i am planning a hunt to the panhandle area and have concerns about getting my meat back. this time i plan on processing it then freezing it as i don't like aged venison. i'll be out about 10 days. has anyone ever used dry ice if so where do you put the ice, bottom or top or both. it will take me two days to drive home and i don't want it to thaw out. also do i put regular ice in the cooler with it. it will be about 8 deer so it will take up some room?
We drove from Craig, Colorado to Tampa straight thru (33 hours) with 3 elk in coolers. We had them processed out there and they flash froze the packages. We put the meat in 150qt coolers and put 30# dry ice right on top(3, 10# blocks). Put a garbage bag on top to somewhat insulate it. Duck taped the lid shut and duck taped the drain plug
When I got home, there was only maybe 1# of dry ice left and the meat was all still frozen. The couple packs on the very bottom were starting to get a little slushy, but not leaking yet.
One tip I will give you...do not touch dry ice w/o gloves on. it took me till April to feel my fingers again
I re-read your post. 8 deer is a lot of meat. I said what i would do if I ever went cross country again....take a freezer and generator with me. I would put all the meat in the freezer, and every time you stop for gas or to eat, fire up the generator for a few minutes. BTW, dry ice is very expensive
As long as it is flash frozen by the processor and then put some more ice on it you should be okay. It would also be smart to check ice levels when ever you stop. Don't count your deer until you've got them in the cooler!
thanks for the info it goes along with what i was thinking , freeze them ,pack 4 to a 150 qt cooler dry ice top and bottom. this will be the first time for freezing the packaged meat before i always just boned it and packed it in gallon bags iced them down and hurried on down the road. but it took 2 days to package it when i got home i was tired from the trip and had to hurry as the meat was getting older and i do not like aged deer meat. this way the steaks will be cubed and the hamburger in 10# tubes ready to go in the freezer when i pull in the driveway. years ago we brought some elk back from colorado in a big chest freezer and it worked fine i quess i'm just trying to save the cost of a freezer. thank you again for taking the time to help
