What to do post quartering?

[redsquirrel]

So I quartered up my doe last night and I have her in the fridge. Do you guys do anything to clean off the quarters before deboning and freezing? I have more hair on there than I would have preferred, but I'm more concerned about everything else. In the process of skinning and quartering you go from touching the hide and carcass to your quarters and back. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[g2outdoors]

Yes. Rinse thoroughly to remove the hair. You don't need to be worried about your knife/hands touching the carcass and the meat. Are you going to process it into ground/sausage/steaks/cubes/stew or just freeze the quarters as is? I recommend processing before freezing whole.

 

[Jefferson10940]

I always rinse after quartering, then finish the butchering. I do not like butchering frozen meat. Vacuum seal and label. Hunt, harvest, gut, repeat process lol


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[redsquirrel]

@g2outdoors, @Jefferson10940 , you just rinse with water?

Yes I will be processing them tonight before I freeze.

I have found an awesome recipe for cooking roasts in my smoker! They come out as tender as a roast beef.

 

[g2outdoors]

That's all I do. A lot of water.

I process what I'm keeping for my freezer (tenderloins, steaks) and take the rest to a butcher for sausage and other stuff. I'm not setup for home butchering.

 

[justsomedude]

You guys don't drain over ice?
I plan to do the 'gutless method' this year

 

[Autumnrider]

Take a propane torch and burn the hair off. Works really good.

 

[EricS]

@justsomedude I think the draining on ice is a southern thing. I've done it both ways but get the hair off before I put in fridge or put it in the cooler. You can get waterlogged meat you have to throw out when you age on ice. I haven't thrown out any more waterlogged meat aging in a cooler than dry meat aging in a fridge.
Red it's not going to hurt your meat to rinse the hair off of it. They always say keep it dry because of bacteria but if your keeping it in a fridge instead of a 60 degree garage you will be fine.

 

[Jefferson10940]

Yes just water when I rinse.


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[swampsnyper]

Hard to get hair off once its on there. Watch @WHW 's video on field quartering. His method keeps it pretty clean.

 

[Erniepower]

I think meat eater had some advice on which direction to cut when skinning to limit the amount of hair that gets cut, but I can't remember the details. One of my favorite episodes is when he processes a deer in full for the show. No hunting in that episode but lots of information

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[huck72412]

Take a propane torch and burn the hair off. Works really good.

Yep!!!!

 

[swampsnyper]

Here is @WHW 's video. Keeps it pretty clean.

 

[Seals72]

"That's a big deer"


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[WHW]

I dump the quarters & back straps out of the pack into an ice chest. Undo the drain plug, and with the chest tilted use a water hose to fill. I continue to fill with water, while moving the contents around until only clear water flows from the drain. Doing this washes most of the blood off and any hair will float to the top and run over the side. Then I'll put the drain plug back in and cover the meat with ice. Usually drain water and add more ice for a few days before processing the meat.

 

[GBlevins92]

This is a topic I would love to learn a lot more about, I've processed 5 or 6 on my own and I just feel like I'm not very efficient.... I'm definitely going to look up that meat eater episode.... I have my first western hunt in the plans for next fall and that's the main thing I feel like I need to learn is quick and efficient quartering and deboning in the field


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[justsomedude]

Look up "Gutless". There's a lot of variations

 

[Boudreaux]

Always cut with the direction of the hair, never against.
Try not to cut up deer prior to rigormortis
If you can hang meat to cool, below 50 your fine
Don't let water or ice contact the meet directly. It makes the meat turn "greyish" its called red meat not grey meat.
Let it hang, if you can! If you kill a lot of deer it might be worth it to make a deer cooler. Dry age.
I know there is some things I am forgetting but those are the BIGGEST points.

Thanks,
Boswell

 

[MCDM]

Take a propane torch and burn the hair off. Works really good.

Thats what i use!! I don't like to introduce water because it can add more moisture which can grow bacteria. The only time i would use water is when gut matter is involved. Just flush it all out and pat it down with paper towel. The torch is the best way as your just going over it quickly and will singe hair and seal fatty areas instantly. Oh btw don't use a household towel or your Mrs. will probably do to you what you did to the deer lol.

Also, i quarter my deer, hang and age for about 7-10days in the fridge between 35-40 degrees the quarters are in game bags the thin kind or loosely wrap in packers wrap. It protects the meat but because its wrapped loosely it will still breathe. Thats the secret it needs to breathe but also be protected so it doesnt dry out. Thats why most who have access to large coolers wait to skin until they are ready to process.

 

[Dewey]

Thats what i use!! I don't like to introduce water because it can add more moisture which can grow bacteria. The only time i would use water is when gut matter is involved. Just flush it all out and pat it down with paper towel. The torch is the best way as your just going over it quickly and will singe hair and seal fatty areas instantly. Oh btw don't use a household towel or your Mrs. will probably do to you what you did to the deer lol.

Also, i quarter my deer, hang and age for about 7-10days in the fridge between 35-40 degrees the quarters are in game bags the thin kind or loosely wrap in packers wrap. It protects the meat but because its wrapped loosely it will still breathe. Thats the secret it needs to breathe but also be protected so it doesnt dry out. Thats why most who have access to large coolers wait to skin until they are ready to process.

This is exactly what I do.


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