Texas Hunting Forum

Facility to dry age game?

Posted By: BigLou

Facility to dry age game? - 09/21/21 02:10 PM

I'm looking for a place to hang my deer and elk this year for about 2-3 weeks before processing. anybody know a place around dfw that rents space in a cold storage unit?
Posted By: colt45-90

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/21/21 03:47 PM

we had our processor hang the beef for 2 weeks before the processing, that was many years ago
Posted By: dkershen

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/21/21 04:14 PM

FDA doesn't allow domestic animals and wild game to be stored and processed together, so a butcher or beef processor with cold storage space will most likely turn you away.

If you take your game into Cinnamon Creek Ranch and have them process it for you, they allow you to make the call on how long to hang it. But they are not cheap.
www.cinnamoncreekranch.com

My brother does his own processing and solved for this by buying a free standing drink cooler from a convenience store that went out of business. Ripped out the shelving, installed a bar in the top, and it holds 4 elk quarters at 42 degrees neatly hung side by side until they are aged to his liking. After hunting season he unplugs it and shoves it back into a corner of his shop.
Posted By: dogcatcher

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/21/21 04:24 PM

Search "coolbot walk in cooler". Basically a DIY walk in cooler. I have only seen one, it was 4x4 foot square. Best I can remember he used 5 sheets of 2" insulation foam, a "coolbot" controller and a window unit.
Posted By: ChrisG

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/21/21 07:08 PM

Kind of the same as above.
Koolabuck
Posted By: 68rustbucket

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/21/21 09:30 PM

I used to use Highland Lakes Taxidermy in Marble Falls for my processing. They always hung them 2-3 weeks before processing.
Posted By: Simple Searcher

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/22/21 12:17 AM

I cannot help you with finding a facility, but I hope you find one, it makes a difference
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/27/21 07:11 PM

Yep, make your own with a Coolbot and a small window a/c. We put one in on the ranch we work for, works great for way cheaper than a commercial cooling unit.
https://www.storeitcold.com/product/coolbot-walk-in-cooler-controller/

We age all of our game either at the ranch coolbot cooler or in our garage, we have great temps for aging by later Fall up here.
Posted By: Herbie Hancock

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/27/21 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by Wytex
Yep, make your own with a Coolbot and a small window a/c. We put one in on the ranch we work for, works great for way cheaper than a commercial cooling unit.
https://www.storeitcold.com/product/coolbot-walk-in-cooler-controller/

We age all of our game either at the ranch coolbot cooler or in our garage, we have great temps for aging by later Fall up here.


My buddy did that with their walk in cooler kit at their lease with something similar to that.
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/27/21 08:06 PM

They work surprisingly well. we have a friend that set one up at the business to store beer kegs, been going strong for a few years now.
If you already have an acceptable a/c the unit is not a bad investment for $350, blue tooth model is slightly more expensive.

A well insulated room with a Coolbot will get down into the 30's.
Posted By: jnd59

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/28/21 04:41 AM

I bought a cheap refrigerator and plugged in a thermometer controller to keep a more precise temp. It's used mostly to cure but will dry age. I need a humidity controller to better cure bigger cuts. I age my pheasant in it at 52 degrees for 2 to 4 days depending on if they are wild or pen raised. Then pluck and draw. Used to do the same with ducks but now I pluck and draw and then age.

There are a lot of ingenious work arounds on the interweb if you a little space.
Posted By: pdotson

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/29/21 11:25 AM

I was thinking about calling a processor and just asking what they would charge to just let it hang for a week or two...
Posted By: Hudbone

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/29/21 11:51 AM

Find an old coke machine and gut out the bottle or can holding components. What is left will service your request quite well. Those units were pretty much indestructible.
Posted By: Wytex

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/29/21 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by pdotson
I was thinking about calling a processor and just asking what they would charge to just let it hang for a week or two...


Hard to find a processor now that will age for you if they are not cutting it up for you, good luck.
Posted By: pdotson

Re: Facility to dry age game? - 09/29/21 03:22 PM

Wytex, that does not surprise me, people are strange. Though I don't understand their logic, get paid (less) to literally do nothing but house an animal...Seems like easy money to me if they have the room.
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