Let's talk about AGING MEAT

[TIM B]

Most if us are huntin now and it sounds like we're getting a few.  Let's talk about aging.  What's your method?  

I have a "meat fridge" in the basement that I age meat a week or so depending on age if animal.  
How you do it?
Tim B

[woodchucker]

I usually prefer not to hunt, if the temps are too high. NY really threw us a curve ball a couple years ago, when they legalized the cross bow for the later part of the bow season. The Oct 1st opener means leaves on trees, and hard hunting for us Mountain Men. I guess it's ok if you're hunting crop fields? I usually start serious hunting around the end of Oct, early November. Temps are cooler & we can leave them hang in the tree, like we always have.

[KyStickbow]

I always skin and de-bone my deer out pretty quick after harvesting it....whether it is hot or cold outside.

After that it is striaght to the fridge. I like to put it in seperate trays where each cut is seperated and not touching one another. On the second day I will take it out and rinse each cut off....along with rinsing the blood out of each tray. Then I repeat on day three.

Day four I do the final trimming...then package and freeze.

[Roughrider]

You don't really get a great deal of benefits from aging meat until a few weeks have passed.  A cool root cellar is perfect, a refrigerator works well too.

[AkDan]

I dont.   Waste of meat doing so on most wild game!   Get it cold.   Cut it up!

[ksbowman]

I do it just like you and have for the last 40 years. I quarter, cut out fillets and back straps. Bag and put in my shop fridge for a week, then cut, wrap and freeze. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Originally posted by AkDan:
I dont.   Waste of meat doing so on most wild game!   Get it cold.   Cut it up!

X2, I've tried it all and can't tell a bit of difference in taste or tenderness.

Tracy

[texbow2]

2-3 days in the ice chest, adding fresh ice and draining each day.

[Mint]

if I have the time I'll do it the day I get the animal. if not I put ice in the bottom of the cooler and have the meat up on top of the ice and leave it for a few days until I have time with the drain plug open.

[Kopper1013]

Cold out:
Let'em hang skin on or off but lately off just to get tick infested hides to the garbage.

Warm out:
Skin
Quarter
Into coolers for 7-12 days changing ice regularly and draining liquid.

This has worked beautiful for us and probably won't change it. If the big coolers are full, we will debone and do same process.

[AkDan]

Dumb question, but i have to ask.   If you regularly age meat in coolers, or live in areas where even for folks who dont age but heat is still an issue.   Why not build a insulated shed and use a Ac unit ?    Cabelas sells a deal to make it a full on commercial style walk in cooler.   Coolers these days are not cheap!  

I always wondered why more are not modifying fridges, the shed idear makes this process even more convienient.    Even for my use if i lived somewhere other than Ak, i would have one to get meat cold prior to cutting.  The other benefit is it keeps quarters cold (firm) which significantly aids cutting.  Drop the temp, pull out pieces as needed and get to processing.   Something comes up or you need a break, youre not forced to finish no matter how hot it is!.  

If you want to age a week or two or you prefer to cut once rigors set and the meats cold through.   It would be a benefit to both!

[nek4me]

From what I've researched over the years 36 degrees is the perfect temp for aging meat but it's almost impossible to maintain without a walk-in designed for it so hang if cold out but adjust the timing of aging to the temps you have to deal with. When too warm iced in a cooler or in a fridge as already mentioned accomplishes the same thing.

[scrub-buster]

I have a deer fridge.  All of the shelves are removed and I have metal bars cut to fit across the ledges on the side walls.  I skin the deer as soon as possible, hose it off, quarter it up, and then hang the pieces in the deer fridge.  I keep it at 35 degrees.  I like to wait 7-10 days before I process the meat.  I don't know if that's the best way but it's my way and it works for me.  

I think the taste of deer meat is greatly affected by how it's handled from the time of the shot until it's packaged and in the freezer.  I've ate meat from professionally butchered deer that tasted terrible.  And I've processed mature bucks, 4.5 - 5.5 years old that you couldn't tell apart from a young doe by taste and tenderness.

[TIM B]

Good input boys - thanks
I feel like I'm losing meat due to it just drying out on the front quarters.
Tim B

[David McLendon]

I don't... Once broken down into quarters and large cuts I keep it in a fridge at 35 degrees for two days while it drains. On day 3 it is boned out, prime cuts are vacuum packed and the rest ground with some seasoned and ground for sausage. All ends up vacuum packed. Freezing breaks down the meat to some degree same as aging without the risk of hanging and a possible temperature slip up and bad meat. Sounds like me and AKDan are on the same page.

[AkDan]

Let me state, there is no wrong way, short of loosing meat to spoilage!   If it works great,  results speak!  

I will say.   I travel south quite a bit.  One of my trips i shot a doe the morning before i flew back to ak.  I was persuaded to cut it up while it was still warm (pre rigor).   That was by far and away the worst deer i have had that my familys shot.   I have had bad deer for sure and agree quality steaks are in meat care!  This was years ago and what spawned a meat fridge idea.    We had until recently a fridge just for this (dans trips home lol).   The fridge has died, i rarely hunt deer anymore with the passion of my youth, and the landowner i grew up on is passing.   Something we never talk about.... the last hunt, has entered reality.   A family, and property that most would dream to have!  They have been great times!

Good luck this fall!   Its almost winter here.....   i am slightly envious of those with inexspensive months long hunting!   There's no better place for a soul than in the mountains or woods.....

[CRS]

aging venison  

This is the article that started me on the way to aging venison.  Originally from the University of WY.  Could not find the original document.

I typically skin quarter and game bag the venison right away.  Then into a fridge at 36 degrees for 3 to 10 days depending on my schedule.  

If it is cold enough in the garage, I will let it hang overnight before skinning and breaking it down into the refrigerator. But if I do this, I split/prop the rib cage open. I also zip the skin open all the way up to the base of the neck and remove the esophagus.

I have also processed deer immediately and even vacuum packed and into the freezer when still warm.  But I do not like working with warm venison.  But if time dictates, so be it.

There is some discussion about cold shortening, which occurs when venison is cooled too rapidly.  I believe I have experienced this a couple of times. Makes for tougher eating.

[Fletcher]

Good article, CRS.  Thanks for sharing.

[Hackbow]

This is season #40 for me. I've tried a bunch of different ways but for several years I had an extra fridge that we would put our boned-out meat into for 10-14 days.

I'm still not sure the meat tasted any better than after immediately butchering, but there were two unmistakable advantages. First, every cut was noticeably more tender. Second, the sinew was MUCH easier to strip/remove.

Those two reasons alone make aging worth it to me, if I am in a position to do so.

As an experiment, we hung a skinned, young doe in the garage one winter. Dad killed it in early-mid December. We did our best to keep the temp around 40° (not difficult in IL).

After a couple weeks we started cutting enough meat off the carcass for a meal. There was a small amount lost due to outside layer getting hard. However, we just removed that thin shell with a fillet knife like you would removing skin from a fish.

That doe lasted us into February and was the best venison I've ever eaten. It's not a practical way of doing it, but I hope to build a cooler one day to try it again.

[Pete McMiller]

Hackbow, saw a buck hanging in a garage 3 months after the season ended (in Wisconsin) and thought they had ruined it - after hearing your story I guess they knew what they were doing.

Nice article on aging CRS, thanks.

When possible I like to hang quarters of elk for example with the bone in as I believe it limits the effects of rigor.  After reading the article I better understand it.

I have noticed that aging ducks results in a significantly better piece of meat than cleaning right away.  I generally will age ducks a minimum of 4 days by laying them on their backs either on top of a cooler in a cold garage or in the lower part of my frig.  The result is a very tender bird with a mellow flavor.  I switched to hunting 95% diver ducks many years ago and this method not only makes them palatable but exceptional on the table.  "Best duck I've ever eaten"  is a common comment from my guests.