

Here is some more info from the University of MN Extension http://www1.extension.umn.edu/food-safety/preserving/meat-fish/#game

Also has a lot of other good stuff on canning etc.

[BobT]

Good information.

[reinhard1]

that is a good site. if you scroll down to "references-from field to table; a pocket guide to care and handling of deer and elk" it is the same information that the site i posted had. but this site goes into more interesting ideas as far as cooking and other things. good luck.