Attention All Butchers

[WFO]

I shot a deer on thurs dec 6 . on fri dec 7 I deboned it and prepared it to make bologna. I took it to a local guy to have it processed, his wife told me it would be good 3-5 days since it was already deboned. if it was left on the carcass it would be up to 2 weeks. i called today dec 13 and the butcher never processed the deer yet he said it would still be ok since it was kept in the cooler. We don't know whether to believe him or not. we think he forgot about our meat. does anyone know if this meat would still be good after this time period out of the carcass, but still in the cooler? Thanks for any help given in advance.

mike

[Woodcutter]

I shot a deer on thurs dec 6 . on fri dec 7 I deboned it and prepared it to make bologna. I took it to a local guy to have it processed, his wife told me it would be good 3-5 days since it was already deboned. if it was left on the carcass it would be up to 2 weeks. i called today dec 13 and the butcher never processed the deer yet he said it would still be ok since it was kept in the cooler. We don't know whether to believe him or not. we think he forgot about our meat. does anyone know if this meat would still be good after this time period out of the carcass, but still in the cooler? Thanks for any help given in advance.

mike

 

Personally, I would get a bit uncomfortable if the meat wasn't processed after a week in the cooler. Of course, the closer the temperature is to 32 deg the longer it can be aged. I don't have any means of letting my deer hang for aging, so I usually debone and store in the refrigerator for up to a week to allow the tissue to tenderize. But bologna or hamburger doesn't need tenderized since the grinding will take care of that.

 

I'd demand that your meat is processed ASAP. I've never taken mine to a butcher because of trust issues with timeliness, cross-contamination, getting all of it back, etc.

 

I'm not a professional butcher, but I thought I'd share my opinion. Good luck.

[Zembonez]

I'm not a professional butcher, but I thought I'd share my opinion. Good luck.

I'm no butcher either but my dad is like a mountain man when it comes to hunting. He always says he wants the meat processed and in the freezer within 7 days of a kill. He recommends storing it in a cooler around 35 degrees for several days to "season and cure" the meat for processing. All I know is he did all of it himself and we always had some darn good venison to eat.

[Schmids5.3l]

I don't process, season, or cure my deer meat. I hunt and kill the deer with my bare hands, open it with a knife, and eat it raw.

 

Last time I had deer meat from the neighbors (long time ago), I was puking like hell for the next few days, haven't ate it since.

[Chestah]

My brother killed a deer just recently and had it processed. There is literally deer hair in every bite.

[MbpsychoSS]

I leave mine in ice and salt in a cooler for 10 days keep adding ice that's the max i would recommend