aging grouse

[Peter Pepper]

Yes, you should age deer. PROPER aging improves all meat, unless it's been cut up into small pieces and deboned on the spot Then the benefits of aging are less.

This is very interesting, I know guys who 'bone out to pack out' but never considered how they hang their meat.
Is de-boning and cutting up an aceptable option when you don't have access to a place to age it?
Is it ok to just age some in fridge and rest freeze? Any other tips?
I'm thinking big game, not birds.
As for New Hunters grouse; I suspect overcooked, lean meat. So ya add bacon, what can't bacon make better? My fav way is pan fry chunks of breast with bacon, onion and mushrooms. I can cook, just need to know more about butchering/meat handling. After all any cook with tell you that's the most important part

[Legi0n]

This is very interesting, I know guys who 'bone out to pack out' but never considered how they hang their meat.
Is de-boning and cutting up an aceptable option when you don't have access to a place to age it?
Is it ok to just age some in fridge and rest freeze? Any other tips?
I'm thinking big game, not birds.

you can age game meat in your fridge (not freezer)

[Whonnock Boy]

Is it ok to just age some in fridge and rest freeze?

I watched Guy Fieri in one of his shows take a roast and age it in the fridge for a couple weeks after he had purchased it. He wrapped it in cheese cloth and placed it on a small cooling rack in the fridge. The first few days he needed to change the wrapping daily so it was not sitting in its own blood. Once it had dried, the cloth was not changed as often. After a couple weeks, he trimmed the cut of meat, removing any greenish spots, and then sliced it into steaks. It looked pretty tender. I don't see why this cannot be done with a piece of game meat. You could even cut off a steak or two, and put the rest back in the fridge for a couple more days. Ageing a larger amount of meat would be tough to do in a household fridge.

[Black Lab]

Very interesting thread. I have often wondered why some birds are tough and others are tender. I thought that it had to do with how quick they died. I usually lightly brown the breasts in butter, onions, mushrooms, lots of pepper then add orange juice and simmer 20 min. Serve with boiled potatoes and carrots or pasta

[shottyshooter]

Googled my own answer on Rigor as it pertains to all animals...

"Why should we wait until after rigor mortis?"

Joe looks at me the way an expert does who's forgotten the fundamentals of his occupation are not common sense. "Butchering an animal during rigor mortis can cause shortening, meaning the muscles contract and remain tough. You want those muscle fibers stretched and relaxed.

http://www.americanhunter.org/Articl...id=2235&cid=42

The rest of the article is a fairly good overview.

Question: A lot of the answers I found talk about rinsing or soaking the meat as part of the butchering/cleaning process before patting dry and hanging to age. I've also heard that water is bad because it increases the bacteria or something along those lines. What say you?

I'm guessing that a cold water bath will drop the temperatures quickly and get rid of blood so that it doesn't get rancid. Follow that by a thourough towelling off and spritz some vinegar on to keep the flys away. Then put them in clean bags to hang and age. Is there anything detrimental (from the water aspect) that I'm missing?

[The Dude]

Like Foxton alluded to, in the old days of pheasant hunting in Britain, the way to age a bird was to hang it by the neck in the shed. After a few days, it would hit the ground as the neck rotted off. Then it was ready to eat.

I sometimes leave mine intact, and rest them in a cold fridge for 3-4 days, and I mostly breast them, age them in the fridge for 2-3 days, then package and freeze.

If I am going to eat them right away, take a clean cutting board, and some heavy duty plastic wrap. Spread the boneless breasts out, cover with the wrap, and beat your meat flat
The plastic wrap saves any spatters all over your counter, and stops tearing of the meat. You'll have a perfect, flat breast fillet with a little practice.
Prepare as usual with your favourite recipe.

[buck nash]

I brined the grouse breasts I brought home last weekend at found they were way more tender than the ones we had in camp. Just put a couple tbs of salt and one tbs of sugar in about a pint of water, put it in a freezer bag and squeezed the air out. Let it sit overnight and it was perfect.

[shottyshooter]

beat your meat flat

...scaring me Dude! LOL

Is there anything detrimental if you wash the meat (all meat not just grouse)? Moisture, flavour or any other considerations?

[The Dude]

Nope, I always wash my beasts (geez, there I go again)..... I usually breast grouse in the field, so they inevitably pick up tiny bits of dust or bark, whatever.
I usually rinse in cold, clean water, trimming as i do this. Grouse has an elastic membrane around the breast that makes it a little tougher, so I try and remove much of this.
Pat dry, or drain and air dry, and flatten, cook, or Vacuum Pack to your heart's content.

[J-Man]

I just cooked some up last week. I let them marinate at least an hour if not over night.

- 1 tbsp of lemon juice
- 2 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 tsp of sea salt
- some cracked pepper
- t tsp of thyme

Throw it all together with 2 breasts halved in a zip lock bag. Work it around and let sit 30min, then flip for another 30 min. Then grill or fry it 4min each side.