Cleaning Out My Freezer and Found Gold

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Both of our freezers were overloaded so I decide on trash day to get rid of a few things that I did not recognize or were past the eating stage in my office freezer.

I had a few things that were tossed and not worth keeping but when I got to the back corner I found some gold I didn't think I had any more of. I had more than this but I pulled a Bison ribeye and an Elk Medallions that were still in perfect condition.

I let them thaw in the fridge for a few days then fired up the pit today to cook them up. the bison got a splash of SPG and the Elk was covered in the Santa Maria blend. I added some fresh pineapple and a few peppers just because.

These cuts are so good. I hate to think of how much it would cost to order them again.

The plate, only a small portion of what I cooked. I have a small stomach.

What is left should last all week.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

Heck Yeah!

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

I wish I would find something like that in the bottom of my freezer!!

Looks great Chris!

 

[sandyut]

Great finds! Both look and sound delish!

 

[Brokenhandle]

That looks delicious! That includes that piece of toast, glistening in butter!

 

[TexasMuskrat]

Man that is a great find, I cleaned out my freezer too but didn't see any of those in there. Must have bought the wrong freezer
Great looking cook too!

 

[Winterrider]

I'm finding hamburger in the bottom of mine. That "is" gold

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

I'm finding hamburger in the bottom of mine. That "is" gold

I did thaw out some burger as well.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

The elk leftovers made a pretty darn good burrito.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

The bison was great but once again the Elk was amazing. I looked back to where I ordered it a few years ago and of course the price was about 10X more than I had paid before. It is Canadian so there is likely a tariff fee in there.

I was looking around and found an online USA based place and made a nice Elk order. Not cheap but not nearly as bad as where I purchased it before.

This is what I ordered. It came to $215 with shipping.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Great find Chris, Nice to get a great unexpected meal.

David

 

[ajbert]

Nice find for sure and you cooked them both up right! And you are right, they both are truly gold. I liked the pic of the ground elk. They used the Indian name of Wapiti which is elk. Pretty cool.

I've been telling folks for years that the best eating critter on earth is a calf elk. They average 300-350lbs on the hoof so you do get plenty of meat. Plus they are easier to get out of the woods that a full grown elk. Second best meat would be a yearling elk that weighs in around 400-450lbs. More meat, not as tender and a bit harder to get out of the woods. I always try to get a yearling when I draw a tag. I found out about the calf as that was all my dad ever wanted when hunting.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

Update with some fun things since the order. It came from California so it would be shipped in one day.

The day after ordering our 15+ year old main refrigerator decided to give up and die.

A couple days ago I unplugged the old fridge and disconnected the ice maker hose so my wife could get in the space and clean it before the new fridge arrived.

Last night I noticed water all over the floor in the next room. I cleaned it up but went back at 11:00pm and it was wet again so I cleaned it again but after using a flashlight realized the fully closed valve for the water/ice maker line was leaking once the hose had been removed into the walls. I cleaned it the best I could and replaced the hose.

Today the new fridge was delivered but it has to have the doors removed to get it in the kitchen (pre-arranged) but the guys would not install it for liability reasons until the valve was replaced.

I was not feeling well and not expecting this so I made a trip to Lowes to get the parts and fix it. After many hours and another trip to get more parts I was able to solder the new parts in place but the new valve is leaking just like the first. This is out the nozzle not from any of the soldering. I must have got it too hot in the soldering process. Remember I was feeling bad today and all this work made me feel worse.

At this point my wife said enough, I am calling Freddy our contractor friend to redo it. At this point I did not argue it at all. He is great and will take time tomorrow to get it done.

Back to the Elk order. It was delivered yesterday and will arrive today. Last update it was out for delivery at 11:00am. Then nothing. I was not even sure if I could fit it in the second refrigerator.

Waiting, waiting and no updates. Finally at 9:15pm after 10 hours 15 minutes in a delivery van it shows up at the door. How would it be on this 95F day?

Luckily the place I bought it from packed it with double (6 packs of dry ice) so it was all perfectly frozen.

I was able to fit it all in the 2nd freezer except the ribs in the fridge that I will fire up on the pit as soon as they thaw out.

What a day.