Has anybody ever tried to make a small stand up deer hanging cooler using an insulated box and a window unit AC. Posting an earlier post got me thinking of how I could hang deer to age in Florida but with the heat you cant just leave them out.
Google the name "coolbot" and you will find a device that is supposed to allow you to use a small window a/c unit as a cooling unit. Some how the control box they supply fools the a/c into being able to operate at a lower temperature than normal household use. I talked to these folks a few years back and it was developed for cooling vegetables on a truck farm up north. I too would like to build a small walk in cooler to age venison properly but the Honey-Do list has grown longer since I retired. An insulated plywood cooler, stud walls, etc. is easy to construct, biggest issue is building and swinging a properly sealed door. Some years we get enough cool weather in the panhandle to hang a deer, in the shade, with a fly bag for several days. Usually end up breaking them down and putting the meat in a big ice chest and simply add a small cooler of ice every 3 or 4 days over the top of the meat, leaving the drain open so the melting ice will run out and not leech the color out of the meat. Have had 3 deer at a time in the chest. Remove the shoulders, pull the back straps, salvage the tenderloins, split the pelvis with a sawzall to seperate the hams, then bone out the neck, brisket and rib meat for sausage or burger, all that is left is a boned out rib cage, neck and back bones for the coyotes to drag around. Some folks have asked me how do I know when to take 'em down and put 'em in the ice chest, I usually say "When the buzzards start to circle it's time." Ageing makes a world of difference in the finished venison just as it does in beef. Treefarmer
I don't think that would work. Temps need to be around 40 I think. Best bet is to get a big igloo cooler,quarter the meat and pack in ice. It will hold up to 10 day if you keep draining blood and adding fresh ice.
I don't think that would work. Temps need to be around 40 I think. Best bet is to get a big igloo cooler,quarter the meat and pack in ice. It will hold up to 10 day if you keep draining blood and adding fresh ice.
out west we used to be able to get big 300 lb blocks of ice or dry ice from beer distributors/warehouses, it may be cheaper than electric. a super insulated shed large enough to hold say 6 deer shouldn't be too hard like an old fashioned ice house or milk shed. the door will be the biotch. maybe put a styrofoam sheet over the door when you leave and tape it shut? not that I need it. I've always had a spare refrig and I've taken the shelves out and hung quartered deer on the rare occasions it was too warm to hang them in the garage, usualy we had to worry more about keeping them from freezing.
