cooling down meat question?

[bcriverhunter]

would this work.?...deboned meat, placed into thick plastic bags, sealed, then dumped into a ice cold creek?...after its cooled, head for home....since dease lake area has no where to cool down meat, i need options if the weather is like it is now!!:???:thanks larry

[Caveman]

Yes it would. If you can leave the bag open to allow the heat out, it would be better IMO, but not crucial!! Keep it dry though.

[Hilgy]

We have done it like that. We put ours in plastic bags and then in totes with holes in them. We didnt seal the plastic though just kept the tops above the water line.

We just figured by having the top of the bags open it would help the meat cool faster.

I have never tried it but was told you could just sink the quarters in the creek. I was always under the impression that you didnt want the water to touch the meat???


Hilgy

[Caveman]

If you talk to a meatcutter, water is your biggest enemy

[d6dan]

One time we killed an elk, quartered it with the hide on an carried it out. then put it under a bridge(hide side down) and left it over night. Worked great as it was 1 or 2 in the morning when we did this. next day off to the butchers...

[behemoth]

I know a group of guys that bring a huge freezer and a generator, they quarter the meat, or put it in whole if its a whitetail. Crank up the generator, frozen by morning. Then the hunt can continue for everyone else

[muleychaser]

I came across a fellow once that had breathable bags and just hung them under a bridge just above the water and it seemed to work great. We were on 4 wheelers and every time we crossed a creek the temperature definately dropped. Will hopefully be trying it this year.

[hunter1947]

would this work.?...deboned meat, placed into thick plastic bags, sealed, then dumped into a ice cold creek?...after its cooled, head for home....since dease lake area has no where to cool down meat, i need options if the weather is like it is now!!:???:thanks larry


I have done this many of years and never have lost meat to this day.

The temp in a cold stream is around +6c or 40F.

When you do decide to head home put some block ice in a tarp or some kind of box in order to keep it cool ,stop and replantish with more ice when the ice is getting to a low point.

[mr.280]

Here is a blacktain-mulie hybrid I bagged in the alpine off a logging road up the Hurley river on Sept. 1st It was real hot by noon and we wanted to keep hunting for two more days. We placed the deboned meet in a cooler and placed it under a bridge in the shade and the ice cold water was about half way up the walls.Then we put a large bolder on the lid and draind off the leached out blood each day.Well the meat was as good as any opening day buck has ever been. My brother and I also did this with a young caribou bull we took in august and that meet was absolutely succulent.
http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss186/frederick280/14.jpg

[nomad]

If you talk to a meatcutter, water is your biggest enemy

how is the water touching the meat so bad? Does this include even washing it down if it got real dirty? Or is it best to just keep it dry right till it gets cut up? I wouldn't soak it in water, just rinsing to clean it up and cool the cavity a bit. But is this at all detrimental to the end product?

[Jelvis]

I would'nt put warm meat in plastic ever myself, will get sour real quick --

[hotload]

Ooooh warm meat in plastic, not for me thanks. Cooling meat is the most important, however that happens. Then, you can mess with it, if it is hanging under a bridge, in a tote, cooler, hanging from a tree. Just get it cooled. Hide off, joints opened up. A little water to clean up your meat never ever hurt anything I ever had, just wipe it off dry when your finished.

[high and to the right]

I'm surprised that hot meat in a plastic bag (even if put in water) doesn't go sour before it cools. I may have to try it.

I would think that it would be best to hang the meat to get the heat out (in the shade and overnight even if it is hot) and then put it in a bag and in the creek.

We hunt from a camper and do the odd over night spike camp so we have a set up where we hang the meat in a trailer and have an air conditioner blowing on it during the day in the heat. Keeps it cool and also the air makes a nice crust on the outside of the meat. If we keep it going for a day when we are away we hook up a 5 gal Gerry can to the generator.

One year we took a freezer to the camp BUT we only got our moose on the last day so we used it to make ice cubes for our coke.

[bad arrow]

So long as you didn't get the meat wet and left the bags open so the heat would escape , it seems like it would work good, Iv'e put deer in culverts for a couple of days and it worked fine. The freezer with jenny seems like a splendid idea, I have the freezer and just bought the jenny last weekend.

[ianwuzhere]

once i put the whole quarters in a creek- soaked in water for bout half day. was clean creek, still one of best moose ever tasted- i would not hesitate to put my meat in a clean creek again if i had to.

[mod7rem]

If you are near heavy timber with deap moss, you can dig up a large patch of moss down to bare earth and you will be suprised how cold it is even on hot summer days. Put deboned meat in pillow cases and lay right on the cold ground(plastic underneath if you like), then pile the moss high on top. Works great.

[martyonthewater]

If you are near heavy timber with deap moss, you can dig up a large patch of moss down to bare earth and you will be suprised how cold it is even on hot summer days. Put deboned meat in pillow cases and lay right on the cold ground(plastic underneath if you like), then pile the moss high on top. Works great.
now that is an idea that warrants some looking into, with all the talk surrounding plastic, why not use game bags to creek chill?

[Gateholio]

If you put warm meat into a plastic container or plastic bag, and place it directly into a cold stream- without a lid or closing the bag- it will chill down nice and fast, faster than hanging in quarters from a pole, especially in warmer weather!

Lots of commercial food companies make products that are vaccum packed while still hot, then dropped into a ice cold water bath, agitated and they come out cool in short order much faster than if they had ben simply placed, unwrapped in a cooler.

Since you won't be agitating them, leave the top open to let heat escape quickly.

[Caveman]

how is the water touching the meat so bad? Does this include even washing it down if it got real dirty? Or is it best to just keep it dry right till it gets cut up? I wouldn't soak it in water, just rinsing to clean it up and cool the cavity a bit. But is this at all detrimental to the end product?

Rinsing to clean it fine. You just don't want to encourage bacterial growth with a moist environment. Allow it to dry after you rinse it. We used to routinely hose moose quarters off in the driveway when close to home with no ill effects.

[hunter1947]

Try to put all meat off your animal into a bag without getting water on it ,then get it into the river ASAP.
If you have got water on the meat try to dry it off as much as possibe before putting the meat into the plastic bags.

[gary murray]

Like i've said before, my girlfriend works in a butcher shop and when they get the wild game in the fall, they don't wash it but rather use a damp cloth to just wipe the carcass down.

[gary murray]

If you are near heavy timber with deap moss, you can dig up a large patch of moss down to bare earth and you will be suprised how cold it is even on hot summer days. Put deboned meat in pillow cases and lay right on the cold ground(plastic underneath if you like), then pile the moss high on top. Works great.
I watched a show on that guy that built his own cabin in the Alaskan wilderness that they show on KCTS called "Alone in the Wilderness" and that's exactly what he does. Digs a small hole to put his food in and covers it in moss. It's quite the show if you've never seen it. Built everything by hand from the ground up

[bcriverhunter]

thanks for the ideas guys!!...we now have lots of options!! larry

[Jelvis]

Do you know how many butcher's saved their meat when it was a slight bit sour ? Winegerrr Vinny grrrrrrr saved the day --
Another thing wash hair and blood off meat with water, a clean rag, and vinegarrrrrr
K Jell ---- a little vinegerrr goes a long way -- saved the meat --

[Ltbullken]

Gut the animal cleanly then hang it to get the hide off ASAP. Act quickly. Leave it in the shade of some time just to allow it to cool. Not a bad idea to clean the carcass to kill bacteria with vinegar/water or even bleach/water (I've done this, it works and DOES NOT taint meat - a professional meat cutter from a major grocery chain said that was what their store required they do...). If you bone it out, leave the plastic bags open, double bag them (use butchers bags if you can get those) and place it in the creek but don't let water touch it. Once you debone, you open more surface area for bacteria to taint the meat so handle the meat with rubber gloves and use clean implements.

Someone below commented on having a small freezer. Not a bad idea to bring one and run it with a generator to freeze the meat...??? Once frozen, it will stay that way for a while so you don't have to run the generator all the time. Keep a thermometer in it and when the temp rises too much, plug it in and recool but avoid wide extremes in warming and then cooling.

[stonecrazy]

I highly suggest to not place full game bags in creeks, tried it once over night and the sheep meat was covered in a very fine algea. this creek is very very clean and have drank out of it with no side effects( giardia ) if you held a clean glass of it up was crystal clear. PROBLEM being meat will lie on bottom of creek, bottom of creek covered in little plant life, pores of cloth still allow little green plants onto meat. next time game bag followed by plastic tied off but cooled as much as possible first. most creeks are around 5-6 degrees 2-3 for a fridge close enough for the government right ltken :roll:

[Jelvis]

September in Kamloops area can be hot, even in October doooods.
A deer is one thing to deal with but a moose --- quick quarter and get it in to a cooler or baaaaad news bears.
Jel -- get it into a cooler PRONTO !
It'll cost yah -- but the meat is a treat -- skin -- half -- quarter -- hang in cooler or take it in and they will skin and cool -- then cut up --

[LYKTOHUNT]

I came across a fellow once that had breathable bags and just hung them under a bridge just above the water and it seemed to work great. We were on 4 wheelers and every time we crossed a creek the temperature definately dropped. Will hopefully be trying it this year.
I was just up the Yalokom River at a campsite (Beaverdam rec site) and I saw a meat pole with ropes hanging down just over a creek,you are right it was cooler

[sfire436]

We have done it like that. We put ours in plastic bags and then in totes with holes in them. We didnt seal the plastic though just kept the tops above the water line.

We just figured by having the top of the bags open it would help the meat cool faster.

I have never tried it but was told you could just sink the quarters in the creek. I was always under the impression that you didnt want the water to touch the meat???


Hilgy


Tie the quarters to the shore and THROW EM IN! Always has worked for us with NO problem as long as it is clean moving water. Leave it overnight then hang it and let drip dry. Skin away. Meat is cold and clilled to the bone. I would not do this in an aug hunt but for northern trips during the rut it works great. Have had meat hanging for the full two weeks with no issues.

[freonguy]

would this work.?...deboned meat, placed into thick plastic bags, sealed, then dumped into a ice cold creek?...after its cooled, head for home....since dease lake area has no where to cool down meat, i need options if the weather is like it is now!!:???:thanks larry

Larry:

The idea is great - keep as much air out of the bag as possible - and seal it so there is no ingress of water. De-bone as well - important.

This is used in different types of refrigeration process chilling - if it is a product they don't want to get wet, they put it in plastic bags and draw a vacuum to eliminate all air - air is a pretty good insulator. In the case of farmed salmon they stun the fish, nick its gills and run it through a ice / water slurry so it bleeds out and is chilled by the time they gut it.

I have worked on several kinds of equipment right down to contact freezer plates @ - 120F for blood plasma - bottom line is contact with the cooling medium is the best way as long as the cooling medium is cold enough.

I have been a Refrigeration mechanic for 30 years - not making this stuff up.

Freonguy

[ianwuzhere]

kinda sux now=most meat lockers will not just allow you to hang your animal in there without getting them to cut it up too.

i butcher all my kills and prefer it that way- phoned all over last year and could not find one meat locker that would allow me to hang an animal in it for a few days then take the animal.. almost all use to let you do this years ago...

[Jelvis]

Use cheese cloth for breathing game bag nitting for breathing. Plastic bags or wrap can seal in the heat -- sour -- yucky --
Get it into a cooler --- PRONTO ! ---
Or freezer with generator and don't freeze it cool it cuz it can't break down frozen and will be tougher then two ton anny -- b lieve it or NOT ?
Jel -- don't waste your meat --