Sorta aged some deer in the fridge

[Desk Jockey]

So…its freezer clean out time and Tuesday evening I pulled out my last bit of white tail back straps and a nice hunk of rear leg. I had just finished cutting them into steaks for the grill, seasoned them and put them on plates (no cover) and was waiting for the grill to get to temp. The phone rings…it’s work…problem…I pop the meat in the fridge and take the call. It lasts two hours, then there is a long late night of follow up…flash forward and the whole week turned into one long fire drill. I am finally clear off it this AM and opened the fridge. Shit. There is my beautiful meat sitting there with no cover. The surface is dry and it has darkened quite a bit. It wasn’t spoiled and didn’t smell off and I wasn’t going to waste it so I fried up a few pieces for breakfast and it was awesome. A bit more tender than I would have expected. I am planning to grill the rest tonight and will be sure to baste it well with butter.

has any ever let meat sit uncovered like that for a few days? Is this a thing I stumbled into? Do other people do this?

 

[gelton]

I have been doing it for a while now. Get a colander and put it over a saucer to catch the blood and let it sit for a day in the fridge. Not the same as dry aging but better than nothing.

Now I have a walk in cooler and am hanging this rear quarter for 14 days...would have done longer but this cow was killed on the 3rd day of a 10 day hunt and sat in a cooler after hanging overnight on the night she was killed.

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

I have aged moose, covered in the fridge. Took about 14 days before it got tender. We usually hang age our meat.