Aging big game meat

[osage outlaw]

This is an interesting article about aging wild game to get the best quality meat.  I keep a deer in the fridge for 7-10 days before processing it.  That seems to fall in line with what the author suggests.

h ttp://www.theoutdoorlodge.com/features/articles/wild_game/aging_big_game.html

[bjrogg]

I didn't watch the video Clint, but it sounds like I do similar to you. We have a old fridge in the shop. We have all the shelves taken out. I usually let the whole carcasse hang if it's cold enough, but if it's to warm I just quarter them up. I wrap them in a towel and stack em in the fridge for a week or more if there's enough room for everyone.
Bjrogg

[Hawkdancer]

I generally use a processor who Is a distant cousin(really distant) but he likes to Hang the meat at least 14 days or more depending on space available.  Everything I have read says at least 14 days preferably 21 days at 35-40 degrees F.  There is a lot of variance between processors, I think space available in the cooler is what you get.  If I had room, I would go for 21 Days, assuming the meat was actually hanging.
Hawkdancer

[PEARL DRUMS]

I hung one for 60 days once. Best ever. The outside was blackened for age. The inside was very dark.

[Pat B]

Clint, I do the same as you.
 I shot a young doe a few years ago, dropped her in her tracks(gun). I cut her up but didn't age her and she was the toughest meat ever. For me, aging really makes a difference with flavor and reducing toughness. Most of the meat you buy ar the grocery store has been aged for 7 to 14 days. Better cuts of meat aged longer.

[mullet]

It is very hot down here during hunting season and I don't have a fridge to hang meat in. I usually leave it in a cooler of ice for a week ,draining the water everyday and adding ice as needed.

[BowEd]

Sounds like good enough solution mullet.You guys should know about warm fall weather.It's nice to let them season a couple weeks if weather allows it.Down to at least 40 degrees.It's all good.Piecing them out into 5 gallon pails deboned into a cooler frig is my solution during warm weather.Too warm being hung over time can create a mold if skinned and then a vinager bath is called for too yet.

[willie]

I cut her up but didn't age her and she was the toughest meat ever.

Pat, did it go into the freezer?

[Pat B]

Yes it did Willie.

[JW_Halverson]

"Antelope carcasses shold be cut and wrapped for the freezer within 3 days after the kill. This short aging period helps prevent the "liver-like" or "mushy" texture often found in antelope meat."  B.S.!  I have typically hung antelope a week to two weeks at the 34-38 degree temp range and I have never had mushy or livery meat. 

The rest of the article is pretty much spot on.  Like the author and others have said, I have had the WORST luck cutting up a deer same day.  Even the ground meat was so tough you couldn't hardly get a fork into the gravy!

All told, aging game is a wonderful way to get the absolute best from it.  Even my game birds get aged, grouse and pheasant get aged up to a week in the bottom of the fridge before gutting, plucking, and washing.  Two caveats, and you better make note of these because if you don't you can kill yourself with salmonella:  1) no wet birds, not even damp.  Dry feathers only!  2) No heavily shot up birds.  If they are chewed up by getting peppered by three people hitting at once, you might wanna just carve that one up same day for making stir fry!

[Pappy]

I sometimes  let them hang a few days in the cooler with the hide on, unless I plan on tanning the hide then I skin  while they are still hot if possible, then bone them out and put them in the cooler covered with ice or just water, before I had the cooler I would use ice or an old fridge with the shelves out. I will soak them at least 3 days sometimes 5 or 6, changing the water everyday, first day the water is very bloody the after about 3 days the water is almost clear, I will put it on a rack in the cooler for a day to drain and then cut and wrap or grind, I have never had any tough or bad tasting deer no matter weather it was and old buck or young doe, can't tell the difference. It's a little trouble but you get some really prime meat. Everyone has there own way and opinion but that is the way I have done it for 40 years , ever since I carried my first deer to a processor and it was almost uneatable for us.  Some say they like that wild Game taste, but not me. 
 Pappy

[JW_Halverson]

It's a little trouble but you get some really prime meat.

 Pappy

For most of us, the PROCESS is more interesting than the product.  Why else do we go so far off the beaten path in order to produce something? So, yeah, it IS a little trouble, but we cut our teeth on troubles, don't we? 

I scouted yesterday in the area where I plan to hunt my one and only deer tag this year. Lot of driving, lot of walking, lot of whistling my dog back to me on a rainy/snowy fall day. The colors in the hardwoods among the pines are extraordinary.  I saw a few does, one cute little mule deer buck that my license protects from harm or foul play, and blew a tire in the middle of utterly nowhere. Changing a tire in the mud was the only downside of the game. Holly, at the tire center, got me fixed up for a mere $10, simple puncture....or as she said it, just got the wind knocked outa him!  Process...a little effort as Pappy said.

[Danzn Bar]

Some say they like that wild Game taste, but not me. 
 Pappy

I agree 100%...I think they're just making excuses for bad processing. 
DBar

[Pappy]

Yep, I think so also DBar.
 Pappy

[H Rhodes]

I do like Pappy and Eddie.  South Alabama doesn’t get enough periods of cold temperatures to allow hanging one up outside for very long.  I process my own.  Deer processors aren’t held to the same health standards as meat markets, so I am leery of them.  I rinse and change the ice for a few days and get few complaints on my venison.  I do wild hog the same way with an added step of the first day soaking in ice water with a good dose of baking soda in the water.  That baking soda step really helps the flavor on the pigs-you just have to make sure you rinse it good before adding clean ice for the next day of soaking.  About that third day, pig is ready for the smoker or the pit.