I'll try to be more preach-y next time. Maybe that'll fit better. And self-righteous; I forgot self-righteous.
This website is not a good place for you. Goodbye for a month.
@Ryan Avery
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I'll try to be more preach-y next time. Maybe that'll fit better. And self-righteous; I forgot self-righteous.
I have not.Have you dry aged bears before? If not, I'd suggest caution, the fat can go rancid very quickly, even in the fridge. A couple years ago I let life (aka a pregnant vegetarian wife) get in the way of processing my bear. I lost 1/2 the meat by day 10 in the fridge, and it was on ice within 2 hours of being shot.
Randy new berg did a short video on it and the meat contains a lot of parasites etc. I’ve read a few places where it’s not recommended for human consumption. Of course, you can cook it very well done and make it safe, but edible is the question.While I'm not trying to get involved in a wolf hunting debate, i've never heard that wolf meat isn't safe to eat. Where did you hear that biologist's say people shouldn't eat wolf meat and do you have any references/links that I can read up on it?
Just trying to piece together the logic or the breakdown thereof for your comments in your first post. Personally, I don't care why others hunt, kill, or process, or whether they respect it or not. That's their business.
So how clean your meat is has a massive impact on whether or not you can dry age successfully. Dry aging breeds mold. When meat is managed well and hung clean the is mold is a great natural part of the process. Impurities and surface contaminates breed bacteria and other non-healthy molds that can ruin a whole quarter. Generally the good stuff (mold) is white and grows flat over the surface, the bad stuff includes black spots, and green or blue growth. No one’s meat is perfect coming out of the field but I typically carefully wash it off and dry it EXTREMELY well. Then it gets hung in a stand up freezer I’ve converted for hanging, no shelves or drawers, aftermarket thermostat to hold it at 40 deg. And I put a massive sheet pan full of rice or desiccant to dehumidify, quarters put out a ton of moisture and moisture breeds bacteria.I am going to dry age this year; I have a bear and a phorn at the moment in coolers waiting for the young man's portable trailer walk-in thing to be available.
I didn't care too much about hair and debris when skinning out the phorn because I (perhaps incorrectly) assumed all of the exposed anything would be trimmed off as the rind. I see @Ucsdryder meat looks like a new born's pristine cheeks. It looks like he cut it up within a few days.
So, when you are expecting a rind to be on the meat, does hair, sticks, make a difference?
Definitely post the article on freezing affecting the dry aging process, if you find it. I personally haven't ever been able to dry age an animal that wasnt frozen first. I'd be curious to find out what I'm missing and how I can change my process. It might be the final push I need to build a walk-in cooler.So how clean your meat is has a massive impact on whether or not you can dry age successfully. Dry aging breeds mold. When meat is managed well and hung clean the is mold is a great natural part of the process. Impurities and surface contaminates breed bacteria and other non-healthy molds that can ruin a whole quarter. Generally the good stuff (mold) is white and grows flat over the surface, the bad stuff includes black spots, and green or blue growth. No one’s meat is perfect coming out of the field but I typically carefully wash it off and dry it EXTREMELY well. Then it gets hung in a stand up freezer I’ve converted for hanging, no shelves or drawers, aftermarket thermostat to hold it at 40 deg. And I put a massive sheet pan full of rice or desiccant to dehumidify, quarters put out a ton of moisture and moisture breeds bacteria.
I don’t know your timeline but if it’s only been in coolers for a bit, clean it up super well, dry it out and go for it. If it’s been days then go ahead and process it and save the aging for next time when you’re more prepared. As many have said it is TOTALLY worth it.
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Edit. Wrote this earlier and didn’t see your reply before posting. If it was me I’d pass on aging both at this point. On the bear specifically I read years ago science on freezing killing the dry aging potential. I’ll try to find articles and link them later.
Well this was bugging me so I started searching, what I remember was the freezing effecting the microbes which are working to break down some of those proteins. I couldn’t find that article, but I did find something interesting and more recent studying this in Brazilian beef. In the end they concluded that freezing before was detrimental but for a totally different reason, accelerated moisture loss. it’s pretty heady but interesting if you’re into this stuff:Definitely post the article on freezing affecting the dry aging process, if you find it. I personally haven't ever been able to dry age an animal that wasnt frozen first. I'd be curious to find out what I'm missing and how I can change my process. It might be the final push I need to build a walk-in cooler.
Definitely post the article on freezing affecting the dry aging process, if you find it. I personally haven't ever been able to dry age an animal that wasnt frozen first. I'd be curious to find out what I'm missing and how I can change my process. It might be the final push I need to build a walk-in cooler.
Man, that just sounds wrong!Yes! Had a buddy from England about punch me when I started cleaning the pheasants I shot that day. “Hang ‘em upside down until green stuff drips from their nostrils Bloke!”
I couldn’t bring myself but did start aging them in the fridge, guts in, for a week+ and it did improve flavor and texture. Also takes the pressure off at the end of a long hunting day to clean the birds.