Aging

[elkhunt2434]

How long do people usually age elk meat?

 

[Laramie]

How long do people usually age elk meat?

Want to buy something in the classifieds, ehh?

 

[isocyanate]

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

 

[Laramie]

How long do people usually age elk meat?

I have a few packages from 2024 that are still aging in the freezer.

If I have a climate controlled cooler that I can hang meat in, I age 14 days. If not, I age 1 week with quarters in vented igloo style coolers with ice blocks ensuring the meat stays out of the melting ice water.

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Depends on temp, I’ve butchered day after, or 2 weeks. Haven’t had issues with meat. All tasted the same, lot of times I prefer quicker to not have as much loss from dried meat on the outside.


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[wytx]

Anywhere from 1 week to 14 days. Walk in cooler with a Coolbot controller.
Anything getting ground, not near as long.

 

[idelkslayer]

The main thing is to wait until rigor mortis is over and the muscle fibers have relaxed. 48 hours I think, longer (another 24 hours) in cold temperatures. Everything after that is an incremental gain. That said, I usually wait 4-7 days and butcher one or two quarters a night so by the time I finish the last quarter it might have aged 10 days.

 

[wapitibob]

Mine stays in the cooler for about a week.

 

[rayporter]

by the time i get it off the mountain and drive home it has been five days. then cut up as soon as i can.

 

[CMF]

I've wet aged up to 30 days.

 

[270-300]

I dont go out of my way to age elk but it does take me a while to get it cut up.

The one i shot last fall, i shot about 10 am. I cut it up , put it in alaska game bags and hung it in the shade while i retrieved my frame pack from my vehicle. This let the meat cool off to the ambient 50 degrees with a stiff breeze. . I like this better than locking hot meat in a cooler. I had it packed out and on ice by 4 pm. I had it in 2 large coolers, with 110 lbs of ice spread over all of the meat. I waited until 9 am the next morning to start my cutting. Some did not get finished until the next day. So far it has all been very tender, more so than commercial beef. Sorry I do not have any scientific test results for you.

The pheasants I shot i hung whole for 9-11 days. They are very tender.

 

[robby denning]

we just did 14 on @Cashman bull and it wasn't enough.

I don't have the lab-age back but I'm guessing a 5+ bull.

We've eaten rounds (as jerky), sirloin & backstrap and all are tougher than my buck that was lab-aged at 6 and also right around that 14 day mark.

Bull still tastes fine, just a little more chewin' than I like.

I had Chef McGannon on the Rokcast last fall and he likes 28 days for bulls.

https://www.rokslide.com/tt68-dry-aging-wild-game-with-chef-john-mcgannon/