What to do after you harvest game to preserve the meat?

[mochosla]

Hi guys,

So as you may have read, I just got my first wild pig. Once the pig was down, the guide gutted it right away and an hour later he skinned it. So far so good. The question is, what to do after. I put my hog in a game bag and on an ice chest with 3 blocks of ice as a bed. I then put a couple of bags of ice over it and made sure the water would drip to the bottom of the cooler. My friend told me that the meat should not be in water as it bleaches it (???). 4 hours later, I take the carcass out to butcher it and realize that some areas of the hog are not cold. I asked another hunter and he tells me that he puts his game in ice and water and it is fine. I looked it up on the web and some people do the same but add salt to the water.

What do YOU do? Is it supposed to stay out of the water? Is water okay? I don't want to ruin my meat.

Please help!

Thank you.

 

[mgriffith80]

If it was only 4 hours you'll be fine. You want to avoid heat and water because it can allow bacteria to grow very quickly. You can hang game up over night (or over several nights) as long as its cool and dry.

 

[Cal Sniper]

Congrats on your 1st pig. Thanks for sharing your hunt. Every game has a little different care. In your case, I would bag up all the meat and keep it as water proof as possible(double bagged or more) in an ice chest with as much ice as it can hold. Heat is a bigger problem and will spoil your meat much quicker but I don't allow my meat to be in water for many reasons especially because it will lose the taste. Try that next time and good luck on your future hunts.

 

[mochosla]

Congrats on your 1st pig. Thanks for sharing your hunt. Every game has a little different care. In your case, I would bag up all the meat and keep it as water proof as possible(double bagged or more) in an ice chest with as much ice as it can hold. Heat is a bigger problem and will spoil your meat much quicker but I don't allow my meat to be in water for many reasons especially because it will lose the taste. Try that next time and good luck on your future hunts.

That's what I did. The game bag I used is thick though. I wonder if that had anything to do with the meat not cooling down. I made some Italian sausage yesterday and the meat is just fine.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[hks95134]

Congrats on your first piggy. I always try to ice the meat asap. Then put it in a fridge for a day or two. Then butcher it and freeze it.

With pigs, you only want to age them a day or two until you either smoke them or freeze them.

With deer, several days. Same with elk.

 

[CaliforniaKid]

Keep water off the meat as much as possible. The bacteria growth is one of the factors that gives it that gamey taste. If you put the meat in garbage bags and then in ice you will be fine. Get it as cool as possible as fast as possible. I also spray my meat with Game Fresh Spray from Trophy Bag Koolers. Same type of material butchers use to kill bacteria on the surface. Doesn't do anything to the meat, but it tastes super fresh after. Good luck!

 

[socalkid]

Besides putting the meat in bags to keep it dry inside the cooler, I've found using frozen 2 liter bottles or doubled bagged dry ice to leave a lot less water in the cooler.

 

[CottonwoodHunting]

I have been filling the chest freezer with block ice made with metal bread loaf trays.





These can be used to line the bottom of a chest cooler and should last longer than cubed ice.



I like the Coleman 150 Quart cooler from Walmart for $69.97.



I figure its okay to leave the spout open to let water drain out, so that your meat doesn't end up sitting in water.



Eventually I will get a walk-in cooler.

 

[dchunter]

^Great idea^ Looks like you could use a little meat in that freezer CH. Me too! Last weekend in July for me.

 

[Deleted member 33033]

I grill it and eat it.

 

[jdm49]

I have done it differently and a bit against the grain it looks like. I have the 100 gallon Igloo cooler with wheels. Last boar was field dressed, skinned and quartered and well air cooled before all parts went into the cooler and a 20lb bag of ice got tossed in for the ride home.

Af home I refilled and drained the cooler for two days while I did the butchering a couple hours each night with the quarters and rib cAge coming in and out of the ice water. That water took out a lot of blood from the meat over those two days. Then everything got vac packed and frozen for a few weeks. I made thirty pounds of sausage, ham, wine and clove shoulder meat ragu and carnitas. Everything was fantastic especially the carnitas. If that's watered down, then that's fine with me. I have only been taking boar (250-300lb) so the soaking may help the shoulder meat a bit. But dozens of eaters were quite happy with the ice water boar treatment.


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[socalkid]

I'm going to start using that ice block idea, thanks Cottonwood!

 

[Deleted member 33033]

I stick 1 gallon jugs of water in the freezer, they melt slower and don't leak water into the ice chest. Don't fill em to the top though.

 

[norcal-noodler]

I vote for the gallon jugs too but think that the crushed ice is better to get the meat down in temp right away. If it's evening though I'll just let it hang overnight, I think a slight breeze is the best way to cool it quickly. Then into the bags and on ice in the am


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