I have no more room in our freezers. I laid out all the bags and buckets of beaver meat that I had yesterday. Pretty much covered most all of the available floor space to thaw over Nite.

I left just enough space so I could tip toe through to the grinder. I put down some clear plastic to help protect the floor and our cardboard flooring. Still got blood everywhere.

Going to need to replace some large cardboard sheets to make the place look nice again.:) Started early, but I had to take a break to make breakfast for the wife and to get her up for the day.









Everything has a taste and interest in Beva' so time has shown.


Cat meat is next to clean out/grind and prep. .

Yes Bob, it does look a little messy. Good idea to use the cardboard.
If you don't mind, I was wondering how much you age or taint beaver meat?
Maybe you use several ageing times. Not asking for trade secrets.
It seems to me that Beaver & Muskrat are better used as a fresher type of meat? Thanks!

We have our own aging / blending process that is used after years of working with various meats. It is all done indoors at room temperature. There is no one and done time formula. It has to be monitored daily for the degree of aging that is desired. Depending on the time of year the aging process can vary due to ambient temperatures. It is a gradual process obviously.

Lots of blood in beaver meat. That is why it is so messy after it thaws.

Beaver and muskrat meat are almost impossible for me to work with because I don't have a facility to keep them at room temps (or lower). In our desert heat, the meat just liquefies and produces little odor (or results). I have to buy from a guy like Mr. Jameson, but it's cheaper and more productive in the long run.

As you can imagine, with hundreds of buckets of various meats and glands aging indoors there is a unique "fragrance" in our facility. Definitely an environment not suited well for Sissy's.

When I go out in my lure shed and crack the door on my non-functional fridge where I keep things like fish, snakes and cat meat, all I have to do is open the door, take a good whiff and close the door. When I go back in the house, my wife will immediately turn up her nose and start opening doors and windows. I can smell it on my clothes the next day. Apparently those bacteria molecules get imbedded in my clothing, my hair and elsewhere and stink like crazy.

Oh, and before I grind any red meat, I put it on an old oven grate and let it drain/dry while it's thawing. Helps with the excess blood and moisture (I realize for some formulations the fluid and blood are probably important components of the finished product). For me, drier is better.

Yes, the microbial airborne particulate will cling and penetrate everything it touches. I smell daily as a result of my profession. No getting away from it. At least none I have found in my lifetime.

Yes, the fluids, oil / blood / fatty tissue excretions etc. are all vital parts of that animal's bodily odor. They are integral to a good wholesome meat base bait odor. It is a job to work with in volume, but it turns out some fine material in the end.

The basic meat odors stabilize and the gas off ceases significantly, down to a slight crawl at best, after the aging process has been halted. It is good to leave a little action working in the background. This ensures the odor release continues to bleed out ever so slightly even when exposed to the open-air environment.

Bob, Ive noticed after grinding the meat, whether beaver, cat or what ever can become very caked. Also, when preserved with S.B. if I dont put in M.P. it has a tendency to want to mold if I dont add the M.P. to it. Glycerin is my choice ingredient to keep the ground meat workable. Yes there is a question in all of this. When or what do you do to combat these happenings? Thankyou.

I actually have never experienced caking as you described in any of our worked-up meats. If anything, the meats are quite loose with high moisture. I maintain daily monitoring of dozens of buckets when we have bait meat base runs and stir briefly daily to keep balanced aging of each container.

One scenario, if you are draining or drip drying your meats like Lazarus alluded to, that can cause tacky, sticky meat due to the lack of moisture. That may be some folks preferred method. Grinding somewhat frosted yet workable meats will help in keeping the meats moist while grinding.

Following that method of preferred bait meat processing, then you will certainly require another source of moisture. Some can add a bait solution for some moisture, distilled water or glycerin as you suggested if desired to reach a preferred consistency.

Blood, fat, organ meats etc. if lacking in the raw meat grinding process may be the answer. S.B. will certainly tighten up ground meats within 24 hours as it will with other materials it has been used with. It acts an astringent in essence, at least from my experience.

Most organic meat products and byproducts are prone to mold development over time. Particularly when you have stored the meat product in a somewhat sealed container. You in essence have created an ideal environment for mold growth and development. Add in a somewhat warmer conducive environmental temperature to the equation and that will further enhance the mold growth process. Moisture / condensation and temperature are breeding grounds particularly when you have a willing potential culture at the ready.

For working up larger batches of meats of any type, MP should be standard practice of using it. Particularly, if you feel you will have carry over bait for a year or more. Some organic materials due to their bacterial content can development mold extremely fast, others not so much.

This sounds like a stupid question and I apologize, but I know what SB is, what is MP?

Methyl Paraben & Sodium Benzoate

appreciate all of the info!

Bob, if I don't use all of the beaver meat (aged, ground, preserved) this year, do I need to add MP to it to carry it over 'til next year?

Thanks!

How much MP do I add to 1 gallon of ground base meat. I am using bait solution federales for one gallon and Dunlap predator?

I really appreciate the help gentleman.

Is it necessary if I plan on using the bait in a 2-3 month period?

Don, you won't need to add anything to our prepared ground meats that you got. Just keep the lid on them and store the left over in a shaded near room temperature area. Those gallons will hold nicely until it is gone. It is a good practice to store lures / baits in a manner that avoids extreme heat exposure if possible.

Short term baits should not need MP. However, there can be variables as to the ingredients, containments and storage conditions you are using that may change the need for its use.

Thanks much Bob! Great info!

Thanks, Bob!

Folks willing to share experiences is incredibly generous and appreciated. Thanks much

Hi, Bob!

Where have you been hiding John. Good to see you back visiting and participating.

Ok, what is S.B.?

It’s a powder that preserves

Thanks, Steeltraps.

Bob, check and see if you can find a wood worker close to you. Get sawdust from him. I go through a 55gal can of sawdust every month with my woodworking. A by product of milling material to size for furniture, etc. I just haul it out to the woods. You will get it for free. It really makes for a nice work area, Soaks up blood like crazy.

Than you yukonal. I don't know any wood workers personally. I am sure some are around. I just need to put the word out to all the folks I see. I am sure some will have a source.

Bob do you want me to bring you some more to grind?

If I had more storage room John that would be great. Seems to be lots of beaver around this year.

Very True Bob you can never have enough storage.

I hate to expand again at my age and put up another building or buy another cargo container, but you never know.

Bob, you state, It is good to leave a Little action working in the Background!
I think, I know what this means?
For example. Would this be like a bucket of preserved meat base that has been setting for a month or more and when stirred the base material will sit about 1/2 inch lower in the bucket after being stirred? A five gallon bucket. This might be a little to much action?
I know temperature has an effect on this.

I'm just wondering what a, Little action working in the background looks like? Thanks!!

Mark, in simple terms what you described is an example.

The tricky part is establishing the ratio of bleed that takes place in X amount of volume. " You are " seeing the releasing of trapped volume gas via the stirring or agitation of the product.

The decomposition / break down process continually develops a slow gaseous by product during the aging process. This is evident when the previous bucket volume recedes after a brief stirring. You can't have a more accelerated bleed, or you could have problems with your bottled product.

Some folks find out through experience the hard way about not stabilizing a batch or product effectively.

I bought a small version cement vibrator to use in some batches that is very necessary. I use a 60 qt mixer for all our batches. Typically running at 80% volume capacity.

This way I can run medium and high rotation speeds. However, with that amount of agitation you will infuse a measurable amount of air into those batches.

If I didn't vibrate the batches down it could take several days or more for the air to gradually rise and escape from the batch. The vibrator removes all the trapped air within a few minutes.

It looks like bubbling lava as the trapped air rises to escape and the bubbles break. Once your product volume is pure and air free, it can now be accurately measured, then dumped into buckets for storage or for inventory aging.

Excellent information Bob, Thank You.