Aging meat

[870]

if you dont have a walk in cooler, hang it in your fridge. airflow around the meat is the key

 

[LOCALAK907]

If the temps are below 40f we hang our Moose 14-20days and the difference is noticeable. All the grains relax and tougher cuts are tinder and all the flavors seem to mellow.


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[MeatBuck]

I have what I call the meat fridge. It also generally has beer in the door. The key is a three rack(as in stainless oven rack) system. Top rack has backstraps/small loose chunks and is just far enough from the top of the fridge to promote air flow. Next level has shoulders boned out (usually but not always). Evenly space the second and third racks for good air space. And finally put the hind quarters on third rack bone in or out depending on how/where I broke the deer down. The spacing leaves me enough room for the head and hide to be tossed in the bottom. (This is especially nice when it's late and your ready for bed, you don't have to frig around with caping the skull and sawing off antlers.)
I will leave deer meat in there for about 10-14 days depending on when I have time to butcher it. Checking it for mold and flipping the pieces over after a week or so.
Yes there's a lot of trim because of how much air exposure the meat gets being off bone. However the end result is backstraps that can be seasoned, flash seared and served nearly cool to the touch in the center. Like mentioned above, it can be like sushi grade tuna.

 

[smokin x's]

Ive always hung and aged red meat when possible. Later in the year a garage works just fine. If its too warm, a fridge will work. The big thing is moisture. You don't want the meat in direct contact with moisture, at the same time, you don't want the humidity too low or you end up with a ton of biltong.

If youve got the conditions to age, then its just finding a balance of desired flavor/texture, and loss. The longer you age, the more loss you will have.

FWIW I've got almost 20 years in food service, the last 5 of which have been in whole carcass butchery.



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[wytx]

Coolbot and a window a/c works great. Build yourself a walkin cooler with a coolbot, even in your garage. They last and work surprisingly well.

 

[kirkschopped67]

The ageing of meat is a very important part of have consumable product. Those hunters who think it is cool to kill your deer today and have it wrapped and frozen in 2-3 days are misinformed. This follows along with using the havalon knife and not 100% understanding the CWD law. You should be band from hunting until you complete a education class and are certified. If fact we all should have to past a classon CWD and meat handling before we can get a permit to hunt anything.

 

[Boxerboxer]

The ageing of meat is a very important part of have consumable product. Those hunters who think it is cool to kill your deer today and have it wrapped and frozen in 2-3 days are misinformed. This follows along with using the havalon knife and not 100% understanding the CWD law. You should be band from hunting until you complete a education class and are certified. If fact we all should have to past a classon CWD and meat handling before we can get a permit to hunt anything.

I'm a fan of aging meat, but what does a havalon knife have to do with CWD? And what state has CWD laws that affect aging meat? I could see the argument that it would be nice not to pay a processor before you find out if your deer was CWD positive, I guess, but that's a practical issue rather than a legal one. Finally, I think the idea of banning people from hunting because they don't do meat care a certain way is ludicrous. Hunter education should focus on avoiding waste and spoilage, and sure, maybe touch on best practices, but beyond that, if someone is happy with the results of their deer when they butcher same day, more power to them (even though I personally would never do that unless I really had to).

Disclaimer: it's possible some of this is just me not really understanding your point. I worded this a little strongly toward the end, hopefully it doesn't come off too aggressive.

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[kirkschopped67]

It is not to aggressive. This dialog needs to happen. I have found that the same hunters that do not care about field care, do not know CWD law or abid by the law. They are also bad representatives for the sport. This comes from 43 year of being in the hunting business. This may come to a shock to most people, but I see on a daily bases the neglectful behavior from these hunters. It afects my bottom line.

 

[realunlucky]

The ageing of meat is a very important part of have consumable product. Those hunters who think it is cool to kill your deer today and have it wrapped and frozen in 2-3 days are misinformed. This follows along with using the havalon knife and not 100% understanding the CWD law. You should be band from hunting until you complete a education class and are certified. If fact we all should have to past a classon CWD and meat handling before we can get a permit to hunt anything.

I'll bet that 80% of the members of Rokslide use a replacement blade style knife system.

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[Boxerboxer]

It is not to aggressive. This dialog needs to happen. I have found that the same hunters that do not care about field care, do not know CWD law or abid by the law. They are also bad representatives for the sport. This comes from 43 year of being in the hunting business. This may come to a shock to most people, but I see on a daily bases the neglectful behavior from these hunters. It afects my bottom line.

Tracking now. Do you think it's a gear problem or a technique problem? I don't send my stuff to a taxidermist in my relatively short hunting "career" but if I shot soething crazy...

 

[smokin x's]

The ageing of meat is a very important part of have consumable product. Those hunters who think it is cool to kill your deer today and have it wrapped and frozen in 2-3 days are misinformed. This follows along with using the havalon knife and not 100% understanding the CWD law. You should be band from hunting until you complete a education class and are certified. If fact we all should have to past a classon CWD and meat handling before we can get a permit to hunt anything.

okay ill bite...

What does a replaceable blade knife have to do with someone's preference on aging wild game or understanding CWD laws?

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[Azone]

The ageing of meat is a very important part of have consumable product. Those hunters who think it is cool to kill your deer today and have it wrapped and frozen in 2-3 days are misinformed. This follows along with using the havalon knife and not 100% understanding the CWD law. You should be band from hunting until you complete a education class and are certified. If fact we all should have to past a classon CWD and meat handling before we can get a permit to hunt anything.

You sure it's a Havalon issue? I cant tell you how many times I've seen deer go bad from a Buck, Gerber, Benchmade or Victornoix.
Unless the meat is cut with a handcrafted 1000 layer Damascus steel blade straight from Japan the meat just goes to shit man.

Signed, Azone who has never ruined a carcass because he used a Crapalon for field dressing and processing.

 

[Team4LongGun]

I

Coolbot and a window a/c works great. Build yourself a walkin cooler with a coolbot, even in your garage. They last and work surprisingly well.

I did this in my barn-it’s about 8x10 and fully insulated with the 2” foam boards floor to ceiling. A coolbot and window AC gets it down to 37 degrees in 3 hours with outside temps in the 70’s. We let the deer hang and age 7-10 days before butchering and the difference is definitely noticeable. For us, we like to leave the hide on so that we don’t have any crusty outer to have to hand trim. With the cooler blowing cold air, the deer cools plenty fast enough.

 

[MeatBuck]

Here's another way to do it in the "Meat fridge".

 

[Mike 338]

Aging meat is a very specific process. Lots of guys hang it in the garage and when they're done, they declare it's gamey and toss it. Talk about being right out of the Middle Ages. What they did was rot it. Gott'a keep it between 41 and 45 degrees on a rack. "Gamey" is when your antelope tastes like the sage it's been eating. Rotten is just rotten.

Cool it down fast and keep it cold and you'll have a freezer full of meat to enjoy.

 

[Tranger03]

Took two cow elk over Labor Day weekend. Didn’t plan for there not to be a butcher open anywhere and had to let them hang, in game bags, in a barn for 48 hrs. Was too hot and the meat didn’t get cooled down fast enough. The butcher notified us that the meat had gone bad. A real shame not to be able to have any of that meat.

 

[jspradley]

Here's another way to do it in the "Meat fridge".
View attachment 121336

Now that just looks naughty

 

[Azone]

Took two cow elk over Labor Day weekend. Didn’t plan for there not to be a butcher open anywhere and had to let them hang, in game bags, in a barn for 48 hrs. Was too hot and the meat didn’t get cooled down fast enough. The butcher notified us that the meat had gone bad. A real shame not to be able to have any of that meat.

You guys didn't have any ice chests or friends that would let you borrow some?

 

[Tranger03]

You guys didn't have any ice chests or friends that would let you borrow some?

No, we were hunting out of state on a guided hunt. Didn’t really have access to anything like that. The property we were on has since begun construction of a cooler.

 

[Azone]

How were you guys gonna get meat back home? Donate? Seems odd the guide/outfitter did not have something lined up to keep meat from going bad. Well some lessons learned in life definitely suck more than others.