44hunter45
Well-known member
I've always wanted to build a hanging shed. Some day I will.
It seems I always have to go back to work the day after I get home with an animal, and I struggle to get the cutting done in the evenings after work.
The fall weather in Idaho can be fickle and you cannot depend on nature to give you a good hanging temperature. Then there are the issues with vermin getting to meat left hanging.
My solution came to me by accident. I was tasked with closing one of my company's remote offices and came by the office refrigerator (with official blessing). I set the refrigerator to 34°F.
I debone everything the first night and sort the meat by muscle groups into blue enamel roasting pans lined with old game bags. Put the game bag in aligned with one edge of the pan, line the bottom and leave the long "tail" to lay over the top of the meat when the pan is full. This also gives you a way to protect the meat from insects while you are deboning.
The refrigerator holds three of these.
The steaks, loins, and roasts go into the first one, then shoulders and shanks, the last one has rib sheathing, brisket, and trimmings.
It all goes into the 'fridge. No insects or mice and perfect aging conditions.
I then process them in order of the quality of the cuts.
This worked well, except by the by the time I got to the last pan to process, it was getting pretty strong smelling. I learned that it is blood, not meat, that goes smelly. I added old cookie drying racks and broiler pans to the bottom of the roasting pans. This gives the blood somewhere to drain.
Any other smell issues can be managed by changing out the game bags if needed. They will wick up the drained blood and start to smell.
Using this method, you can "dry age" meat indefinitely until you can get it processed.
In practice, as each roasting pan is processed, it is replaced in the 'fridge by stainless bowls full of grind and trimmings. When the last roasting pan is finished, all the desired meat is cut, wrapped, and in the freezer. The 'fridge now has some bowls of grind meat and bowls of the fat and sinew you trimmed off.
I then finish with one session of grinding. First the meat. The ground meat is packaged and frozen. Lastly, all the trimmings get ground and made into "Gains Burger" patties for the dog. I package 7 of these together (one per day) and bring a week's worth out of the freezer at a time. (Tip: Cut all the sinew across the grain into 1/2" strips and you can grind it. )
The "Gains Burgers" look good enough to eat, but having tried one pan fried, you'd have to be pretty hungry to steal one from the dog.
Recap:
1 old refrigerator
3 blue enamel roasting pans
Enough cookie drying racks to line the bottom of the roasting pans.
Old game bags to line the pans.
Debone into the pans and age in the refrigerator. If they meat gets strong smelling, drain blood drippings from the pan and replace game bag with a fresh one.
It seems I always have to go back to work the day after I get home with an animal, and I struggle to get the cutting done in the evenings after work.
The fall weather in Idaho can be fickle and you cannot depend on nature to give you a good hanging temperature. Then there are the issues with vermin getting to meat left hanging.
My solution came to me by accident. I was tasked with closing one of my company's remote offices and came by the office refrigerator (with official blessing). I set the refrigerator to 34°F.
I debone everything the first night and sort the meat by muscle groups into blue enamel roasting pans lined with old game bags. Put the game bag in aligned with one edge of the pan, line the bottom and leave the long "tail" to lay over the top of the meat when the pan is full. This also gives you a way to protect the meat from insects while you are deboning.
The refrigerator holds three of these.
The steaks, loins, and roasts go into the first one, then shoulders and shanks, the last one has rib sheathing, brisket, and trimmings.
It all goes into the 'fridge. No insects or mice and perfect aging conditions.
I then process them in order of the quality of the cuts.
This worked well, except by the by the time I got to the last pan to process, it was getting pretty strong smelling. I learned that it is blood, not meat, that goes smelly. I added old cookie drying racks and broiler pans to the bottom of the roasting pans. This gives the blood somewhere to drain.
Any other smell issues can be managed by changing out the game bags if needed. They will wick up the drained blood and start to smell.
Using this method, you can "dry age" meat indefinitely until you can get it processed.
In practice, as each roasting pan is processed, it is replaced in the 'fridge by stainless bowls full of grind and trimmings. When the last roasting pan is finished, all the desired meat is cut, wrapped, and in the freezer. The 'fridge now has some bowls of grind meat and bowls of the fat and sinew you trimmed off.
I then finish with one session of grinding. First the meat. The ground meat is packaged and frozen. Lastly, all the trimmings get ground and made into "Gains Burger" patties for the dog. I package 7 of these together (one per day) and bring a week's worth out of the freezer at a time. (Tip: Cut all the sinew across the grain into 1/2" strips and you can grind it. )
The "Gains Burgers" look good enough to eat, but having tried one pan fried, you'd have to be pretty hungry to steal one from the dog.
Recap:
1 old refrigerator
3 blue enamel roasting pans
Enough cookie drying racks to line the bottom of the roasting pans.
Old game bags to line the pans.
Debone into the pans and age in the refrigerator. If they meat gets strong smelling, drain blood drippings from the pan and replace game bag with a fresh one.
