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Cooler draining

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Wapsi Tree Rat

Well-Known Member
Bagged a doe this morning. First time draining meat with cooler and ice....Yes, the plug is open. Lid open or closed? Does it matter?

Thanks!
 
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I usually leave the lid closed and drain closed, then drain once a day or every other day and add ice as needed until the water runs almost clear or very faint pink
 
Closed, then open occasionally to flush. That leaves the meat soaking in water. Add ice after the flush.
 
My old cooler has a cracked drain so it constantly drains out. ideally I don't let it sit in water. I was even thinking about getting some grate to sit in the bottom of the cooler so the meat doesn't sit in the water at all
 
Sorry but I must be missing something. Why in heaven's name would you ever intentionally let meat soak in water unless you are making soup???
 
HorseDoctor said:
Sorry but I must be missing something. Why in heaven's name would you ever intentionally let meat soak in water unless you are making soup???
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Same ? I have. I have hears of others doing it. What's the advantage? I may be doing something wrong but why would you ever flush the meat?
 
Trying to turn the wife on to deer steaks. Thought I would try something different. I've also seen posts on here about draining meat. Read an article.... Something like "10 reasons you deer meat tastes like hell". The author's opinion was that a fast kill and butchering and then draining the meat was essential. I got that done today...Trigger pull to fully butchered and meat on ice was less than one hour so I thought this would be a great deer to try it on. Didn't mean to start and argument, but it's good to hear both sides. Thanks for your inputs!
 
I haven't ever heard of this. Conventional wisdom is that you never introduce water to raw meat. I would say if you want to make your deer taste better follow anything Hank Shaw does. He has some great recipes and tips on his website. A few tips I would give you is butcher the meat yourself. Trim absolutely all of the deer fat off. This is the main reason people get turned off of deer meat. It may taste ok fresh but it goes rancid very quickly in the freezer. Last but not least the deer itself is very important. A young deer is hard to beat. I cut up an old buck this Fall and that thing is just plain nasty.
 
I personally would let the cooler drain open unless you're transporting it which happened to me by mistake one time, blood all over a new bed rug is not fun. I agree with Nontyp, don't ever get wet or wash/flush meat, trim all fat. I also like to age my deer for 7 to 10 days before butchering myself and also remove all the membrane and sinew encasing the muscle. Makes for good tasting venison!
 
I marinade my deer meat in milk 2 nights before --- drain milk -- add regular marinade the night before. Completely removed "game" taste. My wife loves to eat deer now. That's just what I do!
 
When I first learned to cut my own deer a buddy showed me how he did it. Boning out the deer and then putting in on ice for a day or two. After going back and forth between putting on ice and draining or straight butchering and into the freezer I can say that my family and myself both prefer the meat that has been on ice for a day or 2 and drained. My wife and myself both notice a big difference especially when cooking ground on the stove. Meat not on ice puts off an odd and unpleasant smell. I don't let it soak in water. I use a large enough cooler that the bottom is not covered and I tip it so water runs to the drain end. Expensive aged meat is meat with bacteria introduced although in a very controlled environment.
 
I have heard of icing them in a cooler but always in the southern states where it is hot during season

Good deer meat starts with the shot in my opinion, a calm deer put down quick will taste way better than one that's been running hard. I have an old double door fridge that works great for ageing deer. I get them gutted and rinse the body cavity then toss in the cooler set at 36-38 degrees for a week to ten days. You can actually tell a difference in how easy the meat cuts after a week in the cooler.

If anybody in my area ever needs access to a cooler let me know, I live south east of Pella.
 
For better tasting venison;
Kill them quick, field dress them quick, bone it out ASAP.
Never cut a bone and smear marrow onto the meat.
Trim away every possible piece of fat, this is where most of the "gamey" flavor comes from.
Trim away all tendon, sinew and "silver skin" (encases larger muscle groups).
If you are left with nothing but red meat, you've done the job correctly. You shouldn't have to marinade to hide the gamey flavor. Shooting a doe helps as well, rather than a rutted out old buck. HUSH the buck, eat the doe.
 
^^^ This! Only problem with a doe is there is so much fat to work around. I've not had any problems eating "rutted out" bucks (or bulls). Have had a couple stressed/injured bucks that were not so good. Cooling meat out quick is good but no problem with that lately! ;) Warm weather &/or traveling I use dry ice to cool. If you must use ice, I would certainly leave the drain open and never soak the meat in water. If you think doing different works better for you, I guess that's up to you but I'm gonna stick with what I've done for over 50 years.
 
Wapsi Tree said:
And she didn't like it before? See, that's what I'm looking for....Some kind of game changer. Pun intended :)
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She couldn't stand the "game" taste in the deer. I love coming home to my wife making deer roast, steaks, etc.

Give the milk a try. Seriously, I was skeptical until I made "beef roast" and my wife liked it better than beef after soaking in milk for a night!
 
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