The Deer Aging Thread

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robby denning

robby denning

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@robby denning or others - I've got a question regarding the breaking down of myofibrils (?) during the aging process. It was my (possibly incorrect) understanding that once you freeze the muscle, the initial breakdown of the myofibrils (?) that cause rigor mortis and a lot of the toughness in venison gets "stopped" and cannot be resumed.

Has anybody tested what meat is like when frozen immediately then thawing and aging vs allowing to age first, freezing, then thawing and aging?

Can you age, then freeze, then age some more?
Yes, I’ve tested it a lot. Probably a third of the deer that I’ve done since 2008 been frozen until the weather cooled enough that I could age them in my garage.

As soon as they thaw the aging process continues.

This was confirmed by chef, John McGannon, the guy I learned this process from.
 

gtriple

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Yes, I’ve tested it a lot. Probably a third of the deer that I’ve done since 2008 been frozen until the weather cooled enough that I could age them in my garage.

As soon as they thaw the aging process continues.

This was confirmed by chef, John McGannon, the guy I learned this process from.
Man, that is a huge relief to not have to process DURING the season.
 
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Besides tough skinning, what would be the result of skinned and not skinned? I don’t like the loss on the back straps or fronts on a deer when I’ve skinned. I have one hanging at a week and a half now. I can skin it if it’s going to be an overall net gain… Elk I do skin(seems like they never come out whole anyways always quarters if close or boned out if I was being dumb and too far away).
 
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robby denning

robby denning

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Besides tough skinning, what would be the result of skinned and not skinned? I don’t like the loss on the back straps or fronts on a deer when I’ve skinned. I have one hanging at a week and a half now. I can skin it if it’s going to be an overall net gain… Elk I do skin(seems like they never come out whole anyways always quarters if close or boned out if I was being dumb and too far away).

Chef Mcgannon always taught to skin. Not sure why.

and to clarify, backstraps don't seem to need the long aging time as much as the big quarters, so often I just pull them at 10 days. In the case of an already quartered buck, I just put them on a cookie rack in a cookie sheet in the fridge, cover with paper towels and age that way. Still have to trim off the dry but makes for succulent backstraps.
 
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Chef Mcgannon always taught to skin. Not sure why.

and to clarify, backstraps don't seem to need the long aging time as much as the big quarters, so often I just pull them at 10 days. In the case of an already quartered buck, I just put them on a cookie rack in a cookie sheet in the fridge, cover with paper towels and age that way. Still have to trim off the dry but makes for succulent backstraps.
Perfect I appreciate that, I’ll skin him tonight and see if the wife will let me hang for longer or if she wants her garage back. It has been perfect temps for us with no awesome cooler setups like some of the posts on here!
 
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robby denning

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Perfect I appreciate that, I’ll skin him tonight and see if the wife will let me hang for longer or if she wants her garage back. It has been perfect temps for us with no awesome cooler setups like some of the posts on here!
just keep a meat thermometer in that rear quarter and make sure it stays 33-40. Warm days, i wrap in a sleeping bag and have even hanged frozen 1 gal jugs with the quarters. At night, i"ve ran a fan in the window to pull cold air through the garage. Hit me again if I can help.
 

IdahoBeav

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just keep a meat thermometer in that rear quarter and make sure it stays 33-40.
I just found this thread, and I have a whitetail that I killed last Tuesday. My plan was to age for 2 weeks in a refrigerator, but I think I will try this method with the 4 bone-in hams, and I will process the backstraps and loose meat trim this weekend. I read some of the earlier comments noting that a refrigerator works but space and airflow is an issue. So far, with meat in the refrigerator, I have been swapping out the blood soaked game bags for new every few days and ensuring the meat is dry. This week will be warm, and the climate on my side of the state is just a little warmer than yours. My thought is that next week, I will begin aging outside of the refrigerator and monitor the internal temp, but if another warm week is encountered, would it be a problem to temporarily move the 4 hams back into the refrigerator until the air temp in the garage has lowered to the desired level? Thanks.
 
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robby denning

robby denning

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I just found this thread, and I have a whitetail that I killed last Tuesday. My plan was to age for 2 weeks in a refrigerator, but I think I will try this method with the 4 bone-in hams, and I will process the backstraps and loose meat trim this weekend. I read some of the earlier comments noting that a refrigerator works but space and airflow is an issue. So far, with meat in the refrigerator, I have been swapping out the blood soaked game bags for new every few days and ensuring the meat is dry. This week will be warm, and the climate on my side of the state is just a little warmer than yours. My thought is that next week, I will begin aging outside of the refrigerator and monitor the internal temp, but if another warm week is encountered, would it be a problem to temporarily move the 4 hams back into the refrigerator until the air temp in the garage has lowered to the desired level? Thanks.
Chef McGannon always said that even if they freeze during the process it’s just gonna slow down the aging and you have to add those days back on. So moving them back into the refrigerator is no problem but you are right airflow and always be an issue. Just keep an eye on them and remember it is the dryer environment they need
 

gtriple

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On another note: I leave my deer on ice for 2 weeks. Then I hang them for 24 hours in a fridge to let them " drip dry" before cutting them up.
Best venison backstrap I've ever had was from that big buck in my profile pic doing exactly this method. We had no other option than to wet age in the cooler and it turned out unbelievable.
 
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