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Post by megadadof3 on Aug 16, 2019 12:19:37 GMT -5
New to the processing game and have multiple questions about venison aging. 1) Refrigerator or ice chest? 2) Venison too great of a product to waste so refrigerator with no modifications, how much waste when aging minimum of 7 days? 3) Ice chest aging, plastic bag loosely left open for blood drainage or venison directly on ice or venison in game bags on ice for 7 days? Of course understand cooler left open at angle to drain and ice checked daily with no meat touching!!
Have to use one of these methods, no other available. The biggest consideration is ways to get the most meat and least meat loss. Have not been able to find much detailed (good) info on how to reduce loss due to drying out venison when aging.
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Post by scrub-buster on Aug 16, 2019 12:37:27 GMT -5
I use a refrigerator that has the shelves and drawers removed. I cut metal rods that span the width and rest on the ledge that held the shelves. I skin the deer as soon as possible and then cut it into quarters. I hang the quarters on the metal rods in the refrigerator. I keep the temperature just above freezing. The meet is stiff, but not frozen solid. I age them 10-14 days before processing them myself. I'm not claiming this is the best method, but I am very happy with the results. So are all of the people that I feed while camping with friends. I've fed them steaks from 4 and 5 year old bucks that they thought was from a young doe.
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Post by scrub-buster on Aug 16, 2019 12:42:07 GMT -5
The taste and quality of deer meat is greatly affected by how it's handled from the shot until the table. I've tried some deer meat from other hunters that was awful. I mean spit it into a garbage can awful.
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Post by esshup on Aug 16, 2019 12:50:52 GMT -5
New to the processing game and have multiple questions about venison aging. 1) Refrigerator or ice chest? 2) Venison too great of a product to waste so refrigerator with no modifications, how much waste when aging minimum of 7 days? 3) Ice chest aging, plastic bag loosely left open for blood drainage or venison directly on ice or venison in game bags on ice for 7 days? Of course understand cooler left open at angle to drain and ice checked daily with no meat touching!! Have to use one of these methods, no other available. The biggest consideration is ways to get the most meat and least meat loss. Have not been able to find much detailed (good) info on how to reduce loss due to drying out venison when aging. Read this: www.realtree.com/brow-tines-and-backstrap/the-great-debate-aging-venison
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Post by megadadof3 on Aug 16, 2019 12:57:18 GMT -5
I use a refrigerator that has the shelves and drawers removed. I cut metal rods that span the width and rest on the ledge that held the shelves. I skin the deer as soon as possible and then cut it into quarters. I hang the quarters on the metal rods in the refrigerator. I keep the temperature just above freezing. The meet is stiff, but not frozen solid. I age them 10-14 days before processing them myself. I'm not claiming this is the best method, but I am very happy with the results. So are all of the people that I feed while camping with friends. I've fed them steaks from 4 and 5 year old bucks that they thought was from a young doe.
What kind of greying and venison loss on outer shell is lost scrub-buster?
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Post by steiny on Aug 16, 2019 13:27:35 GMT -5
Aging venison is way over rated. So long as you get it dressed, cleaned up and chilled down pretty quickly after the kill it is fine to butcher as soon as the next day. I do like to chill it for a bit as the meat firms up and is easier to cut.
I've got a walk in cooler and we have tried the aging thing before. You just wind up wasting a bunch of good meat because you will have an inedible hardened outside crust to trim off and throw away. The remainder isn't any better than stuff only chilled for a day or two.
On travel trips, we simply skin and quarter our deer, put quarters in plastic bags to keep clean and dry, then and put them in a big ice chest on top of block ice or frozen milk jugs. Can keep it like this 3-4 days no problem. I don't find any difference in meat from an ice chest vs meat hung in the walk in cooler.
During cool weather 32-40F you can hang them outdoors for the same effect. We often do this if we get an evening kill, simply dress it and rinse it out, then hang. Skin, quarter and get in refrigeration in the morning.
The modified refrigerator makes a great cooler for a single deer or two max. Know a couple guys that have these. I keep my cooler around 34-36 degrees. The key to good meat is getting a clean kill and quick recovery, getting it dressed out, air cooled and rinsed out (if necessary), then getting the meat in some type of refrigeration soon as possible. Aging doesn't improve anything in my opinion.
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Post by scrub-buster on Aug 16, 2019 13:31:04 GMT -5
I use a refrigerator that has the shelves and drawers removed. I cut metal rods that span the width and rest on the ledge that held the shelves. I skin the deer as soon as possible and then cut it into quarters. I hang the quarters on the metal rods in the refrigerator. I keep the temperature just above freezing. The meet is stiff, but not frozen solid. I age them 10-14 days before processing them myself. I'm not claiming this is the best method, but I am very happy with the results. So are all of the people that I feed while camping with friends. I've fed them steaks from 4 and 5 year old bucks that they thought was from a young doe. What kind of greying and venison loss on outer shell is lost scrub-buster? None. It gets a thin hard layer on the outside muscle sheaths but that's easily trimmed off and I think you would get that with any method. There is zero greying or loss. It's still a nice dark red color.
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Post by oldhoyt on Aug 16, 2019 14:01:15 GMT -5
I read somewhere that venison frozen the day after the kill can be frozen and then aged in the fridge as it thaws. They stressed it should be in a colander or otherwise be allowed to drain fluids away from the meat as it thaws, and they said to put a light coat of olive oil on it to stop it from drying out. I guess you could put some oil on the quartered meat for fridge aging prior to freezing as well.
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Post by whitetaildave24 on Aug 16, 2019 17:44:34 GMT -5
Aging venison is way over rated. So long as you get it dressed, cleaned up and chilled down pretty quickly after the kill it is fine to butcher as soon as the next day. I do like to chill it for a bit as the meat firms up and is easier to cut. I've got a walk in cooler and we have tried the aging thing before. You just wind up wasting a bunch of good meat because you will have an inedible hardened outside crust to trim off and throw away. The remainder isn't any better than stuff only chilled for a day or two. On travel trips, we simply skin and quarter our deer, put quarters in plastic bags to keep clean and dry, then and put them in a big ice chest on top of block ice or frozen milk jugs. Can keep it like this 3-4 days no problem. I don't find any difference in meat from an ice chest vs meat hung in the walk in cooler. During cool weather 32-40F you can hang them outdoors for the same effect. We often do this if we get an evening kill, simply dress it and rinse it out, then hang. Skin, quarter and get in refrigeration in the morning. The modified refrigerator makes a great cooler for a single deer or two max. Know a couple guys that have these. I keep my cooler around 34-36 degrees. The key to good meat is getting a clean kill and quick recovery, getting it dressed out, air cooled and rinsed out (if necessary), then getting the meat in some type of refrigeration soon as possible. Aging doesn't improve anything in my opinion. I agree with all this. I’ve killed, butchered, and packaged all in the same day plenty of times and it’s just as good as any meat that has been hanging for days.
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Post by scrub-buster on Aug 16, 2019 20:31:35 GMT -5
Why are high dollar steaks aged?
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Post by Huntnfreak on Aug 16, 2019 21:14:50 GMT -5
Why are high dollar steaks aged? Higher fat content??
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Post by scrub-buster on Aug 16, 2019 21:43:14 GMT -5
The enzymes break down the muscle tissue which improves taste and texture.
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Post by esshup on Aug 16, 2019 22:24:57 GMT -5
The enzymes break down the muscle tissue which improves taste and texture. And they are marbled with fat which is not found in deer.
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Post by stevein on Aug 16, 2019 22:50:52 GMT -5
The meat cutter that used to process my deer wanted deer to arrive at his cooler washed out with skin on. It was right around 38 in his cooler/shop. He was a meat cutter by profession and explained his reason to me. Beef has a layer of fat on the carcass that protected the meat from drying out, deer do not. He did not have the pressure washers some shops have and when guys would skin a deer on their own he spent a lot of time picking hair. Don did one deer at a time and I was always happy with his work.
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Post by deadeer on Aug 17, 2019 0:23:22 GMT -5
The enzymes break down the muscle tissue which improves taste and texture. And they are marbled with fat which is not found in deer. I have butchered same day, and a week later. Cant honestly say we noticed much difference, but we dont eat steaks out of hindquarters. Have been leaving meat in a galvanized tub or cooler with ice and a drain to flush out blood for a few days until meat is white, and that is THE ticket for us. Several guys at work do same and HUGE difference. Everybody has different taste buds and preferences. No right or wrong if it suits you.
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Post by beermaker on Aug 17, 2019 6:23:11 GMT -5
Why are high dollar steaks aged? So the restaurants can advertise it and charge twice as much. I read up on how to dry-age steaks and doubt if many restaurants' claims are true. I've never aged venison due to not having the facilities. Day of the week, time, and place of the kill determines how I handle mine. If I get one and am home before noon on a weekend day, I'll have it de-boned and ready for the grinder that day. Otherwise, I quarter it and refrigerate until I get time, but never more than a few days. I'll save the tenderloins for the frying pan. Everything goes through the grinder. I make my own jerky, salami, and bacon. Venison bacon may be one of the most underrated things that anyone with a grinder and a smoker can make.
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Post by megadadof3 on Aug 17, 2019 11:00:17 GMT -5
My first time experience was to cool quarters hanging in refrigerator for a few hours to get most of temp out and then ice cooler chilled in loose open plastic grocery bags for 2 or 3 days then processed. Learned a lot BUT was not happy when thawing out at the amount of blood (liquid) in the ground thus the reason for the questions!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by thebellcompany on Aug 18, 2019 23:20:03 GMT -5
My 2 cents. Aged venison tastes terrible. Don’t age your venison. Kill your deer. Wait 20 minutes, collect it and gut it right away. load it up in your truck. Drive straight home. Hoist it up as soon as you get home,skin it, quarter it. Wash the meat, get it in the deep freezer ASAP. Wait. 30 min. Take one leg out, remove the meat from the bone, steaks and roasts get washed and into freezer bags. Simple. No excuses. Get that animal processed. Takes me roughly 4 hours with my wife’s help. Delicious, fat free, washed meat, no time for blood in the carcass to spoil the delicious venison. Enjoy
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Aug 19, 2019 6:19:49 GMT -5
I wait until late November or December before shooting a deer when it’s cooler out. Number 1 priority is taking care of the meat right after the shot. It will be hanging in the barn after the shot within a half hour and removing the hide immediately. Heat is your worst enemy. Having the hide off starts the cooling process faster. I generally only hunt evening so ,it will hang over night and possibly the next day if temps are good. I get fans on it over night to help cool while hanging. Wife vacuum packs as I cut into steaks and ground for burger. Don’t trust commercial packers anymore. No idea what your getting back. Antlers are a thing of the past. Got a lot of them, they just sit there on wall and hearth. Prefer a doe for meat. Do what makes ya happy. Antler were an obsession for me and took the fun out it. I hunt for meat now, my daughter will eat a deer steak every night if I grilled it for her. That’s what makes me happy now.
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Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Aug 19, 2019 7:10:00 GMT -5
I have done all of the following:
-Killed, immediately butchered, processed and in freezer within 3-4 hours of harvest.
-Let hang 3-4 days in the garage or barn in cool weather prior to processing (lows below freezing, highs maybe up to 40-45).
-Killed out of state, quartered into cooler, iced and drained daily for up to a week prior to getting home and processing.
-Killed in warm weather, quartered, double trash bag, put in deep freeze, thawed in cooler 3-4 months later, cut/grind/etc., refreeze.
I really can't say that I've noticed any difference in meat quality between any of these methods. As long as it stays cool, away from bugs and sun, and is taken care of reasonably well I think it's fine.
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