Skinning

[the blur]

I hunted out west.  The 1st thing they do is remove the hide.    But here, we leave it for the butcher.   Why ???????????????????????

[Marion]

Because why bother killing yourself when you can have a butcher do the work for you?

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[Pygmy]

I skin  my deer the same day I shoot them...The skin comes off much easier when they're still warm, and getting the hide off allows the meat to cool faster...

[wolc123]

I leave it on until the day before I process the meat. It keeps it from drying out and insulates against temperature extremes during the aging process (7 -14 days, depending on how old the deer was). If it is too warm to just hang in the garage, then I skin right away and hang the skinned hind quarters and front section in an old refrigerator thru the 7 - 14 days. Last season was a rarity in that we had near perfect "hanging weather" from the middle of archery season until the end of ML, so I got four deer properly aged without needing the fridge.

In extreme warm conditions, it does help to get the hide off right away, but we don't often see those conditions here in NY. Getting the guts out ASAP, splitting the rib cage and propping it open, cools the carcass plenty fast enough in the typical mid-30 nighttime temps which we averaged thru last season. Leaving that hide on really helps out for occasional daytime highs in the 50's or nighttime lows in the 20's. Another plus with skinning one day and processing the next, is it splits up the workload a little.

[shawnhu]

I leave it on until the day before I process the meat. It keeps it from drying out and insulates against temperature extremes during the aging process (7 -14 days, depending on how old the deer was). If it is too warm to just hang in the garage, then I skin right away and hang the skinned hind quarters and front section in an old refrigerator thru the 7 - 14 days. Last season was a rarity in that we had near perfect "hanging weather" from the middle of archery season until the end of ML, so I got four deer properly aged without needing the fridge.

In extreme warm conditions, it does help to get the hide off right away, but we don't often see those conditions here in NY. Getting the guts out ASAP, splitting the rib cage and propping it open, cools the carcass plenty fast enough in the typical mid-30 nighttime temps which we averaged thru last season. Leaving that hide on really helps out for occasional daytime highs in the 50's or nighttime lows in the 20's. Another plus with skinning one day and processing the next, is it splits up the workload a little.

Aren't you the one that ages meat in 52 degree temps?

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[wolc123]

The outside daytime highs may even have hit 60 a few times last year.  The temp inside my insulated garage with concrete floor may have reached the lower 50's a couple of afternoons. That further illustrates the advantage of leaving the hide on.  It will help insulate the meat, keeping it in the mid 30's to lower 40's (ideal aging temps)  during occasional daytime highs in the 50's.   I never take any chances with spoilage however, and am quick to go to the fridge if the temps are even predicted to be too high.  Have you ever aged your venison?  Rigermortise sets in within an hour of a kill.  When it is aged long enough, that it feels like a fresh kill again, it is ready for processing.   If you cut it up before that, your jaw will get a workout during consumption. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

Gross.

 

Ill skin mine and get it quartered up and in the fridge the day I get it home if possible. Most of the time its in vacuum bags and in the freezer that day or the next. If its cold in the garage (40 or below), then I slow down and will take my time, but its in the freezer within a few days.

 

I never ever ever have any issues with tough meat. Ever.

[deerpassion]

Quartered my doe n packed her out tonight... In the cooler in under n hour ...

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[shawnhu]

The outside daytime highs may even have hit 60 a few times last year. The temp inside my insulated garage with concrete floor may have reached the lower 50's a couple of afternoons. That further illustrates the advantage of leaving the hide on. It will help insulate the meat, keeping it in the mid 30's to lower 40's (ideal aging temps) during occasional daytime highs in the 50's. I never take any chances with spoilage however, and am quick to go to the fridge if the temps are even predicted to be too high. Have you ever aged your venison? Rigermortise sets in within an hour of a kill. When it is aged long enough, that it feels like a fresh kill again, it is ready for processing. If you cut it up before that, your jaw will get a workout during consumption.

I'm not a math wiz, but let's take some averages.

Your goal seems to want the meat in the high 30's, (mid 30's to low 40's). So if the temps reach low 60's during the day, and your strategy is insulation via garage and skin, then you would want temps to plummet down to mid teens at night. Take a few arbitrary numbers, like target temp 38, high 60, that'll give you a deviation of 22 degrees. So that leaves you with a target temp of 16 for the night. That's roughly a 44 degree difference from day to night. So that begs the question, what planet do you live on that has temps fluctuate like that on a regular basis?

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[wolc123]

You surely are not a math whiz. Do you realize that night is longer than day at that time of year? To properly model the situation you would need a third order differential equation (or something like that). The "proof is in the pudding". I have never had any spoiled venison with over a hundred aged that way. In fact, almost all who ate it thought it was top - choice beef. Once you learn how to properly prepare venison, you will likely never want to eat beef again. The venison is much better for your heart (also a lot more fun to acquire).

[The_Real_TCIII]

I let mine hang a long time too, I'll go ten days as long as temps are in the 40s or lower. Never had any spoilage

[G-Man]

Most countries age meat the usa is one that doesnt, if you ever travel and see the black carcasses hanging before they are cut up you would never eat the food there, as for spoiling that's what aging does, the meat starts to rot causing connective tissue to break down making it nice and soft and tender, restraints tell you it's aged, and honestly there is nothing wrong with it, but it is letting meat technically rot to make it tender, the key is to control its progress using temperature so it doesn't putrify...

[growalot]

 

I hunted out west.  The 1st thing they do is remove the hide.    But here, we leave it for the butcher.   Why ???????????????????????

 So to your question...I believe and just MPO...it is to keep the meat clean and free of as much fly landings as possible...Have you ever seen how these pop up "butchers" store the deer being brought in? usually stacked on the ground out side. now I do my own ...but can tell you The thought of a my skinned deer laying out in someones yard ...where perhaps there dog or cat deficates...I'm thinking nope...also everytime a fly lands on potential food ..it vomits...it also collects bacteria and feces on it's very sticky feet that then goes to every other thing it lands on... every time I skin my deer it gets wrapped in a cheese clothe game bag ..not perfect but helps, OMG I hate flies!

Edited October 7, 2015 by growalot

[CFHunter]

When my beef is processed, it is hung for atleast 2 weeks in a cooler set to 40°. All beef should be aged this way. The really high end steak house even serve beef aged up to a month. Venison would be no different, it is just most people do not have a temp controlled environment to age the meat in.

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[SteveB]

I'm not a math wiz, but let's take some averages.

 

 

Math doesn't matter to him.

He uses Jesus aging on his Jesus arrow killed deer.

[Five Seasons]

If you're going to skin right away you shouldn't let it hang long. it'll dry out. quarter it and put it on ice, but don't freeze. If you're not going to skin, you can let it hang and it'll be just fine. There's no absolute right or wrong method, but there are certainly some techniques to avoid.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Math doesn't matter to him.

He uses Jesus aging on his Jesus arrow killed deer.

 

It doesnt matter what temps its hung in. If Jesus wants him to get food poisoning, he will.

[gfdeputy2]

Gross.

 

Ill skin mine and get it quartered up and in the fridge the day I get it home if possible. Most of the time its in vacuum bags and in the freezer that day or the next. If its cold in the garage (40 or below), then I slow down and will take my time, but its in the freezer within a few days.

 

I never ever ever have any issues with tough meat. Ever.

exactly what I do

 

[Fletch]

I leave the hide on. If cool enough I hang for a while outside or in the shed, if not it goes in 6 foot cooler. Cutting up meat before the rigor mortis leaves can make the meat tough. If I was down south or high heat areas and was worried about getting the meat temp down then I would skin but around here and with a cooler not needed. The hide on keeps the meat clean and not dried out.

 

I have never had a problem skinning a deer hide warm or cold.

[wolc123]

Some of you guys who cut your deer up and freeze it ASAP out to give aging a try if the temperature is not too high. The older the deer, the more important that is. Even a 6-month deer is a bit better after 3 or 4 days at around 40 degrees. 2 weeks is perfect for a 4-1/2 year old (you math whizzes can interpolate the time for the ones in between). Any red meat should be aged to get the best quality on the table.

Definitely get the guts out of the deer, and get it cooled ASAP. Keeping it out of the sun is critical, and leaving the hide on helps out for reasons already mentioned. If its too warm, use and old fridge. If your wives, girlfriends and kids have been turning up their noses at the venison you have been tolerating yourself, give it a try. You got nothing to loose. If they enjoy eating it they will be far more tolerant of the time you spend hunting.

Maybe part of the confusion with hunters, is that most of them are also fisherman, and it is definitely best to get that meat processed as soon as possible after the kill.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Some guys hang their ducks on a fence until their heads pop off. I haven't had the stones to try that. I do lay them in the fridge breast up for several days before I clean them

[Paula]

Some guys hang their ducks on a fence until their heads pop off. I haven't had the stones to try that. I do lay them in the fridge breast up for several days before I clean them

Why

[the blur]

I believe this thread is over a year old when I started it. The dates seem to be wrong.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Why

i guess when the neck lets go they are aged/tender enough

[chas0218]

I used to skin them warm but then you have to deal with a lot of that sinew if you wait for the hide to absorb some of the moisture out of the meat you will have less of the sinew to deal with.