I've been butchering my own deer for a couple of years but don't get a lot of practice and have a question for you pros.

I generally field quarter, get the goodies and pack the meat out in a rucksack (in clear garbage bags).  When I get home I put the meat in the freezer for a while to cool it quickly and then into the fridge.

Over the next couple of days I'll work on de-boning, cutting meat and vacuum seal.

Here's the problem.  When I get the meat out of the fridge to work on it, it always has a clear sticky gel coating all over.  This stuff makes getting bits of hair, dirt etc ... off the meat a nightmare.

Is this gel coating just business as usual?  Am I missing a step in prepping the meat (is there something I can do to prevent it ... I don't notice it being there during field quartering?)

Appreciate any advice.  Thx.

- Dave

hey dave...my experience is that using any type of plastic bag is not good because the heat from meat cannot escape as quickly as cloth.this could also lead to bone souring of meat.try using elk quarter bags as they are big and last for several years.also i try and get meat off of bone as soon as i recover the game...good luck

I second that. Your trapping warm moisture.

I always just soak the (deer) meat in a large cooler filled with ice water for a day or two.  Usually change water a couple times first day, and again the second day if I don't get a chance to debone and wrap it right then.

Takes care of cooling the meat good, and doesn't take up room in Mama's fridge/freezer.  Any dirt, leaves, or other debris is loosened up and comes right off.

If it's an old deer or a large buck especially, I add some salt and/or white vinegar to the ice water.  The meat seems to be much less gamey tasting that way.

I agree about the plastic bags but you have to do what you have to do.  I prefer to hang ithem with the hide off in a cooler, and personally if it is not gut shot, I do not touch it with water.  Let it cool and let it form a "skin" of dry surface on the carcass.  It cuts much better that way to me.  you can pick the hair off or brush it away after the surface dries a bit. If it is gut shot, I would as soon do the quarters and leave the belly as intact as you can.  Any contamination by bowel contents should be trimmed off, being careful to keep the knife cleaned and free of contamination.  Again washing off seemed to do more harm to me than good, as you can spread any bacteria present to areas that weren't contaminated.  It always tasted better to do it this way to me.  Your mileage may vary.  If it is cool enough you can leave it open to air or better in a cloth bag so it can cool and DRY,  I really think it is far better than to wet it.  I have killed deer and had them cut and in the freezer within a few hours too and they did fine.  I don't even like to wash off the blood.  I will scrape it off withthe knife or wipe it with cloth or paper towel, buit I like AIR way better.  My $.02.

You can also make a solution of vinegar and water and spray on the meat before putting in the fridge. Gets rid of the film and any bacteria that might be there. I've butchered since I was 13 years old and they always told me " chill it as soon as you kill it". Hope this will help you a little.

I am sorta with Pinenut on this one...

I drag mine out then quarter it and put in a large cooler on top of the ice   (40-50 lbs of Ice...)  I let it age for 5-6  days   (in the garage on two 5gal buckets with a 1x4 under one side so the water will drain...)  ... I try to keep it out of the water. I refresh the ice as neccessary.  But I will rinse off in the sink any hair or dirt as neccessary. prior to processing...

If I'm going to grind I find that no aging is needed.


As for processing in the field, I would think that wrapping the pieces in cheesecloth(or maybe muslin...) may help keeping the yuck off...

My wife says that When I age venison, it tastes better...

Too hot to hang meat outside and I don't have a walk-in cooler (yet).  Guess I'll have to get rid of the plastic bags.  I skin off the hide as I quarter (like Warren Womack does in his video), but dirt, hair etc ... still gets on the meat.  That coating of slime makes cleaning the meat a real mess.

I bone them on the spot.  The meat gets much cooler quicker this way, no need to gut them.  I age them in the garage if its cool enough, or in the old fridge thats out there.  That film is likely a result of trapped hot-air on the surface of the meat, as was stated.  After it sits in the fridge the bacteria works on it.  
I like to age dry, as often as possible.  Thats just how I do it though...thanks for the input everyone.

That is the natural ligaments covering all the muscles.  

The easiest way to deal with it is to not get hair on the meat when you skin the deer....   :D  

But, since that's almost impossible, the next best thing is to do like pine nut says and keep the meat dry.  Or at least, if you are going to wet it, have it so you can hang it and let it dry afterwards.  Usually the only time I get water on a deer is when I clean out the inside.  I use a bucket of salt water and a rag to wipe out the inside of the ribcage and abdomen to remove the heavy blood and any non edible stuff then let hang for 3 to 10 days weather permitting or meat locker available.  I've done the cooler and ice but got mixed results.  Keeping the meat elevated out of the ice and water worked pretty well but the best way was to put a couple blocks of dry ice wrapped in newspaper (several layers) and use "dry cold".  Ya have to play with the amount of newspaper but a good sized block with plenty of newspaper around it will last for days and keep the meat just above freezing.  If you don't have enough newspaper insulation, the meat will freeze and defeat the purpose of aging.

I found the hard way though that you have to keep on your toes about the ice levels weather regular ice or dry ice.  Seems like it can last for days and you add a little at a time to keep the level up and all of a sudden you check it the next day and it's all melted and the meat is only borderline cold enough.  Forget it for a day and you could loose it all.

Fro that reason, the absolute best for the average in home processer is to have an extra refridgerator with the old wire rack type shelves.  Preferable the old style with the internal icebox.  You lay the quarters on the shelves or rig a way to hang them with the shelves removed (if your wife don't mind) and put a couple cookie sheets in the bottom to catch the blood.

another way i have found that works great is to invite ten buddies hunting and starve em all day and pray you kill on the afternoon hunt..pooooof..deer gone..lol..lots of good ideas here,i'll try the cooler sounds good.

Generally hang for a day or two in the garage w/hide on if cold and off if warm.  

I think part of the gel may be due to your putting it in a freezer.  

The fridge will get the cooling done just fine and they don't have to be cooled rapidly, in fact that could lead to some toughness which I have experienced when I've killed deer at -10 below or so and had them freeze (lower legs and neck) overnight.

I'm w/ Curtis.  Let it set in cooler and drain water a keep plenty of ice for bout two days.

I get rid of hair on the carcass right before i start to quarter it, by using a plumber's torch and run it over the carcass. any hair that it contacts will be vaporized, along with any possible fly eggs that might have been laid on the meat. The purpose here is not to cook the meat, just to lightly go over the body so that any hair is vaporized.

The coating isnt much of an issue if you seperate the muscles as you butcher and you butcher with the meat cold enough that its stiff but not froze.

The meat will taste better if you seperate it out and remove the fascia and membranes..

But as several people mentioned its ideal to let it cool with the hide on then take the whole hide off at once if you dont want hair stuck to the surface.

I don't quarter in the woods but it is my opinion that if you take a little more care there will be very little hair and dirt to deal with.

I always hang the deer head down.Then I carefully cut just the skin from the crotch to the ankle.I take care to part as much hair as possible to keep from cutting it.I keep my knife and hands clean with a water hose nearby.I role the skin off and only pull it from the outside without my hands touching the meat.I've skinned deer with only a few hair,probably less than a dozen,just around the first cuts.It's easy to pick thoes few off.

I don't think I could do this in the woods however.Most of the time I don't even field dress one as I can have it home in less than two hours.

QuoteOriginally posted by Smallwood:
I get rid of hair on the carcass right before i start to quarter it, by using a plumber's torch and run it over the carcass. any hair that it contacts will be vaporized, along with any possible fly eggs that might have been laid on the meat. The purpose here is not to cook the meat, just to lightly go over the body so that any hair is vaporized.

That's exactly what the slaughterhouses do.
After being a butcher for 36+ years the best advice I can give you is if you have access to a cooler hang the deer skinless for a day or two.  No cooler and it's too hot to leave outside or in a garage, bring it home with the skin on.  If possible don't gut it until you get to your vehicle.  This will keep the dirt and leaves out of the cavity.  Skin it and butcher it right away.    An average size deer should only take about an hour or so to do from skinning to freezer.

Interesting stuff right here...

I've been doing like many...butchering my own.

Only thing I challenge is cutting, wrapping and freezing jack quick.  

Records show and I've read some biologists that confirm my suspicion. If you cut and freeze meat before the rigormortis is outa the meat...it'll be tough all the way through your digestive tract.

I am lucky to be able to use a cart to haul deer outa the woods without skinning...but then hang and skin even if near the truck within an hour of death... scrape down with dull knife to remove hair and junk. Cut out any blood shot meat.

Before it's hanging in cooler (or propped up whole carcass) in an old (or house fridge) with the shelves out...(bachelor's rule)  I rub it down with Crisco! Yup.

Ole boy in MT taught me that...elminates that hard 'skin' that forms from drying out good part of the surface meat...stays pink and moist.

Once it's hung for a couple days, (chilled, cooled, aged)I scrape it with the flat knife edge again and wipe off on paper towels to remove any missed hair or debris.

Then I start cuttin. Even young yearlings shot, cut and butchered quick in warm weather were as tough as boot leather!  Now I find a way to age and did some in coolers like others... I try to keep the ice in bags and not have the meat wet...but that usually fails.

Even in MT when day temps where high, I managed to place skinned, scraped and bagged whole carcass on concrete at night and it got very cold..then wrapped in a space blanket and pinned shut with clip clothes pins... it stayed very cold all day and I'd open it back up at night again... course, it was in the high desert where even 80 degree days got very chilly overnight!

Just a few thoughts to share in case there is an idea or 2 in there... good ideas shared.

you may laugh at this but here goes anyway,i went hunting with my grandfather before he passed away in 1990 and he shot a very nice blactail buck,i had never been with him on a kill so i was shocked when he pulled out a cordless shaver and commenced shaving that buck from chest to rear bumper and along the insides of legs.talk about laugh,have to admit though i couldn't find a hair on that carcass to save my life.