How long will hog meat keep in the cooler?

[JimFromTN]

I am in the process of butchering some hogs that were killed this last weekend.  The meat has been packed in ice.  I am going to grind about 40 lbs of it tonight.  I am wanting to make sausage but will not have time until sunday.  Do you think the ground meat will keep in the frig until sunday or should I go ahead and freeze it and thaw it out later to make sausage?

[JW/OK]

Time permitting I would wait to grind it until I was ready to make sausage. That is if it is clean and not bloodshot any. I let a doe hang 30 days after Christmas this year with the hide on with good results here in Oklahoma. Aging improves quality of meat. We let a beef hang about 15 days recently, thats about as long as most custom processors will do these days.

[HL]

I would think, if you kept it packed on ice, it should be good for however long you want to keep it on ice.

I would trust it packed in ice more than I would keeping it in a refrigerator, since the temps are at or near freezing and frig temps are normally around 37-38 degrees.

I have had a hog packed in ice for 5 days with no problems and could have kept it longer if needed.

[Booyah]

According to the meat processing plant that I use the key to keeping hog meat in a cooler for any length of time is lots of ice and water.   I will quarter a hog up and put it in a cooler, cover it with several bags of ice and fill the rest of the cooler with water. The key is keeping the meat covered with water.  After the first day, I drain the water and cover with more ice and fill the cooler back up with water.  As long as the meat is cover with the water and kept extremely chilled.  The meat will keep for a couple of weeks, thats according to the Meat Processing Plant that I use.  I have done many this way and I havent had one go bad yet.  Again the secret is keep the meat cover with water.