venison aging

[ttinman23]

Due to warmer weather, this week, I had to quarter deer. I usually like to hang for 2 weeks. I'm gonna put it in refridgerator and am wondereing if the meat needs air to age to make it taste better. Since I have been hanging them for the past two years for two weeks, I have found this to be wonderful for the taste, big bucks and all. Any thoughts out there about it needing air to age properly.

_____
"Through this time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

 

[Jorgy]

this question will probably get you as many different answers as "what is the best caliber for deer?"

I've done everything from hanging for a week in cold weather, to aging in the fridge to processing and freezing the same day the kill was made. I couldn't tell the difference between any of them to be honest.

For the last 10 years I have gotten down to process and freeze as soon as I can. Keeps more meat for the freezer as it doesn't have time to dry out.

A few years back I did read a article about aging meat. They took several deer and packaged the meat at different times from same day to a few weeks. Then cooked the different aged meats and served them to some type of professional tasters. No one could tell the difference between any of the meats.

 

[ttinman23]

Interesting

For me I could really tell, read the article in "Field and Stream" I think.... Anyway, I guess I will find out if there is a difference. Thanks for the 2 cents anyway.

 

[lbirch]

Living in the desert, hanging deer would be a luxury so I picked up a spare fridge that I leave the meat in before I cut it up, usually about 7 days. I put the meat in bags first. I've had elk and deer quarters in it most of the time but the elk I got last week I deboned to pack him out. I cut him up Sunday and everything looks and tastes great and he was an old bull. This has worked for me and it's been good for deer, elk and buffalo.

 

[idnative1948]

Back in the 60's here in Idaho dad would just hang a deer in our unheated shed and he carved on it until we were down to dog and cat scraps. Once in awhile the weather may warm and you might get a little *fuzz* growth, but a clean dishrag and wipe down with a little vinegar and we were good to go. How he grew up and how we grew up. But, I also think it was cooler in Oct-Nov back then. He also hung the ducks up for a week if it was cool enough back then.

 

[Redwood]

Aging beef is done in a walk in cooler at high 30's. We've always hung deer in the sheds as long as the inside temp stays at or below 30, if it freezes your wasting your time. I've always been told you want some air movement otherwise it gets "stagnant" then goes bad.

 

[tarheel]

Have always aged mine without benefit of any covering. My Dad always said meat should hang until it starts to grow hair again.

 

[RobG]

When I get lazy I'll break the deer down and just throw the legs, backstraps, and the rest into our extra fridge. They can sit there for a week and be fine - but I don't think it improves the flavor. I just do it because I'm feeling lazy...

Letting it sit in the fridge won't give you that dark hard rind. If that is what you are looking for you need to hang it where the air will circulate. Personally I see that rind as wasted meat and try to process deer as soon as I can. My experience is the same as Jorgy. Even when I age half and process immediately the other half I can't notice the difference.

 

[devon deer]

I always age mine with the skin on, either in the chiller during the summer or in the shed during winter, as long as the temp doesn't go above 44f (7c) it is safe.
I don't like mine to 'gamey' so i usually hang for about a week.
Cheers
Richard

 

[mtlion]

For what it's worth I don't age them at all. Keep it as cool as you can and cut, wrap and freeze ASAP.

 

[Nameless Range]

For years I used to hang my meat and let cool circulate around it for at least four days and usually up to seven.

For the past couple seasons I have just cut the meet up the day of or the day after I killed the animal. I agree with those above that any differences that exist between meat that's been left to cure for a few days and meat that is butchered immediately are so small that you can't even detect them. I also agree with Rob that the deeper the rind,the more meat is wasted.

They also seem easier to butcher the sooner you get after it.

 

[RobG]

I guess with a large animal like a bull elk studies have shown aging can make it more tender. I expected my 6x6 bull to be tough so I let it age about 10 days and it came out reasonably edible. Of course it may have been that way if I hadn't aged it. Did I mention I got a 6x6 this year? .

 

[CabinFever]

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time

 

[thecrittergitter]

I guess with a large animal like a bull elk studies have shown aging can make it more tender. I expected my 6x6 bull to be tough so I let it age about 10 days and it came out reasonably edible. Of course it may have been that way if I hadn't aged it. Did I mention I got a 6x6 this year? .

Well, here goes another of a bazillion opinions. I have found that the way you cut your steaks has way more to do with the tenderness of them than does the "aging". In fact, I read a detailed report from a butcher that did a bunch of "toughness" tests on cutting steaks. Had all these formulas for different steak toughness depending on the angle the blade is cut against the grain. I had to do the test myself. Sure enough, cutting exactly perpendicular to each grain of meat when cutting the steaks makes a difference even to one that is cut just 10 or 15 degrees different. crazy the difference it makes.

So from everything I've read and done, beef is "aged" because it has an enzyme that needs to be broken down before its butchered. Apparently, wild game does not have this same thing. Therefore, it shouldn't matter if it ages 0 days or 20 days, its probably going to taste the same...........

I hang mine just until I have time to cut it, whether that's 1 day or 15 days, mine age only because of my schedule. In fact, most deer I shoot, I cut that day its killed and be done with it because it only takes about 2 hrs by myself.

 

[zadvorney]

I also butcher the deer as soon as I can. An addition to my spare fridge is a fan from an old computer. It sits on the shelf and circulates the air around so I don't get ice crystals in one spot and no cold in another. A spare 12v inverter from a flash light charger soldered to the wire leads of the fan work fine.

 

[NV_ARCH3R]

I believe in aging meat, for 4-10 days depending on conditions. Aging is just controlled rotting. The idea is to break down the fiber to make them more tender. A fine Steak House owner once told me the only difference between aged beef and rotten beef was 12-24 hours. I did read once that meat should not be cut/frozen for about 48 hours in order to let the rigor mortis run it's cycle. if cut while the rigors is on, it will make the meat tougher.

 

[shooter981]

Aging venison definitely works but the temperature is critical. 36-38 degrees, no more no less or your wasting your time. I preset a spare fridge before I debone the deer with a thermometer to get the correct temp. It truly makes quite a difference in the meat.

 

[HSi-ESi]

Yet another opinion - but I think that field preparation has a bigger impact on meat flavor than anything. As soon as my animal is down - I feel like the clock is ticking. Every minute I waste in working in the field will add 'gamey' flavor to the meat.

Conditions always change in the field (outside temp, how long did it take to recover the animal, how much time is left in the day, etc). But my goal is to get the meat cooled down as fast as I can. At a minimum, this is skinning and gutting in the field before I leave the kill site. I prefer to get it boned and in bags hanging - but sometimes that's not an option.

I rarely have a full deer or elk in the back of my truck - even if I can load it whole - I usually don't.

 

[Jorgy]

Maybe the only way this will be solved will be for a true Hunt Talk scientific study.

So, I think what we should do is next year have all the Hunt Talkers drop off their elk back straps to my house and I will age them to different time periods and see what the results. Maybe Randy could find a wine sponsor to help out with all the meals

 

[Triple BB]

A friend of mine picked up a walk in cooler along with a lot of other equipment from a meat processor that closed down a few years ago. My buddy was a butcher in his early days and has always bragged about how tender meat will get if you let it hang properly. Decided to hang my bull elk this year for three weeks in his cooler. Went to cut it up and the meat had a nice white fuzzy mold growing on most of it. Started cutting and you could tell it was tender. Cooked the first steaks on the grille and you could just about cut'um with a spoon. The flavor was about the same, but I've never head wild game that tender. Shot a whitetail the last week of Nov. Its still hanging and will be until we get close to the 3 week mark...