Is my deer meat still good

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Forgive me for what I've done. This last November I took my nephews for their first deer hunt and teach them how its done! I only had the weekend to hunt with them and then it would be back to work. Well we done good, each one of us took a deer (3 deer altogether)before the weekend was over. (So your asking "whats the problem") So here is the problem. Hunt for two days and try to process 3 deer yourself in two days. I could only get two processed and ended up putting the third deer, whole, skin and all without the guts, in a deep freezer. Thinking that I would have time the next weekend to process it, or the next weekend, or the next weekend. Until finally, here it almost June and the deer is still in there! So my question is, do any of you think it would still be fit to process it now. I would have taken it to a commercial processer if I had knowned that it would still be in my freezer this long.

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), May 30, 2001

Answers

Well, I haven't got a single modern source that will answer this! You must have a pretty large freezer...

However, in the late 19th century, there were many reports coming from the vast deep freeze of Siberia. Apparently, explorers with dog sleds were coming across frozen Mammoths (those big old hairy elephant-type guys from the stone age). They fed them to their dogs, and the dogs didn't die! Then explorers began cutting off Mammoth steaks and cooking them for their own use. And they all lived, too. Some said the meat was very flavorful (it should have been, since it was aging for 12,000 years!).

Personally, I'm pretty experimental, and I've give it a try (if I was certain the meat was clean when it went in the freezer). But I'd also make sure it was well-cooked to kill any bacteria that might be present.

You might call your meat processor and find out their opinion, too.

-- Anita Evangelista (evangel@atlascomm.net), May 30, 2001.


Some say no longer than 6 months but if it has been protected good from freezer bite than I would give it a try. Might be easier to de- bone the whole thing and put it into a venison sausage though.

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), May 30, 2001.

Why not call your local meat processing plant? They should have the correct answer.

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), May 30, 2001.

It might taste a little gamey from the bones and hide, and you might have to cut off some freezer burn. but we process a lot of venison and I say frozen is frozen no matter how you do it. We often freeze the meat scraps in ziploc bags and combine it all later for ground venison summer sausage etc. and then refreeze it without harm. I wouldnt let it go to waste.

-- ronda (thejohnsons@localaccess.com), May 30, 2001.

As I recall we once upon a time (c 1970's) exported large quantities of wild venison to Germany, I guess it was frozen and I heard that it commanded the best price if it had a bit of grass and dirt on it! Sort of enhanced the 'game' status I suppose, also indicates that the skins were on. Some people made a lot of money shooting from helicopters at rates up to 50 or more animals per hour.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), May 30, 2001.


As long as the meat was frozen and has remained frozen, I wouldn't think there was a problem. Was the inside cavity pretty clean when the carcass was left hanging? Were all organs removed; you can miss somethings when you are in a hurry dressing out multiple deer.

I have eaten deer and pig meat that was five years (and more) frozen and not had any problems; maybe a little bit more flavorful (gamier?), but not objectionable. I would think the tenderloins might be a little dry, but who knows for sure? Give it a try and let us know. Good idea to ask as the others mentioned.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), May 31, 2001.


should be fine mabey a little freezer burn but you can trim that the hard part will be skinning a frozen or paetly so animal.we had a cow break her hip in july one year i skinned her out wraped the quarters in plastic and dropped them in the extra freezer till fall took forever th thaw enough to cut up but it was chilly weather then iv cut up some road kills and frozen them for the dogs i left the hair on then so noone would mistake it for human consumption it probably would have been edible but im just not quite that hard up cook a big chunk of some kind of meat with some cornmeal and thats dog food

-- george darby (windwillow @fuse.net), June 05, 2001.

I know a lady butcher who cans edible but questionable meat for her dogs. She cans it with rice and other goodies and it makes a gourmet dog food.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), June 11, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ