My game dealer has moved further away which means that I am using my chiller in earnest to cut down on money wasting travel.

The last two times I have detected that familiar sweet smell around the week mark and have detected a faint 'furring' on the first shot carcass.

One thing that I will do is to store longest shot closer to the door so that it gets the benefit of the fan but it seems that what is causing the problem is the residual coat of dried blood in the chest cavity.

Ordinarily I don't wash carcasses unless stomach contents have become involved - I seem to remember that washing is frowned upon and have allways thought that it should be unecessary on a well gralloched beast.

The chiller operates between 0-3celcius and has 2 fans circulating air.

What do you think?

I believe washing is generally frowned on by most Gamedealers. As I understand it, although it cleans the carcass "visually" , it supposedly spread the bacterial and other contamination to other parts of the carcass...

The gamedealer we use down at Thetford won't take a carcass thats been washed, or at least he is very reluctant too...When I have shot one a bit far back and been forced to hose it out, the main worry seems to be that the interior of the carcass goes kind of "white" and if its still like that the next day, the Dealer won't take it.

Having talked to a former gamedealer, he tells me that washing the carcass shortens the time they can keep it considerably, so I guess that relates back to the spreading of the bacteria ect??

In your case, where the carcasses have been hung a bit long, I have been told wiping down using paper towel dampened with white vinegar will remove those first "little hints" with out causing the problems associated with water. Apparently it does not effect the taste but I have not actually tried it myself..

Regards

Pete

Dear Pete,
Quote : “he tells me that washing the carcass shortens the time they can keep it considerably, so I guess that relates back to the spreading of the bacteria ect??

In your case, where the carcasses have been hung a bit long, I have been told wiping down using paper towel dampened with white vinegar will remove those first "little hints" with out causing the problems associated with waterâ€

I have been asked an article about the game meat putrefaction.Pete, You are asking at the right moment.

Your gamekeeper is right , no washing, washing spreads the (gastro-intestinal and cutaneous) bacteria all over the meat.
If the meat is soiled, one have to remove the soiled parts with a clean knife, this is the butchery requirements.

In fact, we hunters wipe immediately the dirt from gutshot game off with a paper towel or a fabric towel and let it dry and cool as fast as possible. These (to far back shot) animals have to be carved within 3 or 4 days and be immediately eaten or deep frozen. Don’t keep them in the chiller too long, they are bearing to many bacteria, cold and dessication are only slowing the bacteria development, not stopping it. So if there is to many bacteria in the beginning, you are in the situation of a clean game chilled for a quite a long time.
Note, the cold hardly slow the mould development.
Concerning vinegar I don’t know. What I know is that vinegar is a frequent solution for many things in the life, old wives’ remedy as we say in France. Would not be Coca Cola more fashion?
If somebody knows about vinegar or acidity against bacteria development, especially the most frequent “Proteus†by the name?

Jean,

I know white vinegar is an antisepetic in its own right, but its value for wiping a carcass down might be because its an mild acid.

The article at the link below details the use of food grade citric acid to help preserve game carcasses in the field...

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/magazine/citric_acid.htm

I realise that the acid in vineger is largely acetic acid, rather than citric acid, (although citric acid is present in natural vinegars) but the prinicple might be the same..

Regards,

Pete

Jean,

What temperature do you set your chillers at?

I have seen 7C listed as the maximum where deer carcasses are stored and 3C if offal or small game carcess is being kept...This is an "offical guidline" in a local Government booklet on the Wild Game Meat Regulations

Personally I think 7C seems a bit high and most folks I know try to run their chillers between 1C and 4C...

With regards mould growth, if low temperature does not slow the growth down, I wonder if the humidity is a more important factor?

Regards,

Pete

I usually give carcasses a quick wash down, though I keep all my animals for myself (or firends) and they are normally broken down into cuts and frozen within a day or so.

Especially in summertime, I'll wash an animal down before I start working with it, since they come home still intact.
I also do it to cool the body as quickly as possible since it can be quite hot here and there are a lot of flies in summer.

I wonder if anyone here can say whether the water would still spread bacteria through head shot beasts where no internal organs have been ruptured to contaminate the insides?

We have been using white vinegar for cleaning/ freshing up moose that have hung a thad to long, or been soild with stomac or guts spilling.
Using lots of dry paper and just a little vinegar seems to do the trick.
It leaves no taste on the meat eighter.

To get the cooling started, especially in the front leg area, we usually cut loose the front legs from the bole when we hang the carcass.

Dear Pete, Express, Alrid

Always, Always heat and humidity promote putrefaction involving bacteria or moults.

I acknowledge washing the carcass is a swift and efficient way to cool the meat. When the thermometer is high it’s the best way but take care to remove this excessive humidity. A head shot game doesn’t have its innards soiled, the washing could spread only the bacteria from the hide. Don’t go this far as daubing the hide with iodine before dressing.
In usual conditions the game must be dressed and hung in the shadow and the wind as quick as possible. A crossbar between the forelegs helps keeping the thorax open. During transportation don’t let the game lying too long or put branches underneath to allow air to circulate.
The halal or kosher tradition is not stupid. Bacteria from the hide and from the gastro-intestinal tract after a wound are lead into the blood circulation and spread all over the body.
Bleeding a game white dries, cools, and drains the game from blood conveying bacteria which could pepper the meat with rotten foci.

It seems vinegar is good to slow the bacteria proliferation down. Proteus, the most frequent bacteria is an alkalising agent, acids antagonize this kind of bacteria. Citric acid is different. It’s an acid but mostly it’s an anti-oxydizing agent.

Temperature :
a home fridge 39°( 4°C)
a meat chiller over 32° (0°C) and under 36° (2°C).
Frozen <10° (-12°C) Deep-quick frozen <0° (-18°C)

Our games are between 1 and 2°C to satisfy a butcher who buys our game but wants to scratch some Euros from us. He is ever armed with his stylet-thermometer

1894,
I insist that all our carcasses are washed, as do F.C.This washes out any blood or other foreign material such as hair/grass etc. Dried blood by its nature encourages mould growth.
Mould usually appears in our chill after about ten days,and spreads rapidly!
Washing down with a mild vinegar solution will kill this mould.
White/grey mould is harmless, the pink spot like mould is the sign of faecal contamination.

Make sure you have a chill that will remove the moisture, this will cut down the mould growth considerably,air flow will also reduce spoilage by evaporation.

Griff

If I'm selling the whole carcass it needs to be sold within 7/8 days any longer and the value is halved arbritarily by my buyer. Run my storage at 0-2 degrees.
I have a 70 mile round trip to dealer and he pays 50 pence/pound regardless of species.(not very good economics!)

We usually was out the body cavity before skinning. If you add a teaspoon of bleach to a gallon of water no one is goiung to taste it, and it will kill the bacteria. The body cavity doesn't contact much of the meat anyway except for the tenderloins which should be removed early on anyway. I hang all my game with skin on. I know that it doesn't cool as quickly but the skin acts to keep bacteria off the flesh and reduces weight loss due to dehydration of the meat. I hang a white tailed deer 10 days or so. I suggest that if you have mold growing the conditions are too damp.

the chef

I have a daughter friends in Germany who is finishing the University as a Veterinarian , as she will made a doctorate in Game preserving methods , I ask for their opinion and it’s the following

Hello Daniel!
Dad sent me your mail and I want to give you my opinion on the topic based on what I have learned at university so far.
When the inside of the carcass is clean, no inestine damage, then it's fine to just hang them in the cooler at 7°C at the most (better cooler) For hare, ducks etc. 4°C are the maximum temperature, because they have other bacteria that can grow at lower temperature (campylobacter,...).
Deer, wild boar,... I would leave in the cooler for 5 days at the longest.

When there is intestine damage and the carcass is dirty it's better to rinse them off from the outside and the inside with water from the hose (never heard anything about white vinegar and coke...). Just careful around the bullet entry wound, because the pressure could push the bacteria around the wound deeper into the meet. Depending on the location it could be better to cut the dirty area around the entry wound out. With the washing the concentration of bacteria is mecanically reduced, the meat is just cleaner!

In Oktober I will start to work for my doctors degree. I will collect meat samples of wild game and then I will examine them on their bacterial status. Then I will also make an experiment on what and how many colonies grow on washed meat and on meat that's been dirty. I will let you know what "the numers" say :-)

Many greetings, Katharina

I'll post the results of the study

Saludos

Daniel

Daniel,

Many thanks for this - the results would be interesting.

Hola 1894

When I get the result I'll post as it's an interesting matter for the hunters.

Saludos

daniel