Deer Cooler

[tipiguy]

Does anyone have a homemade deer cooler?  I process my own deer and use to always hang the deer up for a few days before processing.  Now the weather is so unpredictable that at time sit is too warm to safely hang.  

I was thinking of building a well insulated 4' x 6' room in my garage.  The garage stays around 60 degrees.  To cool the room more I was going to place an air conditioner unit in the room.  It would vent into the garage so that it will not freeze up.  Anyone know if this will be adequate to cool down a deer for a couple days?

Someone else suggested removing a fridge door and building a room around where the door would be.  This way the cold from the fridge cools down the cooler room.  

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Tipiguy.

[New Hampshire]

My buddy and I usually just quarter the deer and put it all in regular coolers (like you get from any retail store) and let it sit for at least a day or two in ice.  The longer you let it sit the more blood seep out, though we have only let it sit for a few days, so I dont know at what point all the blood has been drained.  Works pretty well for us and takes up little room (which we have precious little of to begin with.)
Brian

[alsatian]

I am guessing that the air conditioner solution will not work.  Supposing you want to cool your hanging room to 40 degrees, I'm guessing some other technology will be necessary.  What about talking with someone who works on walk-in freezers or coolers?  I imagine every grocery store has such rooms and these must require maintenance, so I guess such people are around.

If you insulate the room and get the air cool, your idea should work very well.  I just have my doubts that a standard 110 VAC air conditioner is the appropriate device for the job . . . but maybe I'm wrong.

[elmer]

My guess is that the air conditioner will not cool down to 40degrees. The capillary tube (most don't have expansion valves) is sized for a suction side pressure too high to actually achieve 40 degrees.

To achieve 40 degree evaporator coil temp you would neet 35 PSIG pressure or lower at the suction side. To actually cool the room to 40 degrees the evaporator coil temp would have to be significantly lower.

alsatian's suggestion about commercial refrigeration technician's that works with walkin coolers sounds like your best bet.

If you have a friend that is a refrigeration technician and the window unit is large enough you may can change the capillary tube to change the operating temperature range.

[Don Fischer]

Tell you what worked really good for me. I bought a second refridgerator and put it in the barn. Then I cut up animals to fit in the fridge! I can get a whole elk in it. Hang the animal and cool the body heat out befor cooling, makes better meat. Like to leave meat in it for a week.

[rebAL]

I use an old chest freezer.  It's about 3X5X4' deep.    5 blocks of ice in the bottom.  I removed the broken compressor so it's light enough to place in the garage during deer season.  I place the quartered deer on top of the ice and it will hold around 40 degrees if I monitor the temperature.  I drilled a hole in the bottom and plugged it so I can drain the water but I usually use my shop-vac when needed.  If you don't have an old freezer, you could likely purchase one from a salvage yard cheap.

[rebAL]

I use an old chest freezer.  It's about 3X5X4' deep.    5 blocks of ice in the bottom.  I removed the broken compressor so it's light enough to place in the garage during deer season.  I place the  deer parts on top of the ice and it will hold around 40 degrees if I monitor the temperature & add ice occasionally.  I drilled a hole in the bottom and plugged it so I can drain the water but I usually use my shop-vac when needed.  If you don't have an old freezer, you could likely purchase one from a diposal center cheap.  The freezer  will also fit in bak of my truck if ever needed.

[rebAL]

I use an old chest freezer.  It's about 3X5X4' deep.    5 blocks of ice in the bottom.  I removed the broken compressor so it's light enough to place in the garage during deer season.  I place the  deer parts on top of the ice and it will hold around 40 degrees if I monitor the temperature & add ice occasionally.  I drilled a hole in the bottom and plugged it so I can drain the water but I usually use my shop-vac when needed.  If you don't have an old freezer, you could likely purchase one from a diposal center cheap.  The freezer  will also fit in back of my truck if ever needed.