Tactics for storing meat short term

[mattkellyind]

I am planning a two to three week trip in Morgan Monroe State Forest this spring to do some gold prospecting. I have done this numerous times before but I am wanting to not worry about ice and being tied down to a bunch of coolers. With weather cold or cool its not a problem but days can be in the sixties. I have been thinking about salt curing meats I like the Chunky soup items with the pull top lids but two a day for 14-21 days is a heck of a lot of weight. Dehydrated food is nice by it gets old fast. I am a proud carnivore. Any ideas on salt curing pros and cons, personal experiences. When I go out like this I am dropped off til a certain pick up time so heading down to walmart isnt a option. Thank you ahead of time for your advice.

 

[Eddie]

I may be stating the obvious but with salted meats you will need more water either to take care of your thirst or to soak and rehydrate the meat.

 

[tyrajam]

If the creek is still cold you can use that to keep the meat cool, I always used creeks on the west coast as a personal fridge. Smoked meat will last 2 weeks, fresh meat less. Another option is canned meat. or just bring a .22

 

[booey50]

. Another option is canned meat. or just bring a .22[/quote]

I like the way you think

 

[srad]

If the creek is still cold you can use that to keep the meat cool, I always used creeks on the west coast as a personal fridge. Smoked meat will last 2 weeks, fresh meat less. Another option is canned meat. or just bring a .22

+1 harvesting a squirrel or two at daybreak is a great way to start the day and'll give you more than a couple days worth of nature's finest protein

 

[mattkellyind]

I have done the rat traps for squrriels. The season is over when I usualy head out to prospect. Water isnt a issue due to the nice clean stream and my homemade filter system. I really want to salt a beef loin or a pork loin and have it to cut off of. I usualy set up a base camp and venture from there to different areas.

 

[CountryBoy19]

You said you don't want to be tied down with a bunch of coolers. Are you open to a single, large cooler? If so, get one of the big, igloo 5-day coolers. Make sure all your meat was/is in a deep freeze before putting it in the cooler, and make sure the cooler is pre-chilled before putting the meat in it. I will bet that you still have semi-frozen meat at the end of the first week and you should have cold meat middle of the second. Obviously that is very dependent on temperatures, and quantity of deeply frozen meat (deep-freezers get pretty dang cold).

If that isn't an option, then try canned meats. Canned, shredded chicken, tune, beef etc. You can make chicken/beef/whatever and noodles with that. Well, you can pretty much do anything you want to that you would normally do with a shredded chicken/beef. You can make bbq chicken/beef sandwiches... etc.

You should be able to find canned meats at the grocery, I know they at least carry canned chicken. We find canned beef at our local butcher shop.

ETA, a little anecdotal evidence for you. I did the pulled pork for my wedding reception this spring. I used pork butts, bought from Sam's club. They were slowly purchased over time (to spread the cost out). When it came time to smoke the pork I pulled the butts out of the deep freeze a week early and put them all in coolers to thaw out. Some junky coolers, some good, one of them was a large igloo 5-day cooler. At the end of the week when it came time to put them on the smoker, not a single one of those pork butts was completely thawed. And the ones in the igloo cooler weren't even soft, still rock hard. A full week in the cooler and they were rock hard yet. I ended up running the garden hose into the coolers to cold-water thaw them. The ones in the igloo cooler were so cold yet that they froze the water in between them and I ended up with a bunch of pork butts frozen together. I had to break them apart and split them up into buckets etc to get them to thaw out.

It all depends on how much frozen mass you put into them, but I know that it'll last a long time. This summer we went on a 5-day camping trip when it was highs in the upper 90's (don't ask why, the trip was planned months in advance, we were absolutely miserable the whole time). We dumped 1 bag of ice in the igloo cooler before we left, and with frequent openings (at least 10-20 times/day) the cooler full of stuff made it to the third day before it needed more ice.

If you're seeing highs no more than 60, and you have a lot of frozen stuff in there to start with, and don't open it but 2-4 times per day, I could easily see you making it a full 3 weeks with maybe only 1 bag of ice towards the end.

 

[bwframe]

Amazon.com: Mountain House #10 Can Freeze-Dried Food: Sports & Outdoors

BTW - I'm close to Morgan Monroe. I'd gladly run in supplies just to chat and learn a bit about prospecting.

 

[Farmerjon]

Smoked meat? What about a fish trap or trout line?
The cooler advice is spot on.

 

[DialTone301]

My wife takes a ham and rubs it with vodka then salts it. She leaves it in a container in the basement and salts it occasionally as needed. Eventually she wraps it in cheesecloth and hangs it to dry.

She uses this meat to flavor food...it is probably to salty to eat alone. I might mention my wife is from China and this is the way they preserve meat in the countryside...where they didn't use to have refrigerators.

 

[mattkellyind]

Thanks for all the advice as for any one wanting to try gold prospecting I am the Sec. of the Central Indiana chapter of the GPAA (Gold Prospectors Associaion of America When we start our monthly outings again(stopped for winter) Ill post more info. I get out on my own about every week end. I have never not found gold. MMSF is one of the best if not the best area for gold in the tri state area (IN OH & MI) I enjoy watching gold fever sweep over a person worse than buck fever and gun fever put to gather!!