The Deer Aging Thread

[robby denning]

@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]

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.

 

[robby denning]

Man, that is a huge relief to not have to process DURING the season.

Yes, that’s exactly why I’ve had to do it that way. I don’t have a walk-in cooler, so I have to wait for the weather to get cold enough.

 

[Stache Attack]

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).

 

[robby denning]

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.

 

[Stache Attack]

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!

 

[robby denning]

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]

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.

 

[MallardSX2]

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.

 

[robby denning]

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

 

[robby denning]

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.

So that’s wet aging, right?

 

[MallardSX2]

So that’s wet aging, right?

Meh, I call it being lazy and not wanting to butcher a deer when I get home. Haha

 

[gtriple]

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.

 

[ihookem]

Robby, I noticed that there is much more blood in the meat when I shoot a deer in the shoulders , neck or head.. If I shoot it through the rib cage the heart pumps the blood out . I get much less blood in the meat this way. I have aged my meat in the fridge but only small amunts,.

 

[robby denning]

Robby, I noticed that there is much more blood in the meat when I shoot a deer in the shoulders , neck or head.. If I shoot it through the rib cage the heart pumps the blood out . I get much less blood in the meat this way. I have aged my meat in the fridge but only small amunts,.

I agree and would always prefer to shoot them in the ribs just behind the shoulder.

 

[ihookem]

I agree and would always prefer to shoot them in the ribs just behind the shoulder.

When I shoot a deer in the front shoulder , I can taste the blood in the meat. It is not bad , but tastes a little like liver.

 

[Jimbee]

Yea when the fridge cycle kicks in to cool, the humidity drops a lot and rises as the temperature increases. I set the inkbird controller to 79.5 so when it’s below that it kicks on the humidifier and if it goes above that it kicks on the dehumidifier to maintain even humidity so it doesn’t spike as the fridge cycles. Without the controller plugged into the units inside, I was seeing as low as 60% at the bottom of the cycle and 96% at the top. When the units were plugged into the inkbird the swing was about 76 to 82%. I ended up setting the temp controller for 35-37 so when it hits 37 the cooling cycle kicks in, I first did 34-38 and the humidity spike was a lot even with the controller. 2 degrees for this fridge seems to be the sweet spot with keeping the humidity the most stable

I have a free fridge available to me and am interested in your setup. Questions: one inkbird controls a humidifier and a dehumidifier, and one inkbird controls temperature? How does the inkbird control the fridge temp? Doesn't the fridge use it's own thermostat?

 

[Rcycs24]

This was an awesome and informative thread. Thanks so much for the time it took to do it, I’m going to try this

 

[robby denning]

This was an awesome and informative thread. Thanks so much for the time it took to do it, I’m going to try this

let us know how it goes. Just keep it under 40 degrees!

 

[hunthikecamp]

I bought a cheap fridge from an estate sale, modified it with $13 of all thread and bolts from home depot and a few drilled holes (silicone re-sealed) and this is working pretty nicely! I've always thought about aging but mainly did this as a method to just be able to slowly process it and not have to rush through and cut it all up for fear of it spoiling. After reading this thread I think I'm gonna give it a go!

Amazon sells little Govee temp/humidity monitors (fun to just take on hunts also and see the actual temps) but I taped one on there and I've got a nice monitor. No humidity control though, looks a little high but not terrible, might try the door cracking with a fan occasionally like others have mentioned.