I have a friend that has given me a doe this morning quartered and iced down in a cooler. Normally I take deer to a processing facility. Iced down is not optimal for aging, but how long should I let the deer age in the cooler. I will keep it iced down and drained. I was thinking 3-4 days and process on Friday. What are your opinions? Thanks.

should be fine. Might rotate the meat each day, so that the same side isn't against the ice the whole time.

I haven’t thought about rotating it but I will do that also. Thanks!

Be sure and leave the drain plug open, don't want the meat swimming in water, invitation for some nasty bacteria

Yes, I am a health inspector so I am real picky about those things 😁.

Keep it iced and drained. It will be fine. I've kept them like that for more than a week before without any issue.

It helps to place the meat on top of the ice to hold the meat up off of the bloody water. Aging like this for at least a few days works well.

We always took a doe in deer camp to be made into venison sausage. We took all the meat off the bones and tossed it into a cooler full of icewater to which was added 1# of salt. This is how we sent it down to the old German sausage maker. Always turned out the best venison sausage I've ever had.

I’ll do it for a few days.

Drain open.

Add ice as needed.



Some folks put salt in with it.

This is the only way I do it anymore... I used to hang with the skin on for a a couple of weeks. Now i just use a gutless cleaning method and put the parts in a cooler with ice on the bottom. I let them stay like that for up to 10 days with the water drained out daily. I think it makes a better meat and is easier for me to process at my convenience.

In our freezer, we always keep ice filled containers like 2 liter bottles or half gallon milk cartons. Also a collection of smaller frozen water containers. These keep food or drinks cold without releasing water into the coolers. If just using ice, not only should one leave the drain open but also elevate the other end of the cooler to facilitate water drainage. Some type of grate or frame in the bottom of the cooler also keeps food from swimming. I've got part of a deer in a cooler right now. I'm just keeping it from freezing up here in MI. I hung it with the skin on for a week, then cut it up 2 days ago. The last of it will go in the freezer today.

You're a health inspector and you don't know if it's safe to do this? And you're asking us?

LOL

Sorry, but that just strikes my funny chord.

I asked how long to age in the cooler not if it was safe. I have never aged this way hence my questions.

Thanks for all the other comments and suggestions.

I've done it 5-6 days like this. Once in a while I'll stick a thermometer in it. It's pretty easy to keep in that 38-40 ish range which seems to safely age it a bit. As you and everyone else have mentioned, got to keep the water below the meat. I often use a rack at the bottom of the cooler.

Same here....works great.

I've done it as long as 8 days, draining the water off each day, with much of my cooling effect coming from frozen milk jugs. I'd pour bagged ice on top and the frozen jugs kept that ice from melting very fast. Rotate jugs out for new frozen ones every 3 days or so. I try to keep half a dozen in the freezer during deer season.

^^ This ^^

Don't let the meat soak in the ice. Put news paper (if such a thing exists anymore) or something else between the meat and the ice.

Just to be sure, put a thermometer on top of the meat. The top will be the warmest place in the cooler. If you can't keep it below about 45, don't leave it in there more than a few days.

I kept a doe on ice from Tues until Sat last week until I had time to butcher. I drained out the water every evening and made sure I had plenty of ice in the cooler. Ate some backstrap and some round already and she is eating just fine. Draining the water off is important.

I usually go 10-14 days in the cooler. Over the years I've steadily increased it and never had an issue. As others have said keep the drain open and keep the quarters separated from each other by ice. I cut my backstraps into 1 1/4" butterflies and if cooked med rare you don't need a knife.

I try to keep it in a cooler for 5 days if I can. I put the ice on top of the meat and move it around so there is ice between the big pieces. Salt it good when I put the ice in then drain the cooler a couple of times a day. I add Ice as needed to keep it covered. I think it removes most of the blood and makes the meat taste milder. I have killed and eaten several deer a year for 40 years and have handled them other ways. I prefer Aging in ice to any other way.

Been awful warm down here this season…

I’ve kept meat in a cooler as mentioned for a week without issue. Never added salt but will next time.

I’ve done it many times for up to 1.5 weeks. I put the deboned meat into good plastic bags, like large fish bags. Then I don’t have to worry about the meat soaking in water.

I’ve also butchered and packaged the meat shortly after killing it, then aged it in a cooler with ice, a cool shed, or in a fridge before moving it all into a freezer.

I don’t see one thing wrong with that ,OP .

I gotta try this. Usually process mine asap and to the freezer. Taste is okay but never what I would call "tender". Nothing on the ground yet this year, still some time left here in rifle then bow/muzzleloader after Christmas.

+ 1. I usually keep venison iced and drained for 7-10 days. No problem but make sure to add ice as needed to keep the meat covered but you probably already knew that.

Yes, we have had a few cool mornings but the afternoons warm up quick.

I’m in Bainbridge. Where are you located?

Just like a lot of others, I’ve kept deer in a cooler for up to a week several time. Keep it drained and out of the water …good to go.

I’ve waited 10 days before without issue.

There’s a Facebook processing page. Half those guys will stroke out at the mention of deer in an ice filled cooler. Bacteria is going to kill us all…

It’s taking its sweet time on me.

I too have kept deer more than a week in a cooler. I’ve not been overly worried about the meat being in a little bloody water but do drain at least every other day if not sooner. We ate some tenderloins off a doe my son shot in January that was kept this way. We also had a package of tenders from a buck he shot in November that went straight to the processor. The buck was butterflied and tenderized and the doe tenderloin was Vacuum sealed whole by me prior to freezing. The cooler-aged doe was better in every way.

Most everything has been said that’s needed. Dry cold is better than wet cold. The half gallon milk jug ice works very well. In a 150 qt cooler they make a good bed for parts and pieces. We usually have shoulders, loins, trim (neck, brisket, etc), and the joined hams. A few more ice jugs on top in the right places and let it sit 4 or 5 days.

Wondering if just keeping it in a refrigerator would be just as good as the cooler with ice? Anybody done that?

It's better than a cooler because the meat stays drier and the temperature is regulated. Try to keep an air space between the pieces or at least rotate them every couple of days to keep the surface dry.

I've wondered about the drying out while reading through all this. Not how to keep the meat dry, but how much the skinned meat dries out. When I hang them for a few days with hide on, any exposed meat has a rind that must be trimmed away. How much is there with skinned quarters in a cooler?

When I quarter a deer,I start with a good layer of ice about 6" in the bottom of my 150qt cooler.As I remove the parts,I place each part in a large plastic bag.Each shoulder,each hindquarter,backstraps and tenderloins,neck meat,ribs all separate.If you gut shot the animal it could be an issue,you probably be better off putting any tainted parts directly on ice,but as long as the meat is clean from gut matter,it will look and smell just like it did when you put it in days later.I have kept meat as long as thirteen days like this.Holding it about a week or so really makes a difference in how tender the meat is.You want to use a big enough ice chest where the meat has plenty of room for lots of ice.Keep the drain plug out with the opposite end propped up to keep the water out.Keep adding ice on top each day if needed so the meat remains sandwiched between the ice at all times and keep the meat really cold always.I usually use two ice chest.I have one that I put the cuts I want to tender and the other for the parts I'm going to grind.I'll go ahead and process the meat I'm going to grind after a few days.That saves on ice and the meat will be solid frozen when you get around to processing the more tender cuts later.

I just started ice aging this year and have had wonderful results. Start with a 4-6" layer of ice in the bottom of the cooler. Layer in meat and ice. Cover with ice up to the top of the cooler. Place cooler at a slight angle and leave the plug open. I aged one deer 8 days and the other 9 days. Excellent results. Just check every day or two for ice melt if the temps are warmer.

Only way I do it… ice on bottom of cooler, then layer of meat, layer of ice, layer of meat, … drain often or keep drain open and cooler tilted to stay drained and keep meat covered with a layer of ice. Always leave mine at least 5 days. Even the burger tastes better to me than freshly processed.

Well, tried the refrigerator thing for 5 days. Not hanging just in a meat bin and kept dry. Can't say it made a big difference. Still have late season doe tags here so if I get another one we'll see. Maybe I didn't leave it long enough.
My neighbor has a shed he hangs them in at let's them hang for a week or more if weather permits but weather here is fickle during the season with warm days here and there.

LOL. It's true.

Been using Ice aging for 20 years on hogs and deer. 7-10 days repacking with new ice every 2-3 days.

If it is not cold enough to hang for a while, I just process it and get it in the freezer. Then get it out a few days before I am going to cook it. Aging it on the back side seems to work just as well.

I use bigger coolers and jugs of ice to eliminate water meat contact.

back in the day i had an old uncle that was a poacher, sorry but that is what he was plain and simple. he killed so many deer him and another poacher buddy of his built a cooler out of cement blocks. they filled the hollow blocks with sand and had it sitting on a poured cement slab. they put hanging racks in it for meat and for cooling they had a window A/C unit, and that right there is redneck ingenuity!

Just keep it dry and good to go

Well there you go

I bet anyone on this forum that didn’t know a poacher maybe fibbing I don’t condone it I just know
I great up in Chicago and thought city folks were a problem
Then I moved to a rural area

A country boy can survive
City boy may just starve

Hank

I put the meat in the bottom, then a thick layer of newspaper, and then a couple good size chunks of dry ice.....keeps for quite a few days.

I have an old fridge in the outbuilding that I use to age my deer. Been doing it this way for all my hunting life. After skinning and processing all cuts….hams. shoulders, backstraps, etc. I place the meat on the racks and let it age for 7-8 days at 38 degrees…any blood will drain out over this time and meat will taste perfect. Place a thermometer on a rack and good to go. Cooked a blackstrap for the family over Christmas and all was eaten…delicious. Made stew beef few days ago in crock pot for few hours and man was that good. I think all the mentioned ways of aging work, it just important that it is aged. You can buy old fridge cheap and can get 2 deer in a large one, just check it to make sure temp is correct and you good to go. I really like deer better than store bought beef because you never know hat you getting and some times it not good.

This is the perfect solution if you have the space for the fridge
I am not to proud to butcher a road kill and at many times of the year this is the only way to fly

Hank

I've tried it above the ice dry
Below the ice
Plug in swimming
Plug out
With salt
Without salt
So far....30 years with no difference

We feed our dawgs roadkill.

I ended up with 160 pounds of whitetail roadkill in Minnesota between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Keeping it cold wasn’t an issue.

I’ve do e the cooler and ice to get it home. Then it went to a customized refrigerator. No shelves but lots of hanging options. This worked pretty good. It got a little tight with multiple animals or an elk. A few years ago I told a buddy of mine I was going to build a cooler. His boys do commercial refrigeration, I thought they could help with parts and pieces. A month later they showed up with an 8 x 8x 8 walk-in. It’s nice to have. If it’s too cold I heat it. I age hide on for 2-3 weeks. If you go this route you need to swear everyone to a secret blood oath that no one can find out you have it. It’s kind of like a still.

Interesting video

Good video. Same deal we have seen as well. The iced meat is easy too.

Good video, and I'm not really surprised. I'm in the camp, and have been for over 20 years, of having no other recourse than to "age" it in the cooler. Never had any problems with the ice bath method. Thanks for sharing the video.

You are very welcome!

I liked the fact that he taste tested with the neighbors as well to get real world feedback.

Mike

Awesomeness.

Love the video.

The un ice bath meat looks like it didn’t cool down as quickly as desired. Therefore the discoloration.

Awesome video

Great video. thanks for sharing. Hard to argue with the results.

Drain the water daily and replace ice. I have kept meat in a cooler for a couple of weeks like that while I processed it when I could.

I doubt it makes much different if the meat is kept cold. I was always under the understanding it was important to keep the meat as dry as possible if it is warming up and you don't have access to ice. I would also suspect humidity plays a role. Having the meat in a cooler with melting ice is a humid and damp environment even if its out of the ice. Where hanging in a walk in cooler or outside in a cool dry environment is different.