Quick cleaning, cooling key to quality meat
The stream of returning, successful deer hunters flowing into Bellville in the wake of the Nov. 5 opening of Texas’ general whitetailed deer hunting season will find something different when they pull off Texas 36 to leave their bucks, does and feral hogs to the hands, knives and smokers of the folks at the venerable Bellville Meat Market.
Instead of driving “around back” of the meat market’s storefront operation to unload ice chests and leave instructions for how they want their venison or pork processed, they will wheel onto an adjacent street and to the front door of a new two-story, block-covering building. The new facility houses a sprawling complex of freezers, cutting rooms, sausage-making equipment and a bank of smokers from which emerge the business’ signature pecan-smoked meats.
“We’re taking deer processing from a back-door experience to the front-door experience it deserves to be,” said Jerrod Poffenberger, who, with his brother Marcus, are the second generation of a family to run what has become an Austin County landmark — a business that, along with being a highly respected traditional meat market and maker of much-admired smoked sausage and other meats, has handled many thousands of deer and other game animals over its 35-year history.
But while the hunters will see something different, the Poffenbergers and their crew of skilled butchers and other staff who handle the animals that hunters leave in their care for transformation into steaks and roasts, chili meat and hamburger, tamales and jerky, and link or pan sausage will see much the same things they have seen since Daniel Poffenberger opened the business in 1981.
“Alot of hunters do a great a job of handling their game and get it to us in excellent shape, and most do a pretty good job,” Marcus said. “But some …”
“One of the hardest things I have to do — and, thankfully, it’s rare — is call a customer and tell him we can’t process his order because the meat’s just not salvageable,” Jerrod said. “But we’re not going to give a customer a substandard product; our reputation is on every package of meat that goes out the door. Andyou can’t expect to get a high-quality product without starting with a high-quality product.”
Time is of the essence
What happens between the time game is taken and the time it is dropped off at the commercial processor (or processed at home, as many hunters do) is crucial in determining the quality of the meat and the meals it will provide.
That starts as soon as the animal is taken, said the Poffenbergers, both veteran hunters.
“The first thing is to get the animal field-dressed — gutted,” Marcus said. “Doit as soon as possible. Doit before taking photos or anything else.”
Field-dressing — removing the entrails — allows the carcass to begin cooling, and that is crucial.
“Heat is the enemy,” Marcus said. “It can ruin the meat.”
Many hunters discover fielddressing a large game animalsuch as a deer or hog is easier and quicker if done with the animal on the ground instead of hanging from a gambrel. So do the basic field-dressing in the field, not back at camp. That means hunters should carry the necessary tools — knife, latex or vinyl gloves, small bone saw or pruning shears for opening the rib cage — with them in the field.
But take care when fielddressing in the field to keep debris — dirt/mud, leaves, gravel — out of the body cavity.
Prop the body cavity open to allow air to circulate and cool the carcass.
Skinning is the next step and should be done as soon as possible after field-dressing. While it may be fine to allow a field-dressed deer to hang overnight in places such as Michigan and Minnesota, where temperatures often don’t get out of the 40s during the day in deer season and down to freezing at night, it is a mistake to do that in Texas where temperatures seldom are cold enough to protect the meat from damage.
Whenskinning, it particularly is important to avoid getting and leaving any hairs on the meat. Those hairs can be nearly impossible to later remove.
(Some game processors will accept deer or hogs that are not skinned, with some actually preferring to do the skinning themselves because they are invariably more skilled at the process than most hunters and can keep the carcass cleaner. Ask a processor’s preference or policy before taking an unskinned game to a commercial processor.)
Once skinned, the carcass should be washed, removing all blood and any foreign material. Almost all hunters then “quarter” their deer or hogs, removing the forequarters and hindquarters.
(Hunters not experienced in field-dressing and skinning large game can find some good instructional videos online. Also, “Afield — AChef’s Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Gameand Fish,” a wonderful book by Jesse Griffiths, Austin-based hunter and world-class chef, includes outstanding step-by-step instructions and photos on field-dressing and quartering game.)
If the hunter’s lease or camp has access to a refrigerated cooler, the skinned or quartered deer should go in it is as soon as possible. If not — as is the case with most hunters — it immediately goes into ice chests.
Follow the do’s and don’ts
Andthat’s where a lot of hunters make mistakes, according to Marcus.
Before placing a carcass in an ice chest, allow it to cool to at least ambient temperature. That will help the ice do its job more efficiently, he said.
Also, don’t place the meat on a bare ice chest bottom. Place a layer of ice on the bottom of the ice chest to cool the chest’s lining.
“You want to layer things. A layer of ice, then a layer of meat, then a layer of ice and another layer of meat,” Marcus said. “You want to keep the meat separated; never have meat touching meat.”
Also, don’t let water collect in the ice chest, Jerrod advised.
“Open the plug and let the water constantly drain,” he said.
It also is crucial to keep the meat covered with ice.
“Keep putting ice in there as it melts. Make sure you’ve always got the meat covered and never exposed,” he said. “You want to keep all of it as cold as you can.”
The venison and pork provided by deer and feral hogs can provide some of the most delicious and healthy protein to grace a table. It is a direct connection to the land and our human heritage — a sustainable natural resource of immeasurable cultural and social value and when we eat it, we honor the animal and ourselves.
Taking care to handle those resources in the way that makes them as good as they can be on the table is a matter of honor and ethics. It is a responsibility all hunters should take seriously.
Many of the 700,000 Texans whowill head afield to hunt whitetails this season will get their chance to accept that responsibility very soon. Deer season is less than two weeks away.