How long do you hang your deer?

[pdk25]

I have been fortunate.  I have never let a deer hang for more than 1 day and the meat has always tasted great.  I trim virtually every speck of fat off of the deer, though.  I read somewhere that oxidation of the fat is what gives the venison the gamey taste.  I think trimming the fat helps it last longer in the freezer, also.

[shakeyslim]

i work the kill and eat program here  

[Butch L]

I live on the south coast of RI. Our season runs from Oct.1 - Jan. 31. For 3/4 of the season the temps can get to high 50's (early season 70 +/-), so trying to hang the meat can get kinda sketchy. Have to keep a hairy eyeball on the forecast which is wrong better than 1/2 the time. As we say "Living in New England- wait 5 min. and the weather will change"

[xtrema312]

Originally posted by pdk25:
I have been fortunate.  I have never let a deer hang for more than 1 day and the meat has always tasted great.  I trim virtually every speck of fat off of the deer, though.  I read somewhere that oxidation of the fat is what gives the venison the gamey taste.  I think trimming the fat helps it last longer in the freezer, also.

I am with you on this. I think it is important.  No fat, bone, or white skin on my cuts when done.  Taste better than beef any day, and no long aging process.  No strong flavor or anything.  Just nice mild rich venison taste that everyone loves who tries it.  You know when they let meat set in the color for a couple weeks at the store and they throw it away.       I am sure it was aged a good amount before it got there.

[Michael Pfander]

What you are doing when you hang meat is letting controlled decomposition change its flavor and texture. What most, but not all people find is that there is an increase in tenderness and a decrease in "gameiness" with hanging.  Of course if it stinks then its been hung to long.  The Brits are great ones for letting it hang until the head falls off.

MAP

[saumensch]

Not only the Brits, French and Germans too      
I and all i know round here let em hang in their hide for at least 5 up to 12 days. Dont know in Fahrenheidt but around 5-7 degree celcius.
BTW Hide comes of easier afterwards.

The French are known also for letting game-birds hang with feathers and guts for up to 6 days to get the so called "Haute-Goute", higher taste. Not for me though....  

[Roy Steele]

bm22 your really leting the meat rot.Which tenderizes it.You do this a cool temps.out of the sun and skinned.At 50% in a building out of the sun you can leave it hang 5 days it need be.

[Roy Steele]

Sorry about that the colder it gets the longer you can leave it hang.At 30% in the shade you can leave it 2 weeks easy.The loner you leave it hang the tender it will be.
  I've let lots  of mature 3 1/2 to 5 1/2 old bucks for a couple weeks.And I can't tell them from a young doe.And neither can you.

[Doc Nock]

Sounds like a wide range of thoughts on this issue.  :eek:  

I've read and had the personal experience that if a animal is cut and FROZEN before rigormortis is out of the meat, it will be tough when you eat and still so when you're done in the bathroom!

What I read w/ interest was how many cut and then "age" in a cooler. I don't like to let my meat get water logged, or soaked, but in a pinch, I've used double-bagged ice in a cooler with boned out meat to "age."

Being a bachelor, in VA at the time, I've put all my frozen and fridge food in a big cooler and took all the refridgerator racks out and stuck 2 dead deer in there skinned, legs and neck off to "age".  Looked like something outa Friday the 13th!

I am fortunate of recent years to have a friend with a small cooler. 36* temp. I skin right away to evenly cool meat. Cut out all blood shot meat and then coat with Crisco to seal moisture in meat and not get that hard dark "crust".

I age 3-4 days in cooler. I don't have to hang. I stand them up on their stumps of cut off legs..long as air circulates.

Shot a fawn-of-year as first trad kill. She tool 3 steps and keeled over dead. NO trauma. Skinned her within the hour...and cut her up within 10 hrs and froze. That sweet li'l doe was as tough as boot leather. I panicked cause it was warm. Same with a fat spike 2 days later... also tough as rawhide!

I've since aged grey-muzzled 160# deer 3 days and it cut with a fork.

Agreed, Roy, if you "age" at above 42*, it's really starting to rot. Same if it was frozen and thawed. The enzymes in meat that break down the connective tissue during the "aging process" die when frozen so all that is happening is decomp once thawed.

Good thread and neat to see so many varied ideas!

[Don Stokes]

I once shot a yearling doe with my bow in warm weather, and my wife, who did our butchering, put the quarters in the bottom of the fridge in a plastic bag, "just for a day or so". Bad idea. A week later, the smell in the fridge got really bad. I figured it was totally ruined, and asked her to get rid of it while I was at work.

I got home that afternoon, and found her at the kitchen sink, cutting up that doe. The house literally reeked of corruption. She would cut off a piece, and if she could sniff it without gagging, she kept it. If she gagged, she culled it. I thought she had gone stark-raving mad, but when she cooked it, it was the best venison I ever tasted!

I won't go that far now, but I sure don't worry any more about a little odor associated with aging.

[JDinPA]

Originally posted by Mr.Vic:
We had an ole chef help us for years. His theory was Kill it, hang it, skin it, cut it,take out all fat, freeze it. You wanted it tender, take it out day before you eat it. Soak the blood out, marinade it and eat it.

This is what I do. I quarter and debone asap.
We don't have to marinate any vension,it's tender and tasty enough this way.

[T L]

My father in law tought me this, he was a butcher & resturaunt owner his whole life.
Skin the animal ASAP, then temperature will dictate how long it should hang.
You can process the ribs, shanks, neck etc. when you can before the thicker hams and shoulders, since these cuts don't need to age as much, especially if they go into the grind for sausage, etc.
I will then cut out the back straps when they cut off the bone easily. You can tell by the smell of the meat , it almost has a sweet smell when it,s aged. You can work on the  shoulders and last the hams. Don,t let it dry out as you will lose meat, and never wrap in plastic or anything that dosn,t allow air to flow.