How long should I age my venison???

[Tripplebeards]

I quartered up my two rifle season deer the day after I shot them. I then wrapped the the rear quarters and front shoulders tightly in packing wrap and froze them. The deer I shot muzzle loader season I left hang for a good five plus days and it was frozen solid when I wanted to cut it up so I brought it in the house to thaw it out enough to cut it into steaks and then after it was completely thawed out I re froze it so I would not get ice crystals that would cause freezer burn.

I removed one (2 rear quarter and 2 front shoulders) of the two gun deer from my freezer last Wednesday to thaw out. After 24 hours the front shoulders were thawed and the rears still had some crystallizing on them so I put them in my cooler. I first put a couple of frozen 2 liters on the bottom of the cooler, then some of my smoker shelves to suspend the meat. Then I layered my meat on top. I also have been dumping ice cube on top of my meat when the previous ones are almost gone. I drained my cooler for the first time this morning to remove the sea of blood. My meat still has a great fresh meat smell to it when I gave it the sniff test. I forgot I did this for about three days after I thawed out my muzzleloader deer to. So how long should I age my meat??? Is there a magic number of days? You know I’m single because this is in the bathroom of my house close to the tub so I can drain it. I originally bought the cooler to use for a live well in my boat boy it sure works good for aging meat in the house! It’s been below freezing so if I left it out in the garage frozen it stops aging process from what I’ve read. I guess I could put a big giant type of container in my refrigerator as well and do this.



This coming Wednesday will be a week...How much longer should I age it before cutting it up into steaks and refreezing?

[Camper64]

Just got done butchering 13 deer on Saturday that was shot the previous weekend muzzle-loading. We always let them hang for a week before de-boning. Cut, tenderize and package steaks and roasts then refreeze trim for burger to do in about 3 weeks.

[upr45]

Only the backstroke and whatever you want other than burger or sausage/jerky need to be aged. A week at above freezing but below 50 helps. I hang in garage which gets below freezing and up to 60's but meat does not freeze, and average is about 40 or so. When meat feels soft it is perfect. High humidity helps as it slows the drying. I leave the deer hang in halves so it gets a bit of air circulation. Not sure what would be a good time frame for in a cooler.

[Tripplebeards]

Yeah... I learned here last year after decades of doing it wrong. I’ve always cut it up the same day or the day after and wrapped it and froze it. Then it always cleans me out when I make it even though it tastes great. I believe all the excess blood that I didn’t drain out with improper aging tears me up too bad. All I know the meat in my cooler smells nice and fresh. I just don’t want to over do it. I’ve seen advertisements of 21 day aged beef. Just wondering the magic number of days for cooler aged venison.

I did age the back straps, liver, heart, and lions like this in a smaller cooler for a few days with ice that fit and sat in my in my fridge while aging.


I still have a bunch of burger left from last season yet so I will try and get as much steak out this as possible. As soon this one is cut up the last one is coming out for the same process. My dad wants to can the last one so I need to get it properly aged so it tastes great.


I wonder if I dare do this for another week to the point where the melted ice cubes comes out clear water so I have no more draining blood? I pretty much was the plan from the get go.

[Omega]

I've always done mine at least a week. I had an old fridge which I took the shelves out of except the top one, and would age it in there. At first I would put the entire carcass in there on a metal grate, cleaning the blood out once a day or two, but then I started quartering and hanging off the top shelf, seemed to drain better that way (more blood at the bottom), but the fridge died one me so this season I used a cooler like you show above, I started with two bags of ice in the field, and poured a freezer bucket full of ice on top when I got home. I started processing on the 7th day, done by the 10th, the meat was a bit bloodier than when I hung it, but still decently drained. The magic numbers are between 40 and 33 degrees and by many accounts can stay over 20 days but I can't say I've left mine longer than 10. I use a thermostat to make sure I stay under 40 degrees, they sell one with suction cups that stick well on the side of the fridge or cooler if it is smooth, just off the ice as it will give a false reading then.
Winco Refrigerator/Freezer Thermometer


For next season, I purchased a Inkbird WiFi ITC-308 Digital Temperature Controller to turn an upright freezer into a meat cooler, it freezes up inside and stops keeping the contents frozen (yea weird) but it will maintain 38 no problem. I like being able to hand the meat better than using the cooler the entire time.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PVBG8K1

[NSB]

I never age it and it tastes just fine. I've probably shot close to two hundred deer in my life and I've eaten a lot of venison. I believe more of it got spoiled by different aging processes than not aging at all. However, to each his own.

[M-Tecs]

Awhile back I split a deer in half and aged one side and cut up the other. Fixed the same cuts side by side. I no longer age venison. I've killed and butchered about two hundred of my own a maybe 100 that dad killed.

[ShooterAZ]

I never age venison either. I believe that cooling the meat immediately after taking the animal is the single most important thing you can do. Remove as much silver skin and fat as you possibly can. I also believe that freezing the meat right after butchering helps aid in tenderizing it as well.

[nannyhammer]

I've never aged venison since I started processing my own due to the outrageous processing cost. After killing the deer it is hog dressed within 20 minutes, everything removed from the front of the chest to the hips. (I just tie of the poop chute) It is skinned and boned out within about two hours without cutting any bones unless we need to remove antlers. I separate the backstraps from the other meat and everything is thrown in the freezer in unscented trash bags. Once season slows down I thaw the meat in a cooler which takes a couple days. After it's thawed I cut up the backstraps and run them through a cuber. Almost everything else is ground and made into burger or bacon burger.

[JWFilips]

I like my venison Fresh Killed ! I like the taste of Fresh Game!

[rtracy2001]

Venison doesn't really need to age, but the blood does need to purged. As already stated, hanging is fine for a couple days, so long as the temp does not get above 50F and somewhere between 32 and 40F is better. A couple of days in an ice filled cooler with the drain plug open and the far end propped up on a 2x4 is all it takes if you can't hang it in cooler temps.

As always, this is my $.02 and YMMV.

[Hickory]

If you miss out on ageing you deer like I did (temperature was in the mid 50's for 3 days) you can defrost it in the refrigerator and let set for a few days, this action of freezing and thawing will break down the muscle fiber a little. Which is better than nothing.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I get the deer in the fridge as quickly as possible, then let it "rest" for a week before I freeze it.

[MaryB]

Kill and butcher... no need to age. It hangs head down blood vessels in the neck cut so it bleeds out. Might hand 3-4 hours until we are dine hunting for the day...

[Dave W.]

Everybody has different thoughts on aging wild meat. We generally let ours age a couple weeks.

[Thundarstick]

Didn't we beat this horse long after death last year?

I age mine around two weeks, in a cooler, under ice, with the drain plug open to drain liquid. It's your deer, try a couple different ways and see what you like best.

[M-Tecs]

Didn't we beat this horse long after death last year?

I age mine around two weeks, in a cooler, under ice, with the drain plug open to drain liquid. It's your deer, try a couple different ways and see what you like best.

Yup on both counts. The only caveat is compare the same cut from the same animal when you compare aging methods.

[Tripplebeards]

Well if it doesn’t snow overnight so I don’t have to plow in the early AM the plan is when I wake I’ll start cutting it up. It basically aged for Six days as of tomorrow plus one day of hanging after I shot the deer before quartering it up and freezing. With all the ice I added this past week I drained out a couple of gallons of bright red watery blood out of my cooler this morning...and none if it touched my meat. Ive always been paranoid about aging my meat because of spoilage. I can tell you my venison looks and smells extremely fresh. If someone ever gives aging a try Id tell them to use the cooler method. Fresh venison Tastes great but goes right through me like I’m experiencing food poisoning symptoms. Has been been doing it to me every year for decades no matter who processes or cooks it. I blame it on all the blood left in it. I did some experiments last year soaking my non aged venison steaks in a brine of apple cider vinegar, water, and canning salt brine for a couple days till all the blood drained out. I then soaked the steak in milk for a day or two to remove any traces of vinegar. I had zero stomach issues doing so. I wanted to age some of my venison this year to drain the blood and try it to see if tears me up...Experiment number two. If it gives me stomach problems I’ll be back to the brine method. All I can say is after brining last year it’s the best venison I’ve ever tasted. There no salt, vinegar, or milk taste just good tasting steak. Removing all the blood removes the strong, wild after taste that I do not care for. A lot of posters here prefer that taste...I don’t and imo that’s the blood causing that taste and my stomach issues. I cooked some steaks up last year after brining that I swear tasted more like pork than deer. I made some jerky last year without aging or brining and it would give me uncontrollable gas and clean me out. I’m going to brine some venison. this year and then add my jerky seasoning to see if it fixes my issue.

[adcoch1]

I hang them up whole and with the hide off for 12 hrs per year old they are plus a day at around 40 degrees. The backstrap never make it that long though, those come off right away and are often dinner the night of the hunt... It works for me.

[Thundarstick]

I hang them up whole and with the hide off for 12 hrs per year old they are plus a day at around 40 degrees. The backstrap never make it that long though, those come off right away and are often dinner the night of the hunt... It works for me.

I use to try and do something like this, but you can't depend on the weather in Tennessee to help you! This year it was short sleeve comfortable Christmas day!