Thread: Meat Storage Without Refrigeration

G'day. I recently spoke to a bloke who'd spent some time on Stewart Island. He told me about some hunters who'd hang a deer carcass near a hut so that other hunters would have meat to eat when they came to stay. He got the idea that the meat beneath the surface could be edible after a considerable time... maybe several weeks. I think I may have also read something about hanging a leg of venison for a long time and how the meat under the surface was fine to eat. I'm wondering what others have heard about things like this.

My personal belief is that meat like beef and venison can hang for a long time. I've seen an article about hanging/drying whole sheep carcasses (on the Faroe Islands?)... the bodies get covered in mould but evidently it is still good tucker. However in an age where practices like this are not a necessity (and certainly not common), our society's concerns about food safety - and the convenience of using refrigeration - are likely to discourage people from doing such things.

I don't have a chiller but I still like to hang any mature game animal before freezing the meat. This might be as long as a week in winter, or just a couple of days in the warmer months. The animal is gutted and the pelvis and neck are opened up to allow air circulation and drainage. I generally hang a whole animal from the pelvis as I've heard that hanging by the legs can contribute to toughness. That may not be true, but it isn't hard to do.

I've made biltong. I am comfortable to cure and dry it without refrigeration, but lately I've been using an electric dehydrator which dries it relatively quickly.

I also often dry deer liver. I cut it thinly and dry it until crisp. I cut it up with scissors for dog treats.

Currently I have a goat leg hanging from the garage ceiling. I 'cured' it using a recipe for mutton prosciutto crudo. Sometimes people use the word 'violino' to describe it because the shape of the leg can be compared to a violin. It has been hanging for several weeks now as I wait for it to lose at least 35% of its initial weight. It has been implied that if you intend to eat this 'ham' raw, it is safer to eat once it has dehydrated to this level. It is close to being ready. It has quite a strong odour. It doesn't smell rotten... perhaps it can be compared to a type of cheese. I think I've had some biltong that had a similar fragrance. Patches of white or green mould have appeared on the surface, but I wiped them off using a paper towel and vinegar. A black or red mould might scare me, but I comfort myself knowing that cheese will often grow a white or green mould and be delicious.

Anyway... that is just a bit of chit-chat around the topic. I'd love to hear anecdotes about meat that has been eaten after being kept for a long time without refrigeration.

I took this photo today of my 'nearly ready' dehydrated violino goat leg.