Thawing out a pheasant

Bob Peters

Well-known member
When you go on a late season cold weather hunt and between hunting all day and driving home, the pheasants in the bed of the truck are frozen solid, what is the best and safest way to thaw them out so you can clean 'em?
 
i let them thaw out in my heated garage...nice thing is, you can do it on your schedule...wait a few days or a few weeks!
 
When you go on a late season cold weather hunt and between hunting all day and driving home, the pheasants in the bed of the truck are frozen solid, what is the best and safest way to thaw them out so you can clean 'em?
Bob,
Are you gutting these birds immediately in the field? I do not. I've never had a bird freeze like that before I got home, even on long days in extremely cold weather.
If you don't gut them, a) they shouldn't freeze, and b) you can "hang" them (in suitable temps) for several days & clean them later.
 
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Bob,
Are you gutting these birds immediately in the field? I do not. I've never had a bird freeze like that before I got home, even on long days in extremely cold weather.
If you don't gut them, a) they shouldn't freeze, and b) you can "hang" them (in suitable temps) for several days & clean them later
The one I ran into recently was coming home from SD. I hunted till sunset, drove home 5 hours and crashed, and so it was longer than a day. I thawed him in a bag in the fridge and turned him into chili yesterday. He smelled a little funny cleaning him but the chili was good.
 
I have never run across a funky smelling pheasant because I didn't clean it quick enough but I've encountered spoilage in a deer if you don't field dress it soon after shooting it, even in bitter cold temps. A pheasant could be the same way, just on a much smaller scale.
 
I am usually surprised that the birds are still warm, hours after shooting them. Sure, they will freeze, if you don't deal with them timely. I did leave a couple overnight in my cool garage, that would have bothered me....before I read here about guys hanging them for days. Like aged beef...but with the inards...don't quite understand that yet. I certainly don't make it a habit of not cleaning them upon getting home. Speaking of frozen birds, I think I am already down to 14 or 15 in the freezer, I hate starting a season and having to mow through last years birds to get the possession limit in check. I will try to eat one a week so by next season I will be looking forward to digging into them again. During season, they can get a little old eating 3-4 a week.
 
I have never run across a funky smelling pheasant because I didn't clean it quick enough but I've encountered spoilage in a deer if you don't field dress it soon after shooting it, even in bitter cold temps. A pheasant could be the same way, just on a much smaller scale.
They’ll get ripe here for sure. A lot of people want to put them in a cooler on ice. I think that’s the worst thing you can do cause you trap all that heat in the upper ones, I think you’re better off just getting them out of the sun.
 
I have probably had a 1,000 or more pheasants simply left in the garage over the past 10+ years that I have been handling them this way...probably more, and when I include the birds of others in my party, it probably is more than 2500...have rarely dealt with issues of any kind. I feel that gutting them creates more problems than it solves. If it doesn't get down to 30 or less at night, I may cool them by putting in a cooler with ice or the chest freezer in the garage for several hours, then put them on the table where we lay the birds. I simply breast them upon returning home. I take the thigh meat at times as well, but I don't deal with whole legs...others do. Freezing pure meat creates a pork tenderloin-like conglomeration of meat that seems pretty resistant to freezer burn...I usually put about 3-4 pheasants in a freezer bag...one gallon bag. sometimes I use a quart bag if i want less meat frozen.
 
They’ll get ripe here for sure. A lot of people want to put them in a cooler on ice. I think that’s the worst thing you can do cause you trap all that heat in the upper ones, I think you’re better off just getting them out of the sun.
I agree...they need to cool off naturally for several hours before the cooler with ice tactic...they are pretty warm for several hours...
 
here's how I prepare most of my birds: sauté a few onions (large yellow or sweet), chopped, with a whole "bunch" of celery (the whole bag) chopped, with some THINLY sliced carrots (one large carrot...I use a peeler to create the thin carrot pieces), a tablespoon or two of minced garlic, and a large can of sliced 'shrooms...saute all this with olive oil...about 12-15 minutes. I add the cubed pheasant (4-6 breast pieces, cubed...2-3 birds)...LOTS of ground pepper...some salt...let it sauté/simmer for 5-7 minutes...add some dry sherry...about 3-4 ounces...I then add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup...let it simmer for another few minutes, then I transfer the dutch oven into the oven at 250 degrees for 90-120 minutes; in the meantime, cook a lb or so of wild rice, maybe 18 oz....set it aside when it is done, and drain it. When you take the dutch oven out of the oven, make sure the pheasant is tender...then add the wild rice...and then about 3 cups of sour cream...I add more black pepper, and then a good amount of smoked paprika. It turns out to be halfway between soup and casserole. I transfer the whole deal to a crock pot then...but you could use the crock pot to cook it from the beginning, but I like the dutch oven to do the cooking. I bring the crock pot to work, to my auto mechanic, etc, with a dozen dinner rolls and butter. They may be lying to me, but most of the recipients love this concoction! the crock pot is best left on low to avoid overheating....if you have some, use some herb's de provence as well when you are simmering the concoction...GREAT spice concoction!!!!! maybe 2-3 teaspoons...I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:love:
 
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b-b, that sounds delicious! I short-cut things, a can of cream of mushroom, can of water, a few dashs of cayenne pepper and paprrika, get that started in a pan, a bag of white rice, a pack of Knorr or HyVee brand seasoned rice (prepare the rice as directions say)..pretty much any variety, add to the soup & water, then a pheasant filleted (breast & thighs) cubed & breaded in "chicken on the run", air fried at 380 for 8 minutes (or pan-fried quickly). Stir the cooked bird into the soup & rice, cook until it thickens. Takes about 45 minutes to prepare and cook, makes 2 huge or 3 big helpings. Fairly quick and about as complex as anything I cook...I don't cook much. Also pretty dang good for my own creation! Shoot, we turned this into a cooking thread...sorry...the thread title could seem to lead into this!
 
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In most cases I leave the innards in them and hang them in my garage refrigerator for up to a week. They definitely become more tender and flavorful with age.
I gut my quail immediately after shooting them then bag them for a few days before plucking or skinning.
 
I'd never NOT cleaned a pheasant the same day until I met a guy that lets his "age". So, I tried it. I thought the skin was tougher, but I also felt the joints (specifically thigh from pelvis/hip) disarticulated much more easily. I labeled the package, so I'll check to see if I notice a difference in texture/flavor, but I've always found pheasant to be pretty darn delicious and tender when cleaned the same day. Plus, I procrastinate most things in life. I don't need to start doing that with cleaning game. ;)
 
I'd never NOT cleaned a pheasant the same day until I met a guy that lets his "age". So, I tried it. I thought the skin was tougher, but I also felt the joints (specifically thigh from pelvis/hip) disarticulated much more easily. I labeled the package, so I'll check to see if I notice a difference in texture/flavor, but I've always found pheasant to be pretty darn delicious and tender when cleaned the same day. Plus, I procrastinate most things in life. I don't need to start doing that with cleaning game. ;)
Disarticulated?!?! 😲😲😲🥴🧚‍♀️
(crops also tend to break more easily when allowed to hang/age)
 
here's how I prepare most of my birds: sauté a few onions (large yellow or sweet), chopped, with a whole "bunch" of celery (the whole bag) chopped, with some THINLY sliced carrots (one large carrot...I use a peeler to create the thin carrot pieces), a tablespoon or two of minced garlic, and a large can of sliced 'shrooms...saute all this with olive oil...about 12-15 minutes. I add the cubed pheasant (4-6 breast pieces, cubed...2-3 birds)...LOTS of ground pepper...some salt...let it sauté/simmer for 5-7 minutes...add some dry sherry...about 3-4 ounces...I then add 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup...let it simmer for another few minutes, then I transfer the dutch oven into the oven at 250 degrees for 90-120 minutes; in the meantime, cook a lb or so of wild rice, maybe 18 oz....set it aside when it is done, and drain it. When you take the dutch oven out of the oven, make sure the pheasant is tender...then add the wild rice...and then about 3 cups of sour cream...I add more black pepper, and then a good amount of smoked paprika. It turns out to be halfway between soup and casserole. I transfer the whole deal to a crock pot then...but you could use the crock pot to cook it from the beginning, but I like the dutch oven to do the cooking. I bring the crock pot to work, to my auto mechanic, etc, with a dozen dinner rolls and butter. They may be lying to me, but most of the recipients love this concoction! the crock pot is best left on low to avoid overheating....if you have some, use some herb's de provence as well when you are simmering the concoction...GREAT spice concoction!!!!! maybe 2-3 teaspoons...I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:love:
I got a few turkeys in December, and I'm going to try that.
 
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