Dry-Aging Wild Game with Chef McGannon

[robby denning]

Super pumped about having this guy on. We launch into dry-aging and then a lot more about getting the best wild game meat.

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

 

[Schmo]

Very interesting podcast, Robby! Perfect timing since I have quarters in the freezer!

Thanks for all the hard work that goes into the podcast. It’s appreciated!

 

[robby denning]

Very interesting podcast, Robby! Perfect timing since I have quarters in the freezer!

Thanks for all the hard work that goes into the podcast. It’s appreciated!

u mucho welcomo!

this episode is perfect for those frozen quarters. 80% of the time i'm aging frozen quarters because it was either too warm or I was too busy right after the hunt.

I've dry-aged quarters that were frozen from fall to February before umthawing with no noticable decrease in quality.

let us know how it goes.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

Another great episode!
I age 5-15 days, but in a cooler on ice most of the time. It's never wet, but not really dry aging. The blood drains out, and I have to pull the meat out and add ice every other day, but I don't have to trim any loss from the cuts. No off flavors in any of our meat that we have noticed over the past few years (21 animals). Family and friends often comment, “that’s not the venison I grew up eating.”

 

[twil]

Thanks for the episode!

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Another great episode @robby denning and important to note that making the most of our meat is good for us, respects the animal, and goes a long way in making hunters relevant and credible in this day and age.

I wonder what John (or WKRs) would think of meat that is fated for sausage or burger. Does dry aging make a significant difference, or is that something that can be processed sooner? For context, I usually shoot to hang or cooler age (depending on outside temp) meat for 5-10 days before final butchering. I then take all the "grind" meat and freeze it in big blocks for later grinding and sausage making. I prefer doing my sausage making later because it allows me to see how much I have and I can then adjust how much of each I make based on what is available.

 

[robby denning]

Another great episode @robby denning and important to note that making the most of our meat is good for us, respects the animal, and goes a long way in making hunters relevant and credible in this day and age.

I wonder what John (or WKRs) would think of meat that is fated for sausage or burger. Does dry aging make a significant difference, or is that something that can be processed sooner? For context, I usually shoot to hang or cooler age (depending on outside temp) meat for 5-10 days before final butchering. I then take all the "grind" meat and freeze it in big blocks for later grinding and sausage making. I prefer doing my sausage making later because it allows me to see how much I have and I can then adjust how much of each I make based on what is available.

Thanks Luke for the listen.

John and I have talked about that.

Grinding does the tenderizing part but it does nothing for removing the strong flavor of the capillary blood. You'll notice when you unthaw your burger, there is less blood on the plate.

Same with jerky, and sausage. I can tell pretty quickly if jerky came from a dry-aged animal (mellow) or not (strong). I just made a batch of whole muscle jerky from a buck that was aged 15+ days: tender, and mellow. And these were from the tougher rounds, not just the sirloins

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Thanks Luke for the listen.

John and I have talked about that.

Grinding does the tenderizing part but it does nothing for removing the strong flavor of the capillary blood. You'll notice when you unthaw your burger, there is less blood on the plate.

Same with jerky, and sausage. I can tell pretty quickly if jerky came from a dry-aged animal (mellow) or not (strong). I just made a batch of whole muscle jerky from a buck that was aged 15+ days: tender, and mellow. And these were from the tougher rounds, not just the sirloins

Makes sense - I'll start taking the time with everything then. Sounds well worth it!

 

[MarkOrtiz]

Another great episode @robby denning and important to note that making the most of our meat is good for us, respects the animal, and goes a long way in making hunters relevant and credible in this day and age.

I wonder what John (or WKRs) would think of meat that is fated for sausage or burger. Does dry aging make a significant difference, or is that something that can be processed sooner? For context, I usually shoot to hang or cooler age (depending on outside temp) meat for 5-10 days before final butchering. I then take all the "grind" meat and freeze it in big blocks for later grinding and sausage making. I prefer doing my sausage making later because it allows me to see how much I have and I can then adjust how much of each I make based on what is available.

I too like to make sausage and grind later after I see what we are running low on. I precut my grind into slices that will fit in my grinder and freeze in a 1 gallon Ziplock freezer bag. A gallon bag usually holds about 6 lbs. I do notice when it is defrosted a lot of the blood still comes out of the meat. After I empty the bag I usually have about a cup or two of blood left in the bag that I can dump out. Still no off flavor, but I probably over trim any fat or silverskin off my grind.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

u mucho welcomo!

this episode is perfect for those frozen quarters. 80% of the time i'm aging frozen quarters because it was either too warm or I was too busy right after the hunt.

I've dry-aged quarters that were frozen from fall to February before umthawing with no noticable decrease in quality.

let us know how it goes.

Listening now. Pulled 8 quarters out of the freezer yesterday and moved outside to the old chest freezer setup as a cooler.

 

[dahamp2003]

View attachment 968928

Super pumped about having this guy on. We launch into dry-aging and then a lot more about getting the best wild game meat.

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

Excellent. That's a solid setup. Makes my whitetail qtrs in my garage fridge look small....lol

 

[robby denning]

Excellent. That's a solid setup. Makes my whitetail qtrs in my garage fridge look small....lol

I think John said those were Tule elk quarters.

 

[TimberHunter]

Great episode. Just got back with some deboned Sitka blacktail I want to try this on. I’m assuming if I do it in my main fridge where the doors are opened a good number of times per day, that will be enough air management to keep the humidity low enough?

 

[robby denning]

Great episode. Just got back with some deboned Sitka blacktail I want to try this on. I’m assuming if I do it in my main fridge where the doors are opened a good number of times per day, that will be enough air management to keep the humidity low enough?

probably. just watch it. You can tell if the humidity is getting high. There will be mold not matter what, but it shouldn't be really damp in there.

Before my old fridge in the garage died, I'd just crack the door at night when the garage was cool and that did the trick.

If your main fridge is in the house, it may be too warm (and if you're married, you have the greatest wife on the planet)

Do remember that deboned meat provides the least yield when you dry-age just because so much surface area is exposed. I've done it, though and while I lost more trim, the meat was excellent. There's a link below on that process. Do let us know how it turns out.

Thread 'The Deer Aging Thread'

Jan 18, 2019

OK, we've had a few threads about this subject come and go with lots of interest. Some guys have PM'd me about my method. I wrote a big blog post on it a few years back here but it was more about the chef who taught me the method and didn't lay out the pics and details of the aging process.

So on this buck from last fall, I decided I do the entire 21-28 day process in a thread.

Some of the PMs and comments I've received are guys worrying about time of year they shot the buck, no walk-in cooler...

• robby denning
• Replies: 172
• Forum: Meat & Trophy Care

•