We ran out of time and had to freeze meat and butcher at home

[waterhome]

We had an epic hunt and we ran out of time before we had to fly home. So we froze the meat in whole groups rough trimmed before we had the chance to butcher it. I have never done this before.

Any tips for thawing it out just enough to butcher our steaks, roasts, stews, and grinds?

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Lean meats usually can be thawed and refrozen fine, it's the fatty stuff that doesn't work well. I've refrozen deer and Elk sometimes quite a few times, never noticed an issue. Keep it cold obviously, thaw in a cooler or refrigerator not out on the counter or rapidly under water, etc. I have an electric ice chest that's perfect for it.

 

[Boarmaster]

I freeze almost all my deer before I process. I put it in a tub in my frig on Monday/Tuesday if I am going to process the next Saturday. No issue refreezing the cut up and packaged meat. I would suppose you could thaw it in a cooler as well if your short on space in the frig. I like to keep it all cold while thawing.
My lease is 9 hrs from home and I sure am not able to process right when I get home. Sometimes
I process loins the day after i get home but the bulk of meat goes right in the freezer from my camp cooler.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Everything I process is done like that. Throw in an empty cooler to slowly thaw out, when it gets just thawed enough start cutting. Actually makes it easier to cut and a lot easier to trim up, but wear gloves because cold hands become a problem on big animals.
In my garage it usually takes about 2-3 days to be ready to cut, depending on how full the cooler is and quality of cooler.

 

[chizelhead]

I think the key thing is to let it thaw slowly before cutting. That's what a butcher would do with frozen elk quarters we dropped off. I'm not sure why, but others have mentioned it on this post as well.

 

[Jethro]

I've never had any issues. Thaw it in the fridge and then do my thing.

Grind products aren't very critical to freeze/thaw cycles. Maybe steaks are (I'm not a steak guy). Not uncommon to bring home frozen whole muscle, thaw, debone into grinder size chunks, freeze, thaw and make grind product, freeze, thaw and eat.

 

[Dirtscoots]

We have froze whole quarters for long drives home leave the freezer running with generator and have not had any issues usually hang in a cooler when we get back a few days before processing

 

[Pony Soldier]

Almost all of my game is skinned, washed and frozen. Unless it is a warm fall, the quarters hang frozen in the barn. I bring them in a half at a time and leave them on the kitchen table for a couple days. Then I cut, wrap and refreeze followed by eat. Never had a problem unless you get a big chinook in the fall and then you have to scramble.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Some smart folks will tell you every time you freeze meat that ice crystal rupture cells and that pink juice in the butcher pack is myoglobin and cytoplasm or some such. The point being, refreshing can “dry out” meat and break it down.

having said that, I do it when I have to and havenet had a problem.

 

[KenLee]

Deer that has been frozen and thawed does not marinate evenly, from my experience. Otherwise, no problems.

 

[Coveyleader]

I’ve put whole elk quarters in a freezer for months, thaw when I have time and process. No issues at all.

 

[Butcher44]

An old butcher I used to go to told me thaw it out enough to where you can cut it but still has ice crystals in it.