How to keep your meat cool during a hunt in the warm months

Nick asked:
Hello doing a Sep elk hunt temp could be high 70 and low 30.
I have heard if it is very hot you should put your meat in a cold creek? What are your thoughts. Its a back pack elk hunt 7-10 miles from the truck. I was going to take your game bags. I was going to pull out the bone. the hang in a shaded area while I take meat back to truck. just wondering if it is a hot day and hanging in shade or should I put in creek if it will be 18-36 hours before it gets to the cooler in the truck.
thanks,
Nick



 Hello Nick and thanks for the great question.

Dealing with warm meat in warm conditions is always going to be a tough issue, I understand what you're saying about putting the meat in a stream to cool it down but you also run the high risk of contamination of all the meat with contaminated water. As you know in elk country the animals often times roll and urinate in the creeks and streams causing Giardia which can lead to severe illness and even death. I would take my chances with the Koola Buck Antimicrobial game bags and spray. If you really believe it could be 16-18 hours until you can get the animal out I would debone the animal to allow as much body heat as possible to dissipate from the large quarters of meat, I would try not to overload my meat bags to allow the heat to come out and I would use the game bags and spray. Soaking meat in a water source that you're not 100% sure if safe to drink is a tough call. I understand you don't want to loose meat but soaking it in a contaminated stream may not be the best answer either. Keep it up off the ground in the shade and keep spraying it with the Antimicrobial spray. If you could build a meat cash/hut above the surface of the water so the coolness of the water helps dissipate the heat and then cover it wish shade limbs that would help but soaking in the water isn't  a good idea. That would be my recommendation Nick.

Good Luck this fall and be sure to let us know how everything works out for you.

Brad Lockwood

Love of the Hunt TV: Fresh Elk Steaks on the Grill

In this Butcher Block, Brad Lockwood's in Kansas making marinated steaks from wife Sheri's Nevada bull in anticipation of Dave & Mike's arrival to camp. In this clip, Brad uses: Outdoor Edge Knives Hi Mountain Steak Seasoning

Love of the Hunt TV: Elk Stroganoff

This is a segment from Love of the Hunt TV. In this clip, Brad is at the Weston Products headquarters making Elk Stroganoff (twist on Beef Stroganoff). The elk meat is from his New Mexico Elk Hunt with Weston owners Jason Berry & Mike Caspar. In this clip, Brad uses: Realtree Outfitters #8 Electric Meat Grinder by Weston Weston 44 lb Flat Top Scale Roma Traditional Style Pasta Machine by Weston Look delicious? Here's the Elk Stroganoff recipe from Weston.

Elk Stroganoff Recipe from Weston Products

Guest Post


Brad Lockwood recently visited us here at Weston Products, where we shot a new Butcher Block segment using the elk meat from Brad & Weston COO Jason Berry's elk hunt to make 'Elk Stroganoff.' Sound good? Well you're in luck because here's our recipe:

- Ingredients -
Brown Sauce
4 cups beef stock
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour

Meatballs (makes 15 jumbo meatballs)
3 lbs elk, cubed
1/8 cup curly-leaf parsley
5 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon roasted ground coriander

2 cups Panko bread crumbs
2 eggs

Homemade Egg Pasta
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs + 2 yolks
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

Cream Sauce
1 cup sour cream (8 oz)
3/4 cup chive & onion cream cheese (6 oz)

Garnish
1 pint of morels
curly-leaf parsley, to taste


- Tools -
Weston Meat Grinder
Weston Meat Lug
Roma by Weston Pasta Machine & Bamboo Pasta Drying Rack


Combine all ingredients for brown sauce in a large pot. Whisk together over high heat, then reduce to a low simmer once the sauce begins to boil. Place a lid on the sauce and stir occasionally.

Grind your elk meat with the herbs and spices through a Weston Meat Grinder, first through a coarse grinder plate, then take half of that and grind it through a medium grinder plate (so that you have half coarse grind, half medium grind).

Hand mix the egg and breadcrumbs into the meat in a Weston Meat Lug. Use your hands to form jumbo sized meatballs, and brown them with a little olive oil in a skillet. Once browned, drop them into your brown sauce.

Bring the brown sauce back to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Allow to cook until a thermometer inserted into the middle of your largest meatball reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Be sure to stir occasionally to keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of your pot.

Next, make the fresh egg pasta. Form your flour into a mound in a giant mixing bowl or on a cutting board. Form a small crater in the top and crack your eggs into it. Turn the flour into the eggs until you have formed a smooth, elastic dough. If it's too dry, add in the olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Once the pasta dough has rested, pull off a palm sized chunk and feed it through the Roma Pasta Machine at the thickest setting, folding a few times. Next, run it through the machine until the second to last setting. Feed your pasta sheet through the pasta cutter, then thread your noodles over the Roma Pasta Drying Rack while you make the rest of your pasta.

Bring a pot of water to boil and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Boil your noodles for three minutes, then drain.

While the noodles boil, place 1 tablespoon of butter into a skillet over medium heat and sautée your morels.

Heat the sour cream and cream cheese together until just melted and uniform.

Lay down a layer of noodles in a bowl, then cover with meatballs and brown sauce. Add a heaping dollop of cream sauce onto the top, then garnish with morels and parsley.

How to grind meat for hamburgers?

Art from Tyler, TX wrote:

I got your videos to process my elk. First time I have tried it and all went well. The question was on the hamburger. When it went into the grinder with the fat there were strips of fat and while I was mixing it up by hand, I was wondering if it was ok to take it back through the grinder a second time. So that was the question. I did send it back through and I will be trying it in a meatloaf this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

On another note, your DVDs are great! I am going to ask my wife for a Bradley smoker for Christmas so I can try your sausage DVD out. Haven't watched the jerky one yet, but will soon.

Best wishes! --Art


Art,

Thanks for the question and you are correct! Grind hamburger products twice! When mixing in fat, always take the time to dice the fat in small cubes no larger than 1" in size. If your fat is in too large of pieces, it doesn't like to blend well with the lean game meat no matter how many times you grind it! Dice the fat small and then grind twice!

Good luck on the rest of your season!

Brad Lockwood
"The Meat Man"

Can I make jerky from meat that has fat mixed in?

Matt from Denver, CO asked:

Brad,

Just saw your short segment on using ground elk for jerky making. I was under the impression that fat=bad in jerky making, but your video showed otherwise. I have some ground elk with beef fat mixed in. Can I make jerky out of it?? While I LOVE ground elk, every man has his limits. Thanks!

Matt,

With the beef fat mixed in you will get some fat on the top of the jerky if you lay it flat on the racks of your smoker. My suggestion would be to tilt the racks to the front of your smokehouse so the fat will run off. You can do this right at the end of the drying process when you start getting into the higher temperatures. As long as the fat that melts to the surface is removed by allowing it to run off you will be fine and have some delicious jerky!

Good luck!

Brad
"The Meat Man"

Love of the Hunt TV: Elk Roast in the CanCooker

This is a segment from Love of the Hunt TV. In this episode, Brad makes an Elk Roast using Outdoor Edge Knives and the Cancooker.