Meat Aging Question

[bcfirefly]

Well after not having too much time to put into dedicated WT doe hunting, I managed an hour last night to get out and found a pig wt doe eating my apples. They always look small until you start dragging it uphill to the truck!
Anyways it was hanging in my woodshed by 7pm last night and it is cool where I live with the average temp over the next few days at 3 C. I am away and busy this weekend and can only process the meat this Monday as Tuesday I am gone Moose hunting in 5-15. Is that a decent amount of time to leave the meat? other than the best cuts its getting put into sausage. Your comments are appreciated!

[srupp]

Hmmk it will be fine deer do not need the time moose or beef do..
Steven

[blackwater moose]

i hang my deer 7-10 days when it is that cool, less when it is warmer

[russm86]

A family friend was the instructor and the dean of the meat cutting program at the university here for 20+ years and has been in the professional butchering industry for over 50. He says smaller game like deer and black bear don't need to hang at all. Larger game can have some benefit but still not like beef. He says you also actually lose meat, the hardened/blackened outer layer (this is cut off of aged beef too but not noticed as much with the heavier animals) that you get when hanging meat and also wild game fat goes rancid very quickly and easily even when frozen (though after longer periods when frozen). I've never had a bad piece of game meat taking his advice and some of my best steaks were off fresh deer or only a day after being shot. Aging meat is basically a process that allows natural bacteria and enzymes to actually start breaking down (aka rotting) the meat but most game, especially smaller, is tender enough it won't make a difference. Another interesting point/fact, especially if you always find deer etc "gamey" or "wild" tasting, aging it will actually make it worse not better like many think as, similar to beef, moisture evaporates making it have a stronger taste, maybe good in beef and animals that have good flavour, not necessarily so in something that doesn't taste so great like a gamey rut buck... Catch 22 there though cuz the rut buck might become a little more tender with aging... Your choice though MAYBE a little more tender and worse gamey taste or better tasting and MAYBE, if even noticeably, tougher. I don't think hanging ever makes bad meat real good, but hanging can actually make good meat worse.

[J-Man]

I didn't notice any difference in hanging times. I hung one 2 days and another 8 days this season and have tried chops off both. I can't tell any difference, but temp wise anything 5 C and below I've never had any meat issues, even on 2 week hunts.

[Philcott]

I go by russ's info above. When it's cool enough I'll hang until I have a chance to get to the cutting but I don't hang to tenderize.

[russm86]

A family friend was the instructor and the dean of the meat cutting program at the university here for 20+ years and has been in the professional butchering industry for over 50. He says smaller game like deer and black bear don't need to hang at all. Larger game can have some benefit but still not like beef. He says you also actually lose meat, the hardened/blackened outer layer (this is cut off of aged beef too but not noticed as much with the heavier animals) that you get when hanging meat and also wild game fat goes rancid very quickly and easily even when frozen (though after longer periods when frozen). I've never had a bad piece of game meat taking his advice and some of my best steaks were off fresh deer or only a day after being shot. Aging meat is basically a process that allows natural bacteria and enzymes to actually start breaking down (aka rotting) the meat but most game, especially smaller, is tender enough it won't make a difference. Another interesting point/fact, especially if you always find deer etc "gamey" or "wild" tasting, aging it will actually make it worse not better like many think as, similar to beef, moisture evaporates making it have a stronger taste, maybe good in beef and animals that have good flavour, not necessarily so in something that doesn't taste so great like a gamey rut buck... Catch 22 there though cuz the rut buck might become a little more tender with aging... Your choice though MAYBE a little more tender and worse gamey taste or better tasting and MAYBE, if even noticeably, tougher. I don't think hanging ever makes bad meat real good, but hanging can actually make good meat worse.

[russm86]

Sorry for the double post, somehow it made it when I tried to edit my original with some more info.

[Getbent]

it will be fine...perfect amount of time IMHO

[Brambles]

You'll be just fine, putting a fan on it for air circulation will also help.

[Lionhill]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?102156-Aging-my-buck

Very interesting read.

[russm86]

You'll be just fine, putting a fan on it for air circulation will also help.

Just be careful not to dry it out too much. If you do hang it at all, it should be hung around 80% humidity.

[fearnodeer]

My vote is with Deer and Bear can be cut right away, hanging it does nothing for it, Moose & Elk on the other hand need to hang.

[r106]

I don't age any deer. The idea behind aging the meat is to allow a controlled decomposition of the connective tissue and fat in the meat aka marbling. Since there is next to no marbling in venison there is next to no gain in aging it. The only real benefit to aging venison is allowing the meat to relax and blood to drain. So there are benefits to a short hang but anything over 2-3 days is pointless. Honestly I have cut and wrapped almost immediately and the only difference was when it thawed there was more blood in the packaging.

[M.Dean]

Honestly I have cut and wrapped almost immediately and the only difference was when it thawed there was more blood in the packaging. I've also found if Deer don't hang for at lest 3 or 4 days there's more blood in the packages too. Another thing with Deer is when you've got them hanging, cut or simply pull out the Tenderloin, clean it in the sink and trim any crap off them and eat them within a few days. Reason is if you leave the Tenderloin in the animal for 3 or 4 days or longer it dry's out, then you have to trim the "Rind" off them, and by the time you get them cleaned up for the frying pan you have a chunk of meat the size of a quarter! If your deboning your Moose or Elk etc, I'd take the Tenderloins out of them before hanging also, if your running the loin sections through a band saw, you leave the Tenderloin in so it's part of your T-Bones and Porter house steaks etc.

[Brambles]

Meat coolers run drier than that 50-60%.

Higher humidity will support faster mold growth.

Aging will cause shrinkage due to loss of moisture but were not talking sawdust here!!!
Most of the time I do age wild meat, I find it helps! And have never been like "man this is dry, shouldn't have hung it those extra couple days"

[swampthing]

I always figured hanging meat was the same as cutting an animals throat after you already killed it. Completely useless!! I only hang mine till I can cut it. Which is sometimes the same day. Proper handling of the meat always is the best thing for good eating. I have been cutting my own meat for years and have forgotten what a "gamey" animal tastes like! I have had cut with fork tender on the same day I shot an animal.

[Singleshotneeded]

My butcher says a week is great...longer than about two weeks and the meat starts to taste gamier...

[russm86]

My info on 80% has come from numerous commercial/professional butchers some have been in industry for 50 years. You can also see it in the link below in the first paragraph under "Process"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_(meat)

This link also says high relative humidity several times http://www.theoutdoorlodge.com/features/articles/wild_game/aging_big_game.html

The idea is you want it to dry slowly and to only a certain extent. Basically don't want it to dry too much or too fast.

[Rock Doctor]

I only had a chance to hang one of our Moose for 2 days this yr............
No noticable difference from the others that hung for 7 and 9 days.

RD

[zazman]

I have never had any issues with short hanging times. If the animal was bled properly when shot there's no advantage. My butcher agrees. The longer it hangs, the more it dries out. Our last moose and elk hung for 2 days and both are among the best meat we've had. I think most the issues come from the handling before you hang it. A proper kill, bleed it and keep it clean and cool down quickly. Deer usually hang till I can cut it the next day but they are mostly jerky and sausage.

[rbest]

This will always be a debate depending on what professional back round you have got your information from, What training you have, and what your comfortable with and preference is. I personally age all of my meat, from Pheasants(although, this is more less to get rid of rigor mortis) to venison. As long as you have it controlled then you will have no problems. If you are not comfortable dry aging, try wet aging. Your yield will be a lot higher. No matter what the meat is, it will most definitely make a difference in tenderness and flavor. Will some of it be unnoticed? yes of course, but the process is routine. To each their own.....

[Hunter gatherer]

If you have a proper controlled cooler you can hang away. This year we hung a deer for 24 days and it came out great.last year we had a rut buck that even the dog would not eat the liver,we hung for 21 days expecting to make him into sausage . We ended up with some very fine tasting venison.Just my 2 cents.If you ask 10 hunters for their opinion you will get 10 different opinions.

[Ranger95]

If you have a proper controlled cooler you can hang away. This year we hung a deer for 24 days and it came out great.last year we had a rut buck that even the dog would not eat the liver,we hung for 21 days expecting to make him into sausage . We ended up with some very fine tasting venison.Just my 2 cents.If you ask 10 hunters for their opinion you will get 10 different opinions.

What he said - to each their own.... always hang my meat in the cooler - before slicing and dicing, not saying it's right - just do it as a matter of course....

[swampthing]

Hangin meat is just an old wives tale made up by somebody who was too tired to cut his meat when he got home! I prefer mine fresh.

[rbest]

Hangin meat is just an old wives tale made up by somebody who was too tired to cut his meat when he got home! I prefer mine fresh.

hahaha, yeah, somebody should let those big beef companies know that! imagine the money they could be saving

[OOBuck]

I use to cut my deer up ASAP, I now have access to a cooler and hang them on average for 7 days. I can't tell you the difference in the taste!!

[hunter1947]

I find that the early season animals a person shoots meat does not to hang long tastes great late season animals in the rut hang as long as you can in cooler temp 12 days to 16 ..