Aging Meat

[GregLaROCHE]

I was once told by a professional meat processor, that aging only worked on beef. Deer, caribou and moose didn’t profit from aging. This video is interesting, but says the opposite. What do you think?

https://youtu.be/6fxtyqORxN8

[dogrunner]

My take is the exact opposite of your processor. I was near Delta Junct. AK for three seasons....shot a lotta caribou and we'd hang the skinned carcass, wash it down in a salt water solution. Cut it up after about ten days. Easily as tender as the best store bought stuff. Back then the season started in mid august so we'd divvy up one shot early if the wx was inordinately warm. Later stuff was processed as I describe..........Same with Florida deer.........depending again on wx.........difference is a cheese cloth wrap and shorter hang time..........really hot wx and its' cut up shortly after killing.

[HWooldridge]

I think any red meat benefits from aging with regard to cell breakdown (I would not do it with fish unless it was being smoked). On the other hand, aged beef seems too dry to me, and I have always preferred very juicy red meat. I’ve cut back strap off a freshly killed deer carcass that was still warm and gone straight to the frying pan…great flavor.

Aging is supposed to both tenderize and improve the flavor but that’s also a leftover belief from before refrigeration. If I had the means to experiment, I’d probably try it on moose; the big carcass might benefit from a long hang.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My 2¢
Beef, deer, caribou and moose can benefit from aging, if you have the correct and ideal conditions. Mostly, hanging/aging removes some moisture. If you age these meats in less than ideal conditions, you'll risk some off flavors....or worse.

[Winger Ed.]

If you age these meats in less than ideal conditions, you'll risk some off flavors....or worse.

That's the deal.
It helps the meat, but it has to be done at the right temps.

People that screw up things like this will often tend to blame the process, and not admit or realize they messed it up.

[owejia]

We always age beef for at least two weeks. Was told it needed to be aged for three weeks but the processors here will only let it hang for two weeks. I believe the big slaughter plants use electrical charge to tenderize beef also. Aging helps the muscle fibers start to break down, should work for all red meat animals.

[M-Tecs]

This subject comes up frequently and people tend to have very strong opinions. Like most things it's relatively easy to test yet very few ever do. Split your deer in half and compare. I much prefer my own test results to others' opinions.

When testing it must be from the same animal. I have done the aging verse none aging test several times and for me I find little value in aging venison for tenderness. Aging longer periods does change flavor. Some like the flavor change and some don't. Even with beef I don't care for the flavor change if aged much more than 21 days.

Then some deer defy explanation. My muzzleloading buck from a year ago was about a 150 class buck with a very swollen neck and actively chasing a doe. Due to leaving for a trip the following day it was cut up and in the freezer within 8 hours. I expected tough and strong flavor yet it was mild and very tender???

[MT Gianni]

Temperatures and conditions vary a lot. I like aging when the temps approach or are just at freezing at night and are under 45 for the daytime. I can take that variation. If too warm it spoils and if too cold the process stops. Worst for aging was a moose I cut right away as I didn't have facilities and time but had help for a short time. It had decent flavor but was as tough as shoe leather.

I like a week to ten days for out Montana whitetails. They average 75-100 lbs on the hook. I would adjust times for weight and outside temps. I would not use someones tables from Michigan and 200+ lb deer on a 60 lb doe I shot in the far south.

We had a member who was loudly against it. He shot many of his deer on damage hunts in August. His experiences are different than me shooting in November.

[MT Gianni]

Greg, What are you hunting in France? Boar, birds, Roe Deer? I read Martin Walker's Bruno series with enjoyment but being it is a novel I am not sure how much is relatable to real people and situations.

[M-Tecs]

Temperatures and conditions vary a lot. I like aging when the temps approach or are just at freezing at night and are under 45 for the daytime. I can take that variation. If too warm it spoils and if too cold the process stops. Worst for aging was a moose I cut right away as I didn't have facilities and time but had help for a short time. It had decent flavor but was as tough as shoe leather.

I like a week to ten days for out Montana whitetails. They average 75-100 lbs on the hook. I would adjust times for weight and outside temps. I would not use someones tables from Michigan and 200+ lb deer on a 60 lb doe I shot in the far south.

We had a member who was loudly against it. He shot many of his deer on damage hunts in August. His experiences are different than me shooting in November.

For deer an upright refrigerator only (no freezer) works great for aging is so desired. Mine will fit 2 deer quartered.

[Mk42gunner]

My thoughts on aging meat is that if you can't control the temperature within a pretty narrow window, aging is just a polite term for rotting. Same with "hanging" game birds.

Around here it is not uncommon to have thirty degree temp swings from day to night. Below freezing no aging occurs, and above 40-45 degrees rotting occurs.

I do prefer to let a deer hang overnight, or at least until rigor eases; then get it cut up, wrapped and in the deep freeze.

Robert

[GregLaROCHE]

Greg, What are you hunting in France? Boar, birds, Roe Deer? I read Martin Walker's Bruno series with enjoyment but being it is a novel I am not sure how much is relatable to real people and situations.

Mostly boar. I really enjoy eating it and there are plenty around. I don’t care for the local varieties of small deer here. They can’t compare to white tail that have been helping themselves to farmers corn. Not hunting, but my favorite meat to eat here is lamb. I’m usually a beef lover however, most of the beef here is extremely low in fat content. Not as flavorful as what you can find in the US. Good luck trying to find a well marbled steak here.

[Milky Duck]

two plastic buckets from same mold.....drill a dozen or more finger size holes in base of one bucket,sit it inside the other bucket...stacked together giving an air gap about an inch between the two..place meat in top bucket and store in household refridgerator,stirring meat daily and removing inner bucket to tip any blood out of outer bucket. we keep venison and pork in fridge like this for up to a week...NOT up to two weeks,your nose will tell you if its TIME NOW to hurry up and bag up n freeze,a SLIGHT odour and greasy/slimey feel is ok..but SLIGHT is the operative word...better to do it to soon than too late and have to chuck hard earned meat.
the difference in tenderness is unreal.
a lot of venison goes funky between 12-36hrs after death..its like chewing jandle rubber.

[BLAHUT]

Way I was brought up, Grandpa's way, game was cut up and in freezer ASAP. Same way with farm raised animals.

[elmacgyver0]

I don't know much about aging meat, but I had a Sheppard/Golden Retriever mix dog that believed in it.
He would eat half a rabbit he caught, then stash the rest and in a week or two dig it up and eat the rest.
Didn't seem too appetizing to me, but to each his own.

[KYCaster]

I don't know much about aging meat, but I had a Sheppard/Golden Retriever mix dog that believed in it.
He would eat half a rabbit he caught, then stash the rest and in a week or two dig it up and eat the rest.
Didn't seem too appetizing to me, but to each his own.

According to my little mongrel, Eddie the Wonder Dog, "It's far better to have eaten it, thrown it up and eaten it again than never to have eaten it at all."

[GhostHawk]

Dad always aged his beef for at least 13 days, longer if he could find a butcher that would do it.

Deer always got skinned before they froze, deboned, hauled home from the farm in deboned quarters in large black plastic garbage bags. Final cutting would happen at home in better conditions.

Best deer I ever ate was a forkhorn that we jumped out on the shortgrass prairie next to a cattail patch. 3 of us were walking, the other 2 shot at the 2nd jump. Took me a smidge longer to get ready and I shot at the top of the third jump. Blew a horn off about an inch above the fur. It did a somersault, and piled up. As I walked up I saw the piece of broken horn, saw an ear twitch then an eyelid opened. I put a 20 ga slug into the back of his head and that was that. Skinned some 4 hours later and by 8 that night the cutting was done and I was eating supper.

Those chops on a hot grill for 3.5 minutes, turned and 3.5 minutes more and served immediately were fork tender and awesome flavor.

That is my experience.

Now if I had a moose or elk, the temp was right and I had the time. I might hang it for a week or 10 days. But IMO whitetail deer do not need it.

But if you ran that deer for 2 miles it might help.

[Texas by God]

Way I was brought up, Grandpa's way, game was cut up and in freezer ASAP. Same way with farm raised animals.

This. Not cold enough here for long enough to do it any different. Get it put up quick or it will go gamey. Hunted today in 70 degree weather.


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[HWooldridge]

This. Not cold enough here for long enough to do it any different. Get it put up quick or it will go gamey. Hunted today in 70 degree weather.


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Funny you say that. My sons used to get mad at me when I wouldn’t let them shoot a deer the first week of the season because it was rarely cold enough. I was also taught to kill ‘em, hang ASAP then cut up and refrigerate.

A few years ago, one of my sons and I killed three feral hogs one evening in the spring. We didn’t get the opportunity to clean the carcasses until a couple hours later, but they were already starting to stink. We went ahead and cleaned them, and they were edible, but the smell was pretty bad while we were dressing the meat.

[DougGuy]

I used to wrap a deer ham in a plastic trash bag and put it in the bottom of the fridge until I started to smell it, about 14 days. The smell was not the meat going bad, it was the blood that ran out of it spoiling. That was my alarm clock going off!

It would discolor the outside of the ham a little, but I still had to clean off some fascia so once i got down to the meat it was all good, turned a very dark purple look. I did a few this way but never saw much change in the tenderness, it had a little stronger flavor overall, but not a significant improvement for the time and loss of fridge space required.