One way or the other the meat has to get processed

[Uncle Nicky]

Wasn't going to jump in, but the devil made me do it..

SOOO many old wives tales, mis-truths, and urban legends regarding meat & venison...

Aging meat DOES improve the quality of venison, I'd be willing to bet the average guy on the street could tell the difference in flavor and tenderness, but the question is, is the time, effort, and chance worth the end result? If done correctly, aged meat will develop a black somewhat slimy crust that needs to be trimmed off, you'll lose close to 1/2 of the edible meat; a deer isn't that big to begin with. Usually meat is aged at around 40 degrees uncovered and not touching any other meat in the aging box. Lots can go wrong with this scenario. I guess I don't really care for venison, even aged, enough to go through the trouble. 

"Cold shortening" is the term for freezing meat before rigor mortis sets in. This can be avoided by letting the meat cool down to room temperature before freezing. The only way this is going to happen is if someone kills a deer, runs home, skins it, and get it in the freezer within 2 or 3 hours of the kill.

I have some clue of what I'm talking about, I have a degree in culinary arts, cut meat in a store 10 years, and ran a processing business for 15 years.

[The_Real_TCIII]

But did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night??


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[Arcade Hunter]

On 9/22/2016 at 3:53 PM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

I'll tell you right now that bone in butchering SUCKS!!!! Marrow and bone frags in the meat. Once you get the process down to debone it all you will never want it any other way. 

Plus the fact that the meat will taste "gamier".  Venison bone frags and marrow do not taste good .

[chas0218]

On 9/24/2016 at 8:08 PM, Uncle Nicky said:

Wasn't going to jump in, but the devil made me do it..

SOOO many old wives tales, mis-truths, and urban legends regarding meat & venison...

Aging meat DOES improve the quality of venison, I'd be willing to bet the average guy on the street could tell the difference in flavor and tenderness, but the question is, is the time, effort, and chance worth the end result? If done correctly, aged meat will develop a black somewhat slimy crust that needs to be trimmed off, you'll lose close to 1/2 of the edible meat; a deer isn't that big to begin with. Usually meat is aged at around 40 degrees uncovered and not touching any other meat in the aging box. Lots can go wrong with this scenario. I guess I don't really care for venison, even aged, enough to go through the trouble. 

"Cold shortening" is the term for freezing meat before rigor mortis sets in. This can be avoided by letting the meat cool down to room temperature before freezing. The only way this is going to happen is if someone kills a deer, runs home, skins it, and get it in the freezer within 2 or 3 hours of the kill.

I have some clue of what I'm talking about, I have a degree in culinary arts, cut meat in a store 10 years, and ran a processing business for 15 years.

I couldn't agree more!

My FIL has been a butcher for 40 years he has cut up deer for 20 of the 40 and decided it was enough. My grandfather grew up butchering cows and my father until the age of 30 had done the same. Anyway with all the years of experience telling me otherwise that the meat needs to age I thought I would try not aging a deer and aging it to see which one tasted better (toughness wise, aging does nothing for taste). All you na-sayers obviously aren't doing it right or never tried it because I shot 2 deer of the same age, same property, same time of year, same sex (this is all key to my experiment). I aged one deer for 2 days in my garage at ~48* the other i cut up immediately. I packaged both in the same manner (food saver bags) and froze them for the same length. Now I know which piece of meat was aged and not aged when I cooked it. I decided to give a piece of each to my wife and she could tell the difference. Do what you want with your deer but I will continue to age my deer.

Also meat will not spoil if left out at 50* if the moisture is allowed to escape the meat and the bugs can not get to it. How do you think salted meats stay good for so long when they are not frozen or refrigerated.

Edited September 28, 2016 by chas0218