I ask this because the one I processed last night was 9 day from kill date. Normally I let them hang hide on for 5 days then process. This last one only hung 2 days and then was quartered and refrigerated until yesterday. I have been processing deer since last Tuesday and was not able to get to this one until last night. It did not have any noticeable odor, but I am still a little concerned about the meat being bad. Is 9 days to long?
Erick
7 days is the satndard in germany, that is cooled and without hide. Up to 5 days in the hide and cooled. Had one last year hang 10 days cooled and withou hide and it was just fine. The gamey-taste increases but in like it anyway.
I think yourrse should be fine adn i would use it without worries.
what was the outside temp before the quartering and refrigeration?
Sorry forgot we hang them in a walk-in cooler that is kept at 40*.
I think the the temperature in which it's hanging is most important. If it were around 35 F, I don't think 9 days is too long at all.
9 days is not too long. I let mine hang for 14 days or more whenever I can, depending on temps.
your fine. If it never got above 40, you are all good.
God Bless,
Nathan
until i kill it!
I don't like to hang mine that long, but I don't have a walk in cooler either. 9 days is pushing the limit in my opinion and 4-5 days would be better....just my 2 cents.
Without the luxury of a cooler, I usually skin and quarter mine as soon as I can....normally within a day or so. Then it can go into the bottom of my fridge in the garage for another day or so. Maybe 4 days at the most from time of kill to in the freezer is all mine ever age.
Then if it's real warm out, I skin and quarter within hours after the kill and get the meat in the fridge as soon as possible. Once it's in there, then it's fine until I can get it deboned and packaged for the freezer.
I've quit ageing venison. We package two or three a year for family and friends and if the meat is clean and well-drained, I don't find any difference between aged and non aged meat.
Beef we hang for two weeks. Deer we cut up immediately.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
I've quit ageing venison. We package two or three a year for family and friends and if the meat is clean and well-drained, I don't find any difference between aged and non aged meat.
Beef we hang for two weeks. Deer we cut up immediately.
I agree, I haven't noticed any difference in taste or tenderness when they are aged any more than a couple of days. Mainly the only reason why I would let mine age is due to not being able to get to it right away to get it cut up and packaged.
I get them quartered and trimmed out ASAP and in the fridge. No more than 4 days in there on average while I am working on them. When I have cuts ready to go I put them back in the fridge until I am done. We rarely shoot a really old deer. Most are 1.5-2.5 years and don't need to be aged although any time they are kept cold, but not frozen I think they are aging. I don't think they have to have the skin on. So I guess on average I age them about three days.
Aging a deer at 40 deg. it is said that the meat will taste best after 5-7 days.
As far as "hide on". I don't think it is nessary if your putting it in a cooler. The quicker an animal cools down, the better.
You would leave the hide on if your cooling it down outside. To protect the meat.
QuoteOriginally posted by arrow30:
until i kill it!
Right on. :wavey:
It's fine. I've aged them up to 17 days in the hide or ten days in a cooler on ice with no problem.
If it goes bad, you'll know it! I left the quarters and backstraps from a young doe too long in a plastic garbage bag in the fridge one year, and it got really rank. I thought it was totally ruined, but my throw-nothing-away wife cut up the meat while I was at work, and when I got home the whole house smelled like corruption. She sniffed each piece as she cut it, and if she didn't gag, she kept it. I thought she had lost her mind (that happened a few years later- now ex wife) but the meat was some of the best I've ever had. Since that experience, I don't worry about a little odor.
I've had them hung with hide on for a week or better with no issues. We always field dressed them on the spot and propped the body oppen with an appropriate sized stick then rinsed out the body cavity with cold water. I hunt in northern minnesota and it has been cold enough to keep the meat. I've also skinned and cut them up the next day and really can't tell the difference. The only time I've had bad venison is when I've paid to have someone else process it so I bought a grinder and a meat saw to do it all myself!
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Glenn
The University of Wyoming did a study on aging venision.
http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/B589R.pdf
By the way, my family doesn't like to too "gamey" so I only aged about 4 days this year.
No less than 7 days hung head down. I am lucky to have a processor who hangs and cuts exactly as I want. Did our own cut and wrap for years back in Jersey but the temps here in Southern Illinois can be pretty warm. I don't even like to start hunting until the last week in Oct. because of it.
I really feel this "aging" is needed. I want all the blood drained and a bit of microbial activity is beneficial. Professional butcher/processor friend told me if you cold water rinse the internal cavity dry it completly when you are done. Something about the bacteria and chemicals in water. The most expensive beef is dry aged and it is really something to behold.
I have hung halves at 38 deg until the "green amd mould" had to be scraped off to cut the meat down. That was some good deer meat.
Ive learned to just hang it until its cool, has a glaze and cut it up
I prefer 5 to 7 days.My main concern is getting the animal cooled out a.s.a.p.General elk season in Oregon starts in Aug. and ends in Sept.and can be 90 degrees for the high ,so here it is imperative ,{in my opinion}to get that kritter skinned and then as long as you have a cool place to store them,10 or 12 days is no worry.Have done it lots of times with no problems,and great meat.
From one weekend to the next or longer in our walk in cooler (36 degrees)... Meat is always as good as it gets..
Let it hang...mold is a good thing. And I appreciate SpencerL's journal article. A must read.
I cool and get the hide of as soon as I can. Quarter, bag and get in the fridge at 35 degrees +_. I have let them go up to 9 days with no problem, but I shoot for 5-6.
How long the meat is aged depends primarily on the temperature at which it's aged. Fresh meat may keep 48 hours in 70 degree weather, and 30 days or more @ 34 degrees. If it's cold enough to freeze, it will keep for weeks - though it will dry out and doesn't really "age".
I love the taste of fresh venison, and also of well aged venison. Proper aging changes the texture of the meat and the taste. I would say the texture is like a fine aged beef filet, the taste is like fine aged cheese - a slightly enhanced, smooth, mellow, taste.
As the meat ages, the color will also change - it will be more of a deep merlot red, rather than fresh meat red. The meat will also loose some moisture.
Take some well aged venison, dip in seasoned flour and fry in a hot pan. Serve covered with butter sauteed mushrooms and beverage of choice.
I don't know how many deer I've processed and eaten... lots and lots: some very good, some not so much. And I've tried to find some common denominator that separates the best ones from the others. I can't. I've come to believe there is enough individual variation among deer that aging is a fairly minor contributing factor to quality of the final product.
i've let'em hang for up to three weeks before... honestly, i forgot that i had one hanging in our walk in cooler(37-38 degrees) for that long and mold was growing on it. i decided, what the heck, and cut the mold off and threw the backstraps on the grill cooked to medium rare and you could cut it with a fork it was so tender. i at least let it hang a week, two weeks at best
Well my deer are still walking around in the woods and have aged about 2 months. :banghead:
When I do finally get one I like to let them hang about 4-5 days with the hide off.
Once upon a time in my twenties, I hung a hock in the garage and visited it every couple days with a plate and a boning knife. Scrape the mold off and cut a steak or two. It was all gone after about 2 1/2 weeks. The temp was perfect though. Never over 40 and hardly freezing at night. YUM! I'd do it again if the temps were right. I have also paid a processor to hold my deer in his walk-in for a week to age before I took it home and cut it up. Yum! as well! :)
Deer and elk that I kill get cut up immediately. I carry a cooler full of ice in my truck. If I can manage it I will put them in the freezer the same day. They taste good to me. Gary
QuoteOriginally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
I've quit ageing venison. We package two or three a year for family and friends and if the meat is clean and well-drained, I don't find any difference between aged and non aged meat.
Beef we hang for two weeks. Deer we cut up immediately.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I grind all but the back straps so if I have time the same day I'll do the grinding if not then the next day.
We keep ours at LEAST a week in a walk in cooler it definitely tastes better
With hide on you don't get a bark on outside
If temps are right, I keep them hung for about 5-7 days. If not, they go on ice for at least a couple days.
I personally believe it makes for better eating, even if it all gets ground up.
About 4 1/2 to 6 years just depends how smart he is, or how lucky i am. :laughing:
dont shoot and you dont have to age :rolleyes: ;)
I recently got one out of the cooler(38degrees)that had been in there for 21 days. It had mold growing on it about an inch thick. I proceeded to trim the mold off and throw it on grill and in crock pot with the hind quarters. The result was unbelievable. I cut the strap with a butter knife it was so tender. THis is the only way i will do a mature bucks back strap.
I have been a Meat cutter for 40+ years so have had more than a little experience with this subject. Each person has a different taste in meat so ageing is more a matter of taste . In a cooler that is kept at a constant temp of 38 degrees the chemical break down of the meat is over 72 hours any thing after that is decomposition or ageing of the meat. Ageing will alter the taste and texture of the meat . To me personally meat of any kind is better fresh by that i mean when the meat is cooled completely through it's time for some hot grease .
had one freeze on me last year in my garage when the temps got in the single digits in december. Didn't get to it till it thawed in february, my wife was a little bothered by the headless skinless animal hanging upside down next to her car all winter but it tasted delicious!
At least three days in ice water
How bout them Mississippian's! A little mold never hurt anyone :thumbsup:
Skin 'em, butcher 'em, and freeze 'em, as soon as posssible.... the way we do it around here. That mold stuff scares us.
Well, always was under the impression that hanging (aging) beef, deer or whatever tenderizes the meat. We always had access to a walk-in cooler and kept it at 38.
To get quality beef usally required 2-4 weeks.
Deer we usally aged 5-7 days depending on the size.
Of course aging does not mean just hanging a deer. Other factors must be taken into account. Temperature, humidity and air cirrculation.
Hand mine as long as I can. Early season that means butcher it next day, late season I like 5-7 days. I find it goes throught the grinder easier if it's hung awhile.