How long from slaughter to fridge?

[pdubdo]

This is a pretty niche question
Looking at hiring an on-farm processing outfit this next year and didn't know how long is a safe length of time from processing to getting it cooled a big enough fridge. My current fridge space is 2 hours from our farm...is this a deal breaker?

 

[Son of Butch]

This is a pretty niche question
Looking at hiring an on-farm processing outfit this next year and didn't know how long is a safe length of time from processing to getting it cooled a big enough fridge. My current fridge space is 2 hours from our farm...is this a deal breaker?

Not a deal breaker.
Although your terminology leaves a lot to be desired.
You say fridge rather than freezer and talk of processing with no mention of any
hanging time for the sides of beef in a freezer or cooler before processing.

We had a group of West African immigrants butcher a 1300 lb holstein steer at our farm years ago. We provided a skid steer for the carcass to hang from, a flat bed hay rack for a work area and water from a garden hose for washing and cleaning.

Crudest and poorest job of butchering I ever saw, including using an axe for sizing. Took them a few hours, including a loud verbal argument over who got the feet and tail. They loaded the hunks and chunks of meat into the back of a couple pickup trucks for a 90 minute drive home to do whatever was the next step in their plan.
I do remember one line from a woman in the argument.
Everybody wants a foot, the foot is the best part!

 

[Lee VanRoss]

You are unclear if you are referring to aging hanging beef which requires a cooler or freezing after it is cut and wrapped.
(or that's my possible misinterpretation..
As for the time from the killing to the eating Dad told us '' No eatin' before the hide is completely off, it is disrespectful."

 

[GoWyo]

I shot an elk on September 2 during archery season one year. It was about 75* by 10:00 in the morning. Quartered it in the field in game bags and hung it in the shade while I backpacked quarters out. Took most of the day. Hung overnight at the cabin and was about 55* that night. Loaded the quarters in the extended cab part of the truck, put AC on max and hauled a$$ four hours home to get it to the meat cutter. He said 55* is the magic temp to stop the creepy crawlies and said if I had been a couple hours slower would have lost a bunch of it. If you have to haul 2 hours after the kill, you really need to get the carcass cooled out as much as possible, which may mean hanging quarters. If nothing else, make sure the body cavity is opened as much as possible and keep the flies and wasps off of it.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Not a deal breaker.
Although your terminology leaves a lot to be desired.
You say fridge rather than freezer and talk of processing with no mention of any
hanging time for the sides of beef in a freezer or cooler before processing.

We had a group of West African immigrants butcher a 1300 lb holstein steer at our farm years ago. We provided a skid steer for the carcass to hang from, a flat bed hay rack for a work area and water from a garden hose for washing and cleaning.

Crudest and poorest job of butchering I ever saw, including using an axe for sizing. Took them a few hours, including a loud verbal argument over who got the feet and tail. They loaded the hunks and chunks of meat into the back of a couple pickup trucks for a 90 minute drive home to do whatever was the next step in their plan.
I do remember one line from a woman in the argument.
Everybody wants a foot, the foot is the best part!

The foot is "soup #3 aphrodisiac " in the Philippines
I give them to my buddy.

 

[Son of Butch]

The foot is "soup #3 aphrodisiac "

No wonder the women were so vehement in their fight for one.

Aphrodisiac history goes back at least 4,000 years, in Genesis Leah and Rachael bartered with mandrakes as having properties of aphrodisiac/fertility.

 

[wbvs58]

Once you get the guts out of them with no spillage, you have a bit of time up your sleeve. Do the mobile butchers bring a mobile coldroom out with them to hang it for at least a few days before splitting it?

Ken

 

[SBMF 2015]

Our on the farm butcher has a refrigerated truck with a rail in it. They quarter a beef, hang it in the truck, and on to the next farm.

 

[pdubdo]

Thanks for the replies. My thought was that after butchering, let it age as individual pieces in a refrigerator for 10-14 days then freeze. I've read you can freeze first, and then age the steaks /roasts after thawing?…but that's the internet, and I don't know what the research says.
I look at how long it sometimes takes to find and dress a game animal and get it frozen and wonder how much time I really have while being safe.
And between my southeast Asian friends and the guys that feed their dogs all natural foods, pretty much use almost everything

 

[Travlr]

Thanks for the replies. My thought was that after butchering, let it age as individual pieces in a refrigerator for 10-14 days then freeze. I've read you can freeze first, and then age the steaks /roasts after thawing?…but that's the internet, and I don't know what the research says.
I look at how long it sometimes takes to find and dress a game animal and get it frozen and wonder how much time I really have while being safe.
And between my southeast Asian friends and the guys that feed their dogs all natural foods, pretty much use almost everything

I'm no expert by any means but I've done some of my own slaughtering and took butchering classes in college.

If I remember correctly it is recommended that the carcass is hung a minimum of 48 hours at 45 degrees to cool out before cutting. If you want to age the meat it should be done in as large pieces as possible as there will be waste that needs to be cut off and discarded. The meat needs a fat cover which protects the meat from getting moldy, so it can be trimmed off. I've known people to age a carcass three weeks without a fat cover and they don't trim off the rind, they just just eat it. Personally I only age mine for a week and cut it before it gets moldy. I don't age individual cuts so can't comment on that practice.

 

[Allenw]

A home refrigerator or freezer does not have anywhere near enough chilling capacity to handle a whole beef.

 

[Nesikep]

last year we did 2 animals, both around 1500 lbs live, 800 hanging, Butcher came to the farm to help with the kill, we loaded the quarters into his truck and it's about an hour and a half to his place, he has a big walk-in cooler where he hangs them,we did 2 weeks on ours. The more fat cover there is the longer you can hang it, insufficient fat cover and excessive hanging will waste a lot

 

[wbvs58]

I was of the impression that they needed to hang as a carcase so that the tension stays on the muscles during the hanging period. Quarters would be OK.

Ken