How many of you guys "age" your venison before processing or eating? Some folks have a big enough walk in cooler to let the deer hang for a week or so before carving. For others ive heard of just wrapping smaller pieces (backstrap, hind quarter ect) and putting it in a refrigerator for a few days. How many of you do this and how much of a difference does it make in the taste of the meat?
The doe I got on the 20th was my first time processing my own. I just quartered it out and kept it all in a big cooler on ice for 2 days. Not sure how much of a difference it makes for that amount of time. If I had the means I would've hung it for about a week. I believe that it makes the meat a tad more tender letting it hang longer. I could be mistaken though. I plan on finding a cheap second hand full sized refrigerator and taking all the shelves out to hang quarters in for future early season harvests. I think that will help me out with the dilemma.
I quarter mine up and let them sit in my garage fridge til I have time to process them.. Couple days or whatever. Not sure on being able to tell the difference tho...
We hang ours for however long it takes for rigor to leave the muscles , usually a few days . There is a chart out on the web somewhere that explains how long at what temps it takes for rigor to leave . I know that the colder it is , the longer they need to hang . Can't say that we've ever noticed a difference in the taste but you'll be amazed at how tender the steaks are .
I always age my ven, a week minimum. Grilled a strap last night that was aging since 9/16. No knife needed I cut it with my fork.
Better to age wrapped in foil, plastic wrap ect or open air? I know a few ppl that open air age but end up loosing a decent amount of meat that has to be carved off that becomes dry.
What do you mean age in foil or plastic wrap? Are you talking about "wet aging"? I did hours of research on this and wet aging by plastic or foil barely does anything. It's the dry aging (in huge chunks of meat, not in steak slices) where it is actually aging. Apparently it's easy to do, you just got to get a good fridge thatll hold anywhere from 32-40 degrees, preferably one temperature constant, then add in a fan to circulate the air, and put the big chunks of meat on a rack or cheese cloth. Then when you want to eat, just carve off the dried/moldy parts.
aging any meat .. venison included .... improves the meat quality .... I butcher my own deer and cut the deer in 1/2 then cut each half up in 6 pieces .... I put each piece in a butchers tub then wrap in plastic ... then place in a dedicated refrigerator .... I don't start actually butchering for 3 days .... then it takes me 3 more days b4 the deer is vacuum sealed in steaks etc then put in freezer ...... I have never had a tough/gamey piece ..... I have read where people age for 7 days @ 40 degrees ..... that's too long for me ... I have to get back out in the woods and hunt ......
