meat coolers

[Bear Heart]

Please post pics of your improvised or homemade meat coolers. Taking stuff to the butcher is expensive.

[bretto]

Don't have any pics. but last trip to Colorado we made a large cooler out of plywood and 2" blue styrofoam. It worked great.

4' X 6' it went on the front of our trailer.

bretto

[Roadkill]

For transporting in this heat, we lay out a blue tarp on the bed of the truck.  lay in the cleaned quarters- pull the top of the tarp over the quarters-sometimes in gan=me bags.  Then put bag/block ice on top of that.  lastly fold the tarp one more time back up.. Make a path for the water to drain out the tailgate and drive.  Our spot is 6 hours from the house and this works

[Bear Heart]

I should clarify.  I am looking for something to hang my deer in when it is warm outside when I get home.

[Bobby Urban]

If you have the time or desire just debone it and put it in the frig.  Takes 30-40min and then you are more than 1/2 way processed. As long as it is in the frig you can take your time with the rest - doing a little at a time if you want and pay no one.  

I have thought about building a small hanging cooler for camp that is heavily insulated and using an air conditioner to keep it cool in the early season but never got around to it.  It would be rather simple and inexpensive to build from 2bys and plywood.  paint it white if it's not 100% in the shade.

[WhiteBeard121]

I quarter mine and put them in a 150 qt cooler with ice to age and then I can work on them as I get the time.

[wazu02]

If you check out cool bot on google. You can find some great ideas. In the process of building a walk in cooler now in the corner of one of my out buildings.

[Whip]

If I ever build again I will include a walk in cooler. A friend did one and it is fantastic.
You want a refrigeration unit that is made for the job though. I think an air conditioner would freeze up before getting cold enough. I think he said his unit was about $800?
The rest was just a well insulated room with vinyl sheets for wall panels.  He  put in a floor drain and can wash it out with a hose. Very slick set up!

[Cookus]

I quarter mine and put it in a small freezer that has a thermostat on it from my homebrew days... I set the thermostat to 35 degrees and  let it go for a week or so and it's perfectly aged!  PM me for the details on the plug-in thermostat for any freezer or refrigerator.  I use this thing to cure my homemade sauerkraut, wine, and deer!  You just set the thermostat and any freezer will keep the set temperature!   Besides, there's no melted ice to deal with in the southern climates!   God bless!

[Cookus]

I quarter mine and put it in a small freezer that has a thermostat on it from my homebrew days... I set the thermostat to 35 degrees and  let it go for a week or so and it's perfectly aged!  PM me for the details on the plug-in thermostat for any freezer or refrigerator.  I use this thing to cure my homemade sauerkraut, wine, and deer!  You just set the thermostat and any freezer will keep the set temperature!   Besides, there's no melted ice to deal with in the southern climates!   God bless!

[Bear Heart]

I have looked at those thermostats while at the homebrew shop.

[bbell]

Do you build these thermosatd or can you buy them?

[jhg]

Buy a used, working chest freezer. You can find them in pretty good shape for 150 bucks. Good insulation, hinged lid, drain at bottom.  and  Put a padlock on it and ta da!

Joshua

[Bear Heart]

They plug in to the wall. You plug your freezer into the thermostat. There is usually a probe to run into the freezer.  The thermostat will not let the freezer freeze. It only runs enough to hit your temp.

[scrub-buster]

Several years ago the wife said she thought we needed a new fridge.  I quickly agreed with her.  I took our old one and put it in the garage.  When I kill a deer I quarter it up and put it in there until I process it.  With online check in I can get one from the woods to the fridge pretty quick.

[The Night Stalker]

URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/TimAntoine/media/image_zps51a942b3.jpg.html] [/URL]

I have been thinking of building  a walkin cooler forever.  I never heard of using a freezer. There are examples of using an air conditioner with something attached so it does not freeze up.

[Yankee Bill]

We built a Walk-In cooler at my camp using the Box off the back of an old Refer Truck, just built some racks in it and keep it set between 33-35 degrees. I usually go to camp for 2 weeks at a time and like to age my venison in the cooler anywhere from 7-10 days, time permitting.

When I leave for home or, if I'm hunting closer to home (the camp is a 4.5 hr. drive) I skin & quarter the deer & ice the meat down in 120 qt. coolers, then butcher when I get home.

Pic of outside of cooler
         

Pic of inside
         

YB

[JamesV]

I used one of those thermostats on a freezer and the conpressor burned out. Maybe it was just time for it to go.