I have refined my "solution" over the years.

I currently make a mix of the following:

Using a 48qt cooler...

-one half of a 26 oz container of mortons salt laid in the bottom of the cooler.

-fill the container about 1/4 full of warm water.

-swish it around untill the salt is desolved.

-fill the cooler with ice untill it is a little bit better than half full.

- dump a quartered deer into it. (never ever 'cure' a backsrap...just eat it or freeze it)

- if there is any meat left exposed...add about 50/50 ice and water untill it is all covered.

-stir it around every couple of hours.

You will need to do this several times...For me, my usuall routine goes something like this: mix up the first batch,,,change it in about six or eight hours. Mix up another batch and change it in about twelve hours. Mix up a third batch and dump it in about twenty four hours. (all these times are approximate) Then, clean off all of the 'silverskin' and whatever meat has turned gray. Then process as you normally would.

I tend to seperate the shoulders into muscle groups and freeze the hams whole so that I can cut them into steaks one ham at a time to prevent frost bite.

As far as using gin...I have never heard of that. I can not think of any redeeming value that it would provide to a piece of meat floating around in ice water. However...There are probably hundreds of ways to cure a piece of meat that I have not heard of.

I tried vinagar once...A couple of cups per cooler of ice water...After two days of changing ice and water and vinigar,,,I ended up with a bunch of pickled deer...It was one of the nastiest tasting creations that I ever had a hand in cooking[:'(] My advice is.....Stay away from the vinigar.