Another Venison Question

[wendys_goats]

I was wondering if a person can keep fresh meat in the fridg for a week or is it okay to freeze it for a week and then can it?

[salmonslayer]

Keeping fresh meat in the fridge for a week uncovered ages it, drys it out a bit and concentrates the flavor. I do it with beef and venison all the time but I have never canned it afterwards. Dont know if thats really what you were looking for.

[johnghagen]

You can freeze it then can it or leave it in fridg at 33 or 34F, for a week wont hurt at all

[Forest Breath]

When I went totally non electric, I had to can all of the meat in my freezer, including several deer. It worked fine and tastes great. It had been in the freezer about 6 months.

[wendys_goats]

Thanks everyone for your help.

[ronbre]

remember meat you kill at home is fresher already than that in the store that has already hung for a while in a cooler...before getting to the butcher..so you can keep it longer at home.

venison also doesn't spoil as easily as some other meats, such as pork and chicken..

[Cabin Fever]

Can you keep fresh venison in the frig for a week? Heck, I know several guys who will hang a fresh venison in the shed for over a week, oftentimes at temps warmer than the refrigerator!

[wendys_goats]

Tomorrow is open day of gun season and a friend of mine will be getting some if the hunter has good luck and she thinks it will be too warm to let the deer hang. She wants me to help her can it. This weekend is out for me (daughter and grand daughter moving in) but next weekend will be good. I hope.LOL

[Wis Bang]

One of the most important things to have quality venison is to cool the carcass down as quickly as possible. Since archery is usually in warmer weather, alot of bow hunters will stuff the interior w/ bags of ice ASAP. Others try to skin ASAP as well to promote cooling.

Ageing venison by hanging in a cooler 2 - 3 days helps the meat enzimnes tenderize it some. Rifle season we use a butcher. We take the deer there the evening it was shot & he skins it and hangs it in the cooler having us come back in 2 - 4 days.

Some guys skin ASAP and quarter the deer and store it in a fridge for 3 - 5 days before they cut it up, some quarter it and keep it w/ ice in coolers when they don't have an old fridge in the garage.

You should be fine keeping it in a fridge a while b/4 canning.

We have hung a deer at camp a day or so when the daytime temp was under 40 and then cut it ourselves. I always the the 'good' scraps and fill a few gal freezer bags and take them home to mom, she has a grinder for her kitchen aid mixer. Always had good tasting ground meat. As soon as she grinds it she spreads it out inside a quart freezer bag making a square paddy about 1/2" thick [around a pound] and it goes right in the freezer.

[agmantoo]

The answer to your question is a big Yes.
You could set the fridge to a cooler setting to keep everyone happy. I keep venison for 7 + days at 34 degrees F as an aging process.

[wy_white_wolf]

Originally Posted by wendys_goats

Tomorrow is open day of gun season and a friend of mine will be getting some if the hunter has good luck and she thinks it will be too warm to let the deer hang. She wants me to help her can it. This weekend is out for me (daughter and grand daughter moving in) but next weekend will be good. I hope.LOL

Hang the deer anyway, skin, put a couple blocks of ice in the chest cavity and wrap with old sheets. Replenish the ice every couple of days. I've hung deer like that for 2 weeks with no spoilage in 50F weather.