Dry aging your harvested game?

[SoonerMedic]

I will add to this thread now. I aged my meat for 4 days. Very little drying (just a thin skin of dryness) occurred and after processing it down to roasts, ground and cubed meats I haven’t tasted one bit of game in the meat. The backstraps were wet aged for a few days and are now frozen. I will get to one of them in the near future and give another update on the flavor. But, so far, no negative marks to give.

 

[Nature Boy]

My understanding is that you have to know what you're doing to age meat safely.

I have a friend that does it but he's a retired butcher and has a walk in cooler with good environmental controls

 

[SoonerMedic]

My understanding is that you have to know what you're doing to age meat safely.

I have a friend that does it but he's a retired butcher and has a walk in cooler with good environmental controls

Everything I've read stated that if you have a clean box, free of smells, humidity and have fresh air to move over the meat all that is required is that you keep the temp between 32-40*F as bacterial growth is greatly hindered between these temperatures that are above freezing. It's also important that you bring the internal temperature of any meat up to the appropriate range depending on the type of meat and is no different here. I did eat a tenderloin medium rare the other day, but that will never change for me. I like my steaks tender and red in the center!

Edit: I will say that if I were aging the meat longer than just a week, I would be much more concerned with the environment the meat is in. The short amount of time my meat hung in the fridge is of little concern for me. I'm sure the meat in the store is kept in worse conditions lol

 

[steve8261948]

I field dress imedeatly, then hang in garage for up to a week to tenderize the meat then butcher before it gets too warm outdoors?
Steve

 

[Mike472]

I skin and butcher asap.

All aging is done in the fridge before I cook it.
Just take it out of the freezer a week or two befroe cooking.

 

[SoonerMedic]

I skin and butcher asap.

All aging is done in the fridge before I cook it.
Just take it out of the freezer a week or two befroe cooking.

The reason this is a bad idea is because of rigor mortis. If you process meat that is in rigor it will be tough....This is why I chose to only quarter her and let her hang. I think next time I will probably only do a 48 hour aging.

 

[entropy]

The reason this is a bad idea is because of rigor mortis. If you process meat that is in rigor it will be tough....This is why I chose to only quarter her and let her hang. I think next time I will probably only do a 48 hour aging.

If it is already butchered and and frozen, how can it even go into rigor mortis? I try to get the meat cut and in the freezer before it cools down, before rigor mortis sets in. My last two deer were in the freezer within two hours of being shot. I do agree I wouldn't thaw it for a week afterward, but any enzymatic action would had been eliminated by freezing.

 

[Mike472]

Never really have a problem with tough meat.

I take the loins whole and grind the rest.

Groung deer is in my opinion the most versitile .meatballs,chilli,tacos,meatloaf,burgers,meat sauce,
Meat velevta cheese dip,

The loins are thin slices for primintis sandwiches or even made into jerky. Sometimes into toasts.

 

[SoonerMedic]

If it is already butchered and and frozen, how can it even go into rigor mortis? I try to get the meat cut and in the freezer before it cools down, before rigor mortis sets in. My last two deer were in the freezer within two hours of being shot. I do agree I wouldn't thaw it for a week afterward, but any enzymatic action would had been eliminated by freezing.

Rigor begins immediately after death. You couldn't possibly butcher a deer fast enough to beat rigor. Full onset rigor takes a few hours to set in followed by levidity (pooling of blood in the lowest points of a body) and mottling. I think the biggest factor in how hard the rigor sets is the electrolyte balance of the animal as well as how much lactic acid is in it's body. If a deer has been running hard or fighting, naturally the lactic acid will be increased as it's a byproduct of anarobic respiration....It's basically your body taking a shortcut to make fast energy.