How long do you age meat?

[Hunt anything]

To get around drying game meat out even more I will at times go ahead and butcher it into meal sized portions and then vacuum pack it. After the desired amount of time I will stick it in the freezer.

 

[UKHunter]

Fellow Carnivores and Omnivores,

There is no doubt that I am one of the few weirdos who does not favor aged venison.
Game meat is not “marbled” with fat and so, it is already too dry (especially caribou).

Porcupine is the one exception that I have eaten.
Although, the two times I have eaten it, I still did not bother to age the huge rodents.

There may be other wild animals with natural fat deposits throughout their muscle fibers but, I have not experienced any others.
Hanging up game meat to dry out even more than it already is, has not been a rewarding experience for me.
Fortunately, marinating dry meat for several days helps.
But even after that method, if it still remains too dry, dunking each bite in gravy is a decent remedy.

Anyway, I prefer all meat, mammal, fowl, fish, molusk, amphibian, reptile, including both wild and farm raised animals, to be as fresh as possible.
Whatever the species anyone cares to name, for my taste (or my metaphoric lack of taste) is at its moisture content and flavor best, the moment it hits the ground.

Admittedly, many cuts from a grain fed domestic beef steer, are “marbled” with plentiful natural fat.
Sometimes the fat is too plentiful, resulting in a grill fire, (if you are an easily distracted simpleton like myself).
Anyway, grain fed domestic beef can tolerate dry aging very well.

Nonetheless, if I were to butcher a grain fed steer, I probably would not bother aging that meat either.
I would just trim off the largest chunks of fat and toss those steaks on the barbie.

Buon Appetito,
Weirdo Dog.

I don’t believe that fat content or the desire to have ‘drier’ meat are why there is wisdom to hand meat. Would be interested to know more about your views on far and having drier meat?

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Fellow Carnivores and Omnivores,

There is no doubt that I am one of the few weirdos who does not favor aged venison.
Game meat is not “marbled” with fat and so, it is already too dry (especially caribou).

Porcupine is the one exception that I have eaten.
Although, the two times I have eaten it, I still did not bother to age the huge rodents.

There may be other wild animals with natural fat deposits throughout their muscle fibers but, I have not experienced any others.
Hanging up game meat to dry out even more than it already is, has not been a rewarding experience for me.
Fortunately, marinating dry meat for several days helps.
But even after that method, if it still remains too dry, dunking each bite in gravy is a decent remedy.

Anyway, I prefer all meat, mammal, fowl, fish, molusk, amphibian, reptile, including both wild and farm raised animals, to be as fresh as possible.
Whatever the species anyone cares to name, for my taste (or my metaphoric lack of taste) is at its moisture content and flavor best, the moment it hits the ground.

Admittedly, many cuts from a grain fed domestic beef steer, are “marbled” with plentiful natural fat.
Sometimes the fat is too plentiful, resulting in a grill fire, (if you are an easily distracted simpleton like myself).
Anyway, grain fed domestic beef can tolerate dry aging very well.

Nonetheless, if I were to butcher a grain fed steer, I probably would not bother aging that meat either.
I would just trim off the largest chunks of fat and toss those steaks on the barbie.

Buon Appetito,
Weirdo Dog.

@Velo Dog
My father's take on beef was
Whip it's horns off, wipe its arse and throw it in the grill.
To cook chuck it on, chuck it over the chuck it on the plate.
If it still bleeds a bit when you cut it that's fine but if it goes moo it's underdone.
He liked his stear rare.
Bob

 

[Velo Dog]

I don’t believe that fat content or the desire to have ‘drier’ meat are why there is wisdom to hand meat. Would be interested to know more about your views on far and having drier meat?

Hi UKHunter,

Regarding your first sentence, if I’m accurate in replacing the word, “hand” with the word “hang”, then I agree with what you wrote there.

However, I cannot figure out the meaning of your second sentence.
The word, “far” seems like it does not fit but, I have not been able to think of a word that will make sense to replace it with.

Cheers.
Paul
(Velo Dog)

 

[GuttormG]

game meat is not “marbled” with fat and so, it is already too dry (especially caribou).

Never experienced my meat drying out. We skin all deer within short time, so yes-we do get a dry surface. The carcass is cooled down in a shaded, well ventilated place until rigor mortis is over and then transferred to cool, well ventilated room (early in season this will be a refrigerated room).
Hanging a warn carcass that hasn't been through rigor mortis in a refrigerated room is an excellent recipe for getting though meat, and very often it will be fox bait due to mold forming.

"Gamey taste" very often comes from bad hygiene.

And any meat is really tender until rigor mortis begins.

 

[Velo Dog]

Never experienced my meat drying out. We skin all deer within short time, so yes-we do get a dry surface. The carcass is cooled down in a shaded, well ventilated place until rigor mortis is over and then transferred to cool, well ventilated room (early in season this will be a refrigerated room).
Hanging a warn carcass that hasn't been through rigor mortis in a refrigerated room is an excellent recipe for getting though meat, and very often it will be fox bait due to mold forming.

"Gamey taste" very often comes from bad hygiene.

And any meat is really tender until rigor mortis begins.

Hi GuttormG,

Yours and my experiences with hanging up game meat to age, are different.
That doesn’t make either of us out to be good or bad, right or wrong.
It just means we have had different experiences, resulting in different opinions.

The venison you have processed did not dry out from aging it.
The little bit that I have messed around with aging, left me with the opposite result, more than likely due to the blood dripping out of it.

Generally speaking, it is not a lot of blood escaping but it is moisture that is IMO, better off for our enjoyment of eating the meat, when the moisture stays put.
I suspect evaporation also occurs but I do not know if that amount of escaping moisture is significant or not.
Certainly the colder the meat, the slower it leaks and the slower any evaporation occurs.
But slow or not, occur it does.
And so, I prefer game meat (all meat really) as fresh as possible and not any drier than it has to be.

That doesn’t mean my preference for fresh venison, instead of aged venison is somehow the best thing for everyone.
It only means that I like it and think it is at its best when as fresh as possible.

There have been a few times that as soon as the innards have been removed and the skinning is underway, I have lit a stick fire, set my little back pack grill out, cut away a small chunk of back strap and placed same on the grill right there, 4 or 5 paces beside where the critter had dropped, perhaps 20 - 30 minutes prior.

You said:
“And any meat is really tender before rigor mortis sets in”.

Yes, I definitely agree with you on your statement there.
And with that, I like fresh venison best, taken from the grill when medium rare, just ever so slightly pink in the center but smokey-charred around the edges, hitting it with a little coarse salt as I slice and eat.
It has been some of the best back strap I’ve been blessed to enjoy.
Then, I get back to field prepping my animal.

Most but not all of my hunting friends do not agree with me.
They prefer venison aged.
Nonetheless, I remain unmoved by their disapproval.
Sometimes we poke fun at each other about this subject (plus other topics).
No doubt that quite a few of my behaviors are odd enough to warrant fun poking.

I do happily agree with those who say that when done properly, aging does tenderize meat somewhat.
However, the trade off with the drying factor is not a good trade for me.

You mention flavor, again we are in agreement.
Taking great care with the downed animal, from that moment we set our rifle and camera aside to make ready the knife, it is essential to not let the meat become tainted with hair, dirt, bile, you name it.

Having said that, rutting bull caribou meat is so horrid that even a pre-historic cave man such as I cannot eat it, properly cared for or not.
The hormones throughout that meat are so strong as to give it a chemical-like flavor, similar to what paint thinner smells like.
I will eat and have eaten almost anything.
But that one is not fit for man or beast to enjoy, simply disgusting.

And, rutting mule deer buck is strong enough of flavor that many people will not eat it.
I have eaten it many times and always enjoyed it.
However, it was via much garlic, rosemary, cumin, tomatoes, chile’ peppers, etc., etc., plus other strong flavored and plentiful herbs / spices.
Fresh cut mule deer buck meat during their rut is admittedly not very good eating, just grilled with a little salt.
Barely edible unless seriously disguised with herbs and spices.
As always, it must be properly dealt with beginning in the field.

Looks like it’s past midnight here and I have rambled on way too long.
So, I will stop.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.

 

[thriller]

14-21 days depending on what else is in the walk in cooler. (No hair is the walk in ever it screws up mold cultures in there leads to bad flavors)

 

[rookhawk]

I was curious how long people hang their game meat before processing and freezing?
My standard practice is to take the back straps cut into meal sized portions, any roasts and the tenderloins, vacuum pack them and then stick them in the fridge for up to 10 days sometimes longer before freezing. I guess that would be a form of wet aging. Anything I’m going to grind I don’t age and just take it straight to the processor.

I'm a pretty fanatical meat ager myself. I've reviewed the USDA papers on the topic and until I moved 2 years ago, I had a steak ager in my home.

What I found:

1.) For domestic meats, wet aging is way easier than dry aging. Wet aging being a fancy term for going to the store, buying a primal ribeye, t-bone, or strip-loin, leaving it in the cryovac for 28 days, then breaking it down into steaks.

2.) Dry aging is in part, a scam for domestic meats. There is ZERO flavor change that occurs from dry aging up to 28 days. It's a waste of time and money doing it or buying into it, you're just losing moisture. However, you are getting tenderness (its only feature) which maximizes per the USDA around 28 days.

3.) For domestic meats, Ribeye achieves optimal dry aging flavor transformation at around 60 days. Any longer, you lose so much pellicle there isn't much meat left. For NY Strip / Kansas City Strip, it happens to be my least favorite steak. As in, I hate them, they are flavorless, and they are grisly. But if you age a NY Strip primal for 75-90 days, the fat becomes totally soluble, it has the least shrinkage, and the flavor is spectacular. Truly the most impressive transformation of any cut.

As to game meats specifically:

4.) Wet and dry aging has zero benefit. The fats in game aren't particularly edible and aging primal game animals just introduces the flavor of rancid fat to the animal.

5.) So what's really the point? You want to hang your game long enough to get proper draining of blood and for rigor mortise to conclude so the meat is tender. That's it. 24-48 hours at 35-38 degrees F is all you need, then butcher it.

Conclusion: Before anyone gives you opinions on aging and hanging meats, compel them to explain the purpose of the endeavor. Are we looking for flavor transformation or tenderness? Are they doing it on cuts, primals, or whole animals?

 

[Mully]

I watched a recent podcast from Hunt Backcountry that interviewed a meat scientist about this same topic that was worth listening to. It had “meat scientist” in the title so should be fairly easy to find.

 

[thriller]

14-21 days depending on what else is in the walk in cooler. (No hair is the walk in ever it screws up mold cultures in there leads to bad flavors)

I have cut whitetails from fresh through 28 days old. As a club we age about 50-70 deer per year. The flavor does not change much but the tenderness does. A old buck will pretty much never get butter soft but about 14 days leads to a more tender product. I have tested this through taking one strap off freezing it fresh aging the other out then grilling them side by side. It does make a difference though I would say unless you are doing a lot of deer it may not be worth the cost of a walk in.

 

[Mully]

I watched a recent podcast from Hunt Backcountry that interviewed a meat scientist about this same topic that was worth listening to. It had “meat scientist” in the title so should be fairly easy to find.

He's a link...

Hunt Backcountry Podcast 508 | A “Meat Scientist” on Wild Game Care & Preparation

Sierra Jepsen is a Meat Scientist and owner of Butcher Solutions, LLC. She joins us to discuss how big game hunters can effectively care for and prepare wild game meat. Sierra shares advice for processing big game in the field, caring for meat until it is frozen, and preparing meat for the best...

exomtngear.com

 

[SFRanger7GP]

The deer we drop off at the processor gets aged 3-7 days in the walk in cooler. If we processes it ourselves, it normally does not get aged. Mama can take a meat hammer and a pressure cooker and make a leather boot like wagyu beef.

Safe hunting

 

[mdwest]

Mama can take a meat hammer and a pressure cooker and make a leather boot like wagyu beef.

Mine used to hammer the hell out of venison until I found this:

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/jaccard-super-meat-tenderizers

She no longer tries to crack the granite counter tops by smacking backstraps so hard they bounce 4” off the cutting board every time she swings lol….

That pokey spikey whatever the hell it is tool is a life changer…

Turns backstraps into pot roast tender medallions in no time..

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Mine used to hammer the hell out of venison until I found this:

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/jaccard-super-meat-tenderizers

She no longer tries to crack the granite counter tops by smacking backstraps so hard they bounce 4” off the cutting board every time she swings lol….

That pokey spikey whatever the hell it is tool is a life changer…

Turns backstraps into pot roast tender medallions in no time..

I bought her one and it is still in the box. Remember, Mama is Colombiana. Some things she just has to do her way.

Safe hunting

 

[Str8meat]

I don’t see an age difference of meat quality in deer , being whitetail or mule deer. So cut right away. Elk if I can hang them, 11 days seems to be the best I have came across.

 

[wiyofa]

depends for me as well.. both on the time of the year, and where I am hunting..

This past September I took a hog on our hunting property in E TX.. It was in the mid 80's.. the animal was gutted, skinned, and quartered on the spot, and immediately thrown into a cooler (no other real option available).. I "cooler aged" it for about a week, leaving it in an ice brine, draining off any melted water, adding new ice when needed, etc..

When I hunt another place a little further south, there is a big walk-in fridge.. I'll typically gut and skin the animal in an appropriate period of time depending on the outside temp, time of year, etc.. but then will let it hang in the walk-in for however long I've got left in camp.. and then quarter and put the meat in a cooler for a finishing off period of however long is needed before processing.. (sometimes it gets a day or two in the walk-in.. sometimes it gets 3-4 days in the walk-in.. it just depends on how long Im going to be there and how early in the hunt that I took the animal)..

This far south its difficult to hang/age meat.. even in the coldest part of the year its not uncommon to have temps in the 50's during the day at online butchers.. the high today is going to be 68 and the low is going to be 59... so if you don't have access to a walk in fridge of some sort you're kinda screwed, and just do the best you can with whatever tools you have access to..

I usually hang my game meat for about 3 to 5 days before processing, depending on the temperature and humidity. I agree with your approach—backstraps, roasts, and tenderloins get vacuum-packed and refrigerated to age for up to 7-10 days, which helps develop flavor and tenderness. Anything I plan to grind, I skip aging and send straight to the processor to keep it fresh. Wet aging in the fridge like that works well for me, too.