Another aging question

[mi650]

I have a deer that I'm thinking of aging, never done it before. I have a hoist in my garage where I can let it hang for as long as I want, temps concern me though. Highs are supposed to be in the low 50s today & tomorrow, then 60ish for a couple days. After that, 40s and below for the foreseeable future. Only have one night with a predicted low above 40 for the next 2 weeks.

Another option, I have an empty fridge in the garage. If I go that route, wrap it in Saran wrap, cheesecloth, do wrap...?

TIA!


ETA: If I let it hang, skin it or not?

 

[Ferkinator]

I have a deer that I'm thinking of aging, never done it before. I have a hoist in my garage where I can let it hang for as long as I want, temps concern me though. Highs are supposed to be in the low 50s today & tomorrow, then 60ish for a couple days. After that, 40s and below for the foreseeable future. Only have one night with a predicted low above 40 for the next 2 weeks.

Another option, I have an empty fridge in the garage. If I go that route, wrap it in Saran wrap, cheesecloth, do wrap...?

TIA!


ETA: If I let it hang, skin it or not?

This should be good. I recently cut up a buck after 6 days hanging and had similar temps, one day hit 63. everything was great, wish it hung a bit longer.

I always skin the animal. it's much easier fresh and I don't like the connective tissue being somewhat slimy after a week hanging. I have done a whitetail doe up to 28 days. Really just as an experiment. the meat looked great after the leathery dry skin was cut off, which ended up being a lot of the meat. That's where things get a little nuanced. That long amount of time (28 days )ended up producing great meat with less blood and sort of more tender but not a must have for me. Generally for me (weather permitting) I do a minimum of 5 days. This lets the muscle tissue relax a bit and some of that excess moisture or blood leak out. The sweet spot I feel is 14 days. you get the best of both worlds while not losing a lot of meat. I never wrap the carcass in anything, but hanging in game bags or cheesecloth should be fine. Basically this method is dry aging. DO NOT use saran wrap, you will lock moisture in and promote bacteria growth if hanging in garage.


You can use the wet aging method if you are in a pinch or just want to try it for smaller cuts. Basically you will take a muscle group and vac seal it leave in your fridge until blood pools in the bag, cut it open, drain the blood pat it dry and re-vac seal. you can repeat this process several times up to about a week.

 

[mi650]

Another thing, by mid-late afternoon it will be warmer in the garage than outside temps. So 60ish outside will be 70ish in there. Right now though, it's noticeably cooler, 7-8 degrees I'd say.

 

[Ferkinator]

Another thing, by mid-late afternoon it will be warmer in the garage than outside temps. So 60ish outside will be 70ish in there. Right now though, it's noticeably cooler, 7-8 degrees I'd say.

if you have a concrete floor, it should retain a lot of those cooler temps, at least in my garage it did. if this is a worry you can run a fan to help build that "crust" on the carcass. this will help protect the meat through the temp changes.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

ideal conditions: 34-40F with 1.7-2mph wind current and 75% humidity for up to 6 days post mortem. Commercial meat industry hangs for up to 12 days in these conditions, but beef is not deer. Slaughtered animals go through a cold bath and sanitization process before hanging...we don't have that benefit so we rely on muscle chemistry to tell us when to stop aging for best results.

If temps are 40-50F should be fine for 4-6 days post mortem depending on handling and storage conditions. By day 5 the muscles have drained all they're going to drain and cellular glycolysis has been complete and resulted in maximum tenderness by day 6.

The warmer storage temps the faster glycolysis completes the cycle to lactic acid and the faster meat tenderizes, but all my studies show all processes are as done as done on day 6 post mortem, so no need to hang longer hoping for better or more tender results.

There are exceptions to "aging techniques" for different people and purposes. The above is straight up a scientific chemistry understanding that is repeatable every time.

 

[TreeDux]

Those first couple days of warmer temps make me a bit nervous in the garage. In the refrigerator I don’t wrap it in anything. I do spread it out as much as possible and put a cookie sheet on the bottom to catch the blood.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Have you ever tired wet aging instead of dry aging? My experience with aging venison here in AZ and back in CA, where it’s too hot to dry age, is that wet aging is quite effective.

We dry age up in minnesota with excellent results, wet aging in hotter climates also achieves good results.

 

[mi650]

if you have a concrete floor, it should retain a lot of those cooler temps, at least in my garage it did. if this is a worry you can run a fan to help build that "crust" on the carcass. this will help protect the meat through the temp changes.

Yep, concrete floor. And it does stay cool in there for a while, but starts to warm up about 2:00. Black roof and uninsulated.

 

[mi650]

Those first couple days of warmer temps make me a bit nervous in the garage. In the refrigerator I don’t wrap it in anything. I do spread it out as much as possible and put a cookie sheet on the bottom to catch the blood.

Me too. And I have let one hang for a few days several years ago, not intentionally aging. I just happened to shoot him on day 1 of a 5 day weekend. Temps never got above 50, though.

 

[mi650]

Have you ever tired wet aging instead of dry aging? My experience with aging venison here in AZ and back in CA, where it’s too hot to dry age, is that wet aging is quite effective.

We dry age up in minnesota with excellent results, wet aging in hotter climates also achieves good results.

I haven't.



And a couple other questions came to mind.

What about removing the backstraps & tenderloins? Is there any point to aging them?

Something I recall reading years ago, probably in Field and Stream. The article said that the trachea & esophagus were the 1st to spoil. So I'm wondering about getting those out at least?

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I haven't.



And a couple other questions came to mind.

What about removing the backstraps & tenderloins? Is there any point to aging them?

Something I recall reading years ago, probably in Field and Stream. The article said that the trachea & esophagus were the 1st to spoil. So I'm wondering about getting those out at least?

I always get the trachea and esophagus pretty much all the way out when hanging a whole deer to dry age. I do not remove the prime cuts when dry aging.

 

[mi650]

I always get the trachea and esophagus pretty much all the way out when hanging a whole deer to dry age. I do not remove the prime cuts when dry aging.

Ah, well they're already in the fridge.

 

[TreeDux]

You didn’t hurt ( or help) a thing by removing the “good cuts”. As far as wet aging I have done it plenty. It works just fine. The things to go for there is to keep it from actually sitting in the water. Plenty of ways to accomplish that. Also, and it probably goes without saying, but you wet age for a fraction of the time that you might dry age. I don’t like to keep meat on ice for much more than five days. Lastly, if you were going to grind any of your wet aged meat, do whatever you can to get it as dry and as cold as possible before you put it through the grinder.

 

[mi650]

You didn’t hurt ( or help) a thing by removing the “good cuts”. As far as wet aging I have done it plenty. It works just fine. The things to go for there is to keep it from actually sitting in the water. Plenty of ways to accomplish that. Also, and it probably goes without saying, but you wet age for a fraction of the time that you might dry age. I don’t like to keep meat on ice for much more than five days. Lastly, if you were going to grind any of your wet aged meat, do whatever you can to get it as dry and as cold as possible before you put it through the grinder.

I don't have it on ice, it's in a refrigerator.

 

[UncleBone]

I dry aged a deer in the fridge last year for a month. Just quartered it out, and put it on racks to keepnit from sitting in any juices. Also, opened the fridge once or twice a day to get some fresh air in there.

 

[Arctic Hunter]

I put it layered in a cooler with ice. Always put a good bed of ice down and add ice as I go. I leave it at least 7 days but have gone as long as 12-14. It really improves the flavor. Been doing it that way for years.

 

[Gone4Days]

I quarter my buck in the field and bring it home to hang in the cooler for a week. Works great. Stays at a great humidity level (80%) so the outer layer doesnt skin over

 

[Trybendr]

When I lived back east east I had a “beer / deer” fridge in my garage. I would take the shelves out when I killed then slide a 2x4 across the top that would usually hold your top shelf in the fridge. I would then hang my quarters from this.

Now, recently living Wyoming I had to improvise for elk. I have a chest freezer I normally used for a cold plunge that is currently holding a cow elk. I just used my ink bird temp regulator to keep the freezer at 35 degrees with a 2 degree dead band and placed the quarters in there upright on some 2x4s Incase blood drains they don’t lay in it. Saturday will be 14 days so I’ll see if I notice a difference.

 

[Jeep351]

I live way down in Southern Louisiana, so the only option for dry aging is the fridge. I quarter the deer, hang the two hind quarters in the fridge using a 2X4 and have a catch pan at the bottom for drips. I Vacuum seal the backstrap and inner loins and throw them in the door of the fridge and let them wet age at the same time. Neck and front shoulders always get braised, so there is no need to age them and they just get frozen. I normally age for 2 weeks. I've done up to a month, but the meat loss is too much for me. One piece of advise I haven't heard on this thread yet, is to not allow the meat to touch. I once tried to fit 4 hind quarters in the fridge... where the quarters rested against each other bacteria started to grow and I started getting a horrible smell, lost a lot of meat on that one. Every other time I have had perfect results. I will ALWAYS dry age my hindquarters going forward, the difference in taste and tenderness is undeniable.