How long do you age meat?

[R eight]

The best venison I’ve ever eaten, both tender and taste, came off an old bull Canadian moose. It was back strap cooked in a pan with a dash of olive oil and seasoned with salt. That bull had been dead for around 48 hours.

Truely one of the best feeds I’ve ever had.

I’ve also eaten back straps from an old Dall ram that I shot the day before and it was pretty good too.

My worst version feed was from a red stag that had been properly prepared and who had hung for around a week before eating.

 

[Hunt anything]

Funny, here in GA that’s what I/we often do. Prop the cooler up, open the plug and let it sit 5-7 days. It’s only white on the outside. Cut it and still red inside….i prefer it that way but i love dry aged beef just don’t have the room for venison.

These guys don’t prop up the cooler and keep the water drained, it sits in the water. I’ve done your method when on the road and it works fine.

 

[CBeck]

These guys don’t prop up the cooler and keep the water drained, it sits in the water. I’ve done your method when on the road and it works

Hmmm…not me, that’s nasty. I don’t want my meat marinating in game water.

 

[Desaad]

Keep it whole, removing the bone is fine, maybe even preferred, but you need to use either the Umaidry dry aging bags that you vac seal or you can use the collagen sheets, what I use, either way you really need a membrane to control the drying process in a refrigerator, or you can leave it naked and in to a drying chamber with 75% humidity and temp in the low 40’s.

 

[CBH Australia]

The best venison I’ve ever eaten, both tender and taste, came off an old bull Canadian moose. It was back strap cooked in a pan with a dash of olive oil and seasoned with salt. That bull had been dead for around 48 hours.

Truely one of the best feeds I’ve ever had.

I’ve also eaten back straps from an old Dall ram that I shot the day before and it was pretty good too.

My worst version feed was from a red stag that had been properly prepared and who had hung for around a week before eating.

The Dall ram had me intrigued. I don’t see a lot about sheep hunters eating mountain sheep.
I like lamb, jogger and mutton. Not opposed processing a sheep on the land when I’ve had the chance. Usually it’s a whether if you are ever offered a killer. There are a few people that will draft of old sheep to kill but most do you right and offer something decent. Graziers generally wouldn’t expect you to eat an old Ram so it had me wondering what those wild sheep eat like.

 

[Hunt anything]

One thing about meat in Alaska, by law you obligated to pack out every ounce of edible meat. Neck meat, rib meat and every thing. Not sure if they require organ meat to be brought out or not. If I remember correctly the meat has to come out before any trophy parts do.
The Alaskan members can clarify this. So a lot of wild sheep are eaten and I’ve heard mixed reviews of it but I would love to try it but my mountain hunting days are well behind me if I ever had any in me.

 

[Josh P]

Deer: field dress, to include removing the windpipe but not the hide. Hang in a cool place for a week/10 days. If it’s too warm, just go ahead and process the lot. I’d be skeptical of hanging it (outside of a specific aging cooler, etc.) without the hide, but that’s just personal preference.

 

[Kalthoff]

I was curious how long people hang their game meat before processing and freezing?

Not at all.

I do the butchering, deboning, parting and packing strait away, if at all possible.

The meat will be in the freezer within a couple hours after I pulled the trigger.

In my experience "bad gamey taste" stems from:

• failure to trim off the fascia and gristle
• bad hygiene (ageing increases the effects of bad field dressing hygiene or bad shot placement)
• overcooking

 

[Ontario Hunter]

In Montana chronic wasting disease is a big concern. Meat may have to hang more than a week in cold weather waiting for test results. I'm not wasting time and packing material butchering a deer I'll have to throw away. If the weather is warm, yes I'll cut it up ASAP and hope for the best. I haven't found any difference in taste of meat butchered within hours vs a week. The stuff between the ribs becomes dogfood but no big deal. Hopefully, if real cold the hide can stay on it while hanging and waiting for results. That minimizes loss and labor required to peel the rind. If not cold enough, the hide comes off ASAP. The last four bucks have been frosty by the time test results came back.

 

[UKHunter]

Ideally 7-14 days in the skin. Though not always possible and will butcher within 24 hours.

 

[Wyfox]

The Dall ram had me intrigued. I don’t see a lot about sheep hunters eating mountain sheep.
I like lamb, jogger and mutton. Not opposed processing a sheep on the land when I’ve had the chance. Usually it’s a whether if you are ever offered a killer. There are a few people that will draft of old sheep to kill but most do you right and offer something decent. Graziers generally wouldn’t expect you to eat an old Ram so it had me wondering what those wild sheep eat like.

Mountain Sheep are not the same as domestic sheep. No wool, not greasy at all. Bighorn's are some of the best eating game meat I've ever had.

 

[Wyfox]

I hang all of my game for 14 days in a temperature controlled walk-in cooler.

No water on my meat at all, I make sure it's really dry, water produces bacteria and mold if it's hanging for any time.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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.

@Hunt anything
If'n the weather is cool enough usually winter I gut my animal and split the brisket and use a metal bar to hold the carcass open. I then hang it skin on for up to 7 days.
Then skin the animal( usually deer) goats are skun on the day before hanging.
Then break the animal down boning it out into the various cuts.
Refrigerator for up to another week.
Then cut into steaks and other cursor mince.
Vacuum pack the meat then freeze
So total of 2 weeks or more from harvest to freezer
Bob

 

[RedTag]

One thing about meat in Alaska, by law you obligated to pack out every ounce of edible meat. Neck meat, rib meat and every thing. Not sure if they require organ meat to be brought out or not. If I remember correctly the meat has to come out before any trophy parts do.
The Alaskan members can clarify this. So a lot of wild sheep are eaten and I’ve heard mixed reviews of it but I would love to try it but my mountain hunting days are well behind me if I ever had any in me.

This is true. Alaska law requires all edible meat (excluding organ meat or meat damaged by the bullet) to be packed out before any trophy parts. The troopers can be incredibly strict on this point. I know guys who were threatened with hefty fines and confiscation of their rifles for leaving what amounted to a ziplock baggie worth of meat on a carcass. On the other extreme there are egregious cases of wanton waste. Common examples include: fly in hunters not wanting to pay the extra round trip for the rest of the meat and leaving it behind, float hunters letting meat spoil in trash bags and tossing it, and hike in hunters downing a moose five miles from their vehicle with no realistic plan of how to get all the meat out of the field. My understanding of the law is that it requires the meat to be salvaged from the field and to the point of being transported to the place of processing. This does not excuse poor handling of the meat while afield and the subsequent discarding thereof upon realizing it has been rendered inedible by incompetence. There was an egregious violation a few years ago where several caribou were found dumped in the ditch. The violator killed three animals and then decided on dumping them in the ditch along the roadside. I think he was fined several thousand dollars.

Regarding the question of aging meat. It depends on the temperature. I have stacked caribou quarters on the front porch and frozen are rock hard by the next morning at 40 below zero. No aging there! Just bring in a piece to thaw when you’re hungry. Early September moose, a week at most for me. My Grandfather liked to age it until it had the film of mold… not my taste but to each his own.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Interesting, my first deer was aged at n a cool room about a week. That was opportunistic.

When possible I have hung sheep for a week.

I buy whole rump in cryovac and wet age for about 3 weeks before cutting and packing.

I have harvested a few fallow deer and processed immediately or after hanging overnight.

I have watched a heap on you tube and read a lot online. While I see many she game meat and some processors in the US and in the UK use coolers to store and age meat I can find nearly as much information suggesting game meat doesn’t age the same way beef does due to a lower water content.

Not saying it’s right or wrong because I don’t have enough samples to compare results but the same as skin on and skin off for aging there seems to be varying opinions.

@CBH Australia
Chris if you can get hold of an old drinks fridge like in servos and put a thermostat in it that will allow the temp to be adjusted to 2degrees C it's the best thing for dry aging your meat. Cover the glass door with a blanket or glue on some 2" foam makes it even better.
Unfortunately I missed out on one by a day as the nate threw it out before I could get to pick it up.
Bob