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Be careful with the cooler method

12K views 50 replies 41 participants last post by  wisconsinted2  
#1 ·
I’m pretty sure this is 100% user error, so feel free to school me. I screwed up aging a doe on ice in a cooler and I’m now kicking my self so I wanted to share this cautionary example and learn from the experts.

I shot a doe last Friday for the freezer and it’s been in the 50s-60s at night. I normally hang my deer but it’s been pretty warm. The cooler method always intrigued me so I gave it a try.

I used a big cooler and did a base layer of ice, I then layered the meat bone in, and then packed ice on top to the brim. Propped up the end and opened the drain so the meat wouldn’t be sitting in water. The cooler has been holding ice nicely since Friday.

I dug everything out today for final butchering and I find all of my meat has been freezer burnt and has lost th deep red color.

I suppose I should have kept the ice from making contact? This is a bummer because this was going to be a good eating younger doe and now everything is frost bitten.

What should I have done differently and What should I do with this meat?

I’ve got it trimmed up pretty well and there are some nice salvageable pieces but most has been frost bitten and is gray. I was thinking this meat will probably have to be jerky.
 
#2 ·
In for answers
 
#7 ·
Yeah, not uncommon for the meat to lose some of the deep red color. It's just the myoglobin turning to metmyoglobin from continued contact with oxygen. The meat isn't freezer burnt, it isn't bad, and is just fine. Process as normally. You'll probably see one you vac seal it and it sits a bit (weeks-months) that it'll all turn back red as the myoglobin migrates back through it.
 
#8 ·
It won’t hurt anything at all, even that exterior pale meat will come back to normal color… you didn’t hurt anything, I promise

I have processed probably 50 critters that way and have had that layer of pale meat from water contact, I ignore it, trim as normal, and treat as normal… unless totally submerged for a long time, the meat will return to normal color, and has no impact on meat quality
 
#10 ·
Like everyone else is saying the meat is fine. Where I live 50 degrees is cold so we have been keeping deer in a cooler my whole life.. keep it so the water can drain. Keep your cooler clean. I normally use bleach to clean mine before using them. You can put them in bags or build racks. I really can't tell any difference other than that thin layer that looses its color.. I generally trim most of it off getting all the silver skin and connective tissue off..
 
#13 ·
Ice on the bottom. Quarters inside game bags. Game bags inside unscented garbage bag. Drop on ice, keep the garbage bag top out of the cooler and cover with ice. Then fold the bag top over. Open the drain too so there's no water, put it in the shade.

I just did a buck Saturday that I finished cutting last night. It looked exactly as it went in. The trim bags are still in the ice till Thursday.
 
#16 ·
Lots already said it, but your meat is fine.

I do close to the same thing however rather than actual ice I use ice packs. That way there is no water when they warm up. I've also bought bottled water and stuck several in the freezer before heading out, same principle as the ice packs, when they melt you dont get water on your meat (a tiny bit from condensation). I keep my quarters in game bags but don't use garbage bags, I like the idea of the bags being able to breathe.
 
#18 ·
I've only done this once, and it didn't turn out well at all. I put the meat in garbage bags with ice top and bottom. Butchered it up a couple of days later. Everything was very strong smelling / tasting ... and it was a 100lb doe. I think you need to let the blood drain out. The bags kept the meat in contact with the blood the whole time. My son shot a doe the other day and it was going to be 68deg that afternoon. We just got after it and got it in the freezer as quickly as possible. For me, the cooler is the last resort!
 
#21 ·
I do this all the time

I put the quartered deer into a big collor with ice water for a week.

The outside will lose color but the inside is nice and red. It also has no gamey flavor to it ( which I don't mind but some people at my house don't like it).

The outside of the meat will lose it's color , and parts like the backstraps and tenderloins should only stay in 3 days, but the legs should stay in for a week.
 
#25 ·
I fill juice bottles 3/4 up with water and keep them in the freezer for when I can't cut one up that night and have to wait until the next day. Keeps the water off the meat when in the cooler. Let the meat soak up water and you will get freezer burn when it's in the freezer. Lasts a lot longer in freezer when it hasn't touched water.
 
#26 ·
I treat all meat the same, but I try to leave as much on the bone as possible until rigor relaxes… I generally have my meat in game bags on ice (no plastic bags)

a deer goes quickly, I try to leave it for at least 3 days making sure there is plenty of ice, then I bone and trim everything one evening, put everything in ziplock bags, and back on ice, next evening will cut steaks and chamber seal everything

elk, when I have time, I try to wait 5 days to start cutting… I have 4 quarters and backstrap, tender lions, and all of the scraps, I will do everything with no bone in the first couple days, but bone in meat I start deboning on day 5 or 6… do the hams one night and fronts one night, and like deer, everything back in ziplocks and back on ice… by the next day, any of that pale meat will regain color and drains off a lot more and is ready for final packaging… we don’t have gamey meat at my house… it turns out great every time…

I have a 5’x5’x4’ insulated tote that I use for elk, and put 300# of ice in it, that will cool the meat down and hold ice over a week in hot weather… red-neck meat locker
 
#28 ·
If you kill many deer, it's really worth it to get an old fridge (or freezer and regulator) to hang the meet properly. The cooler method works, as others have mentioned, but it results in a less good final product, and one that won't last for as long once it's packaged and frozen. I found a standup freezer free on craigslist and bought a temp regulator on amazon.
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#29 ·
I’m married to a meat snob.. a certified wagu beef eating high dollar meat snob… and she absolutely loves my deer meat that I ice age every year. 7-10 days on ice with no water and fresh ice added every day. Yes, the meat in contact with the ice turns grayish but it still tastes the same. If you don’t like the color, trim off the gray and that can be added to the grind pile for sausage or immediately make jerky out of it.