Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation locker beef with a strong smell

Just got a local side of beef. Split a half with my neighbor and this stuff has a strong smell/taste when unthawed.
When you un-wrap the meat it's setting in blood. Obviously NOT taken care of properly.

It was processed at a local meat packing plant.

Any suggestions on how to get the strong smell out ? Soak/brine?

Thanks! Virgil B.

I'd take it back

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

Yep, take it back, sounds like an old bull. It's not unusual for the meat to have blood in the package from a locker plants, but the meat should smell and taste fresh.

Was it hung for ten to fourteen days? If it was then they didn't trim it very well which is probable since that would have increased the labor cost.

Had the same thing happen to me when I bought a half last year.

It is also possible that the beef was what is called a dark cutter to start with. That is an animal that has been wired up and highly stressed before it is slaughtered.

Not much you can do with dark cutter beef. Makes OK dog food human consumption not so much. Stew meat about the only option.

Just a maybe.

Thanks guys!

My neighbors buddy raised this beef but all I got was second hand information on it.
The beef was bought mainly for pet food, my wife makes a raw food diet for pets, but WE wanted to eat part of it.

Cooked a roast in the crock pot over night with lots of spices. It smelled some before cooking but turned out OK, just not great.

It tastes like game meat that wasn't cleaned up properly. Am wondering if rinsing with vinegar would help?



Virgil B.

animal wasn't bled quickly when killed. meat retains most of the blood.

srw,

That seems to be the case. Rinse the meat, put it back in the fridge and a cupple hours later, it's setting in a pool of blood again.

Only thing, not all of it is the same. We unthawed a cupple of rib steaks that seem fine. No strong smell and not all bloody.

Thanks for the replies!

Virgil B.

thats why the guts come out of everything i kill where they drop.

What the heck is unthawed ?

Slightly faster than thawing.

unthawed = frozen. right.

OK so my grammer isn't up to par.

We thawed some rib steaks, or un-froze 'em by taking 'em out of the freezer and putting 'em in the fridge for a cupple days, Then grilled 'em with some Traeger beef rub.

They were good, with no strong smell or taste.
Am thinking I got parts of two different cows.
Some is not fit to eat and other packages are OK.

Virgil B.

Yep.

Aren't you a genius and apparently can't comprehend the entire thread.