Trad Gang

Any of you that process your own deer, how long do you like to let the meat age before you cut it up?

4 days minimum 8 days maximum - I try for 7 for mature deer.
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Kill it and cut it! There's no reason to let venison age. Peace!

Mine is usually cut and packaged the night of kill.

I usually quarter and remove the loins and back straps and bag them, then throw them in my beer fridge for three days to a week depending on my schedule, all bags need to have room for air to flow around them.

If its cool outside, I let it hang overnight and cut it the next day. If it's not cool outside, I cut it up ASAP

A constant temp of 36-38 degrees is required to age venison so unless you have it in a cooler it is almost impossible to do. If you have that, I go 5 days. Remember it starts to spoil at 40 degrees. That is why I usually cut mine the same day.

I've always kept mine on ice but dry for at least 7-10 days, then process and vacuum pack. Never had a bad batch.

+1 what Cory said.

I like to let mine hang for 7-8 days.

Aging meat is not an option in our area, unless you have a cooler. High here was in the mid to high 60's today.

A friend was asking me about this today.  He is "new" to deer hunting and several people told him to hang it in a cool area until it turns green.  Then scrape the green off and butcher it.  He was serious and said they were too.  

I gave him a little better advice than that...

I clean, skin and hang the 1st day. Hang overnight, then days 2-4 depending where I am start taking off a section at a time for triming and cutting it up. Wife packages the steaks, roasts etc while the pieces for grinding are put in large container and refrigerated till all complete. Then grind it into burger. I like to take 2 days for the triming and cutting.

Lots of folks in warmer parts of the country have never had the chance to let a deer age properly and swear it does no good anyway.  Butchers and processors often say it doesn't do any good either because the meat is not marbled like a cow but I've decided that line is used simply because they don't want your deer hanging in their cooler for a week before they cut it up and get their money.

I've been aging my deer meat for years and I'm convinced it makes a SIGNIFICANT difference.  Just today I cut up a doe that I shot last Sunday.  Starting that day, we had a cold front move in and the temp that night was in the 20's.  Monday only got up into the upper 30's.  Perfect!  Monday night was again in the upper 20's but the daytime high on Tuesday was forcast to be about 50.  At 5am Tuesday before leaving for work, I wrapped the hanging deer in two tarps to insulate it for the day.  Tuesday night was only down into the low to mid 30's which was still okay.  In conditions like those, I'd leave that deer hang for a week.  Getting a little below freezing at night and up into the high 40's in the day is about perfect if the hide is left on.  Deer meat is slow to freeze until it gets down to the low 20's for several hours and slow to warm up with the hide on.  Especially if wrapped and hung in the shade.  

I have a breezeway between the shed and the house that is perfect for this.

Wednesday it was getting warmer so after work I skinned the deer, quartered it and cut the backstraps out and packed it all in a cooler with about 30 lbs of ice.  Didn't open the lid until today.  The ice was melted but everything was still real cold.  Cut it all up and have about 15 pounds of meat in the smoker right now for jerky.  Made chicken fried steaks today for lunch and they were absolutely fantastic.  Honestly some of the best I've ever eaten regardless of being deer or beef.  They were so good in fact that the kids wanted the same thing for supper!

If a fella had the extra room in his garage, it'd sure be nice to pick up an old refrigerator with the wire racks and put a drain pan in the bottom.  It would be easy to age your meat either on the shelves or by taking the shelves out and hanging from hooks.  The temp could be set perfectly and a fella could be confident things were under control.  I don't have that option but I'm comfortable with doing it the way I just described.  

Works for me!

If it is colder than 40, I let them hang 3-4 days. I killed a deer at Shrewhaven once on day #2 of a 10 day hunt. It stayed cold. No problem with spoilage.

I've stopped aging deer meat.  Maybe it's my unrefined palate, but I don't notice any difference at all.

For me, good deer meat is about getting it clean and getting rid of as much connective tissue as possible.

The reason I ask is that I have heard to let it age for at least 5 days and I have heard of people doing it longer than that.  I have heard several butchers say this.  I am new to this and am actually processing my own deer for the first time this year.  I killed one yesterday, brought it home, skinned and quartered it.  I placed the meat on racks in a extra fridge in the garage.  I will probably just work on it a little at a time throughout the week.  Thanks for the replies.

I have a cooler I let it hang 6-10 days. The temp is 38-42 in the last 20 years my family and I have butchered over 325 deer with no problems.

As stated, it all depends on the temp of where it is being aged.  I like 7 days if below 40 degrees.

We have done it about every way you can think of. My Dad used to say it had to hang (age) for a week when possible.As an example we hunted 10 days. temps were in the 20's to 40's. We always hung in the shade,skin off asap, wraped in game bags,and kept dry.We have shot deer the first day that hung the rest of the time we were there. And then shot another one on or about the last day of our trips. We process or owen and fried some of each as we butcherd. None of us could tell the diffrence between the one that hung 10 dys and the one that never realy aged at all. I think the most important thing is to get them clean,skinned, cooled and kept dry and process as soon as possible or immediately as temps. dictate.

I'm with Roger. If it's cold enough, hang them for a few days to break down the fibers. If not cold enough, get to processing them.

I have a walkin cooler at the ranch, 7 to 10 days here.........

when weather permitts.I like to leave it hang atleast 3-4 days its not often I get to do that but I see a big difference in the texture in the meat.It also taste better

I am with the 3+ day group if temps are good. Keep it cool and the texture and taste is better.

usually cut up with some in the skillet the same day.

For you guys who do not have access to a Walk In cooler. We use regular 48 and 80 quart plastic coolers and ice all the time. Super easy and don't worry about the meat getting wet since this will not hurt the meat at all. Some old hunting literature warns against this but it doesn't hold. We wash moose, elk, deer and pigs all the time in creeks and streams. Most important is clean and cool.

Now to the ice: I put a brick under one end so the cooler will drain leave the plug open. Next I put a few bricks inside and on the bottom of the cooler to hold the meat up off the bottom and facilitate draining. Put the bricks inside a ziploc or wrap in foil since these are porous you want to keep them clean. Then Ice and meat. In an 80 qt I use 40# ice and need to add 10# a day while aging. For the initial pack go meat to ice not meat to meat. For you guys who are not liking meat to ice you can put quarters in plastic bags but we have found this to be unnecessary. 4 quarters and the backbone trimmed for a good fit. I leave the tenders and straps on the bone for aging.

Our game meals have zero game taste  - many folks will not believe it is wild and our steaks are better than $50 meals in high profile steak houses.

When we hunt plantations - large clubs - and ranches we use walk in coolers since they are so easy.
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Not sure if anyone has brought up this point.....but....now I dont age meat myself....was told a little while back by a few old timers,  that hanging a deer in an atempt to "age" the meat does nothing if the hide is not removed!  Cold or cold temps,  no hide!  The old fellows in their day harvested more big bucks than I most likely ever could if I hunted full time.  Their families relied on the meat many years ago!    Is it true what they say about aging without the hide on?

I age mine for 1-3 weeks in a wallk in cooler with the hide on the animal.  After that period remove the hide no dried outer layer of meat and have NEVER had a bad deer.  There is no comparison in the quality of meat I have never had a tough backstrap from an aged animal.

Dry aged Beef is aged for 28 days.

Beef and venison are not the same, though.  Beef ages well because of the marbling of the fat content inside the meat.  Venison is very, very lean and just doesn't age the same.

Aging also breaks down muscle tissue not just the marbling matters. If you are fortunate enough to have access to a walk in cooler use it.  It is well worth it.

More than you have ever wanted to know about aging meat. They used beef but I would believe results would be similar.
http://www.beefresearch.org/CMDocs/BeefResearch/Industry%20Guide%20for%20Beef%20Aging.pdf

I used to let mine hang and I tried it in coolers or just in dark cool rooms but the last few I've butchered the following day and the meat has been better than any previous animals with the meat much milder and very little to no strong taste.  I have an uncle in Georgia that started out cutting meat when he was 12 in his families grocery store and kept going until he was almost 70 and he had been telling me for years not to mess with hanging my deer and elk but because it was what everyone else did I kept doing it.  I should have listened to him years ago, go figure my elder knew what he was talking about!

We have let them age up to a month(in cool temperatures). 1-2 weeks is a good amount of time.

iced down for 7days in cooler with drain plug open, place on incline to allow water/blood to drain out, quartered up w/ backstraps,never had any issues for the past 20years,

no wild game taste, and t-e-n-d-e-r!!!

Tenderness isnt just about "hanging" deer. The younger the animal the more tender it will be provided the animal is in good condition. Like the difference between eating lamb and a old ewe. If it is a mature buck or doe it needs to be hanged for a while. If the deer is hanging outside under a tree leave skin ON!!! or black crusty cra! will form on the outside and its a bugger to cut off.

Dave Bulla has it right, I like to age my venison in a refridge for at least 3 days then debone it if I haven't already. I like to also semi freeze the hind quarters if I plan to cut steaks, as it makes it much easier to cut evenly thick steaks.I believe PROPERLY aged venison is of higher quality.

In my humble opinion, the most important thing is to kill the deer while it is in a relaxed state. Skin and de-bone the meat immediately, slice out the fat and silver skin and tendons and process it as soon as possible. To me, this adds to the best eating deer.

I'm in the age it camp.  I keep a second old refrigerator around that I only plug in and us for aging meat.   I age my whole boned elk,pheasants, antelope, and deer in the same fridge.  

If you half to cut it ASAP, you can still dry age it.  When thawing it , place on a rack  with slits in the plastic and a pan to catch the blood/moisture.   Leave the meat in the fridge for 5-7 days to thaw before eating.   Try it for yourself and decide it you can tell the difference in flavor and texture.  

Aged/high heat/medium rare = delicious protein .

I used to own a 6'x6' walk in cooler box.  Do you fellas know how much electric one of those consumes in just a day?  My penny pinching wife would remind me that it was in the neighborhood of $25.00 per day. Of the times I've aged deer and the times I have not we could never tell the difference.  I butcher as soon as I can schedule it in, now.

I eat them both fresh and aged.  I try to age older deer or bucks taken close to or during the rut.  Aging is a process that permits the meat to begin to break down, changing the texture and taste.  It is time and weather dependent.  If you can maintain 32 - 36 degrees, a month isn't too long.  Warmer temps require less time.  Hanging in an unheated building, in the shade with good air flow, 20 degree nights and 50 degree days could let a deer age for 3 weeks - jsut watch it very carefully.  I prefer to age them skinned, though you do lose some meat to drying out.  

It seems if there's good air flow they keep better.  Wrapping in a game bag, old pillow case or bed sheet helps.  

The color and texture of the meat, as well as the flavor, will change as the meat ages.  

Try smaller pieces - a loin or ham, and see what happens.

A good young fawn or yearling gains little from aging.

I built my own cooler last year and hung 3 deer for 7 - 8 days at 35 degrees.  It was the mildest, best tasting venison my family has ever had.  I'm very happy with the results of aging.  

Also, it sure is nice to just come home and hang a deer in the cooler instead of having to butcher it into the night.

Interesting read tuscar.  Looks like the aging affects can take quite a while on beef.  I may try hanging my next deer for 2 weeks and see how it fares.