Aging Venison

[bigV4x4]

I do my own butchering and was seeing if anyone aged there deer meat? I like to have the deer hang for at lest 3 days but only if the temp. is under 40-45 degs. Last hunting season we had a cold spell in the 20's and 30's in which I let the deer hang for almost two weeks. I put my deer in my shed which is insulated but not heated yet. It acts like a cooler holding the cold in during the day when the temp gose up. I think that the meat gets tender when aged just like beef.

[Doc]

I don't. No real reason other than the fact that I have absolutely no control over the consistant temperatures required to do the job properly. I believe the correct hanging temperature is about 40 degrees. repeated freezing and thawing is something that is supposed to be avoided. Seldom is the weather that consistant around here. Also, there have been quite a few times (especially in bow season) when temperatures have been pretty high (could be termed "rotting temperatures....lol). I will say that I have had some venison that was claimed to have been aged which really tasted bad. I have heard of people using old refrigerators to age quartered up deer. That sounds like a reasonable way to do it.

Given the right control and facilities, I would imagine that aging would improve flavor and texture of the meat. It is supposed to. Without that consistancy, I would be afraid of things going bad.

Doc

[Doewhacker]

Not me.. we do them as soon as possible. We might let them hang a day or two when its real cold but other wise we do them the same day. The meat might sit in the fridge a day but that is safer than out side. As Doc noted aging is done in a controlled air circulated cooler, and it is tested again and again to ensure it is safe to eat.Speaking as a food guy, be carefull if you are aging your meat.

[SteveB]

Skin and quarter asap.

Then into a fridge for a day or 2 for rigor to pass.

[Daveboone]

Butcher and freeze asap. I have read a number of times and been told by a butcher that two months in the freezer gives the same affect to the meat as control temperature ageing=which is very difficult to do on a household scale maintiant consistent temperature and clean environment.

[vipertech]

Another vote for getting the deer in the freezer ASAP.  I never let mine hang. I see absolutely no point in this.  Besides, I get a little squeamish thinking about all the airborne bugs and nasties flying around landing on my deer, laying eggs, dropping doo doo, etc.  Yuck!! 

Longest I've ever let it hang was overnight.  And that was only because I shot the deer in the afternoon, hung it in the garage, butchered the next day.  I like to take a few packages out of the freezer then let them thaw out for a few days in the fridge before cooking it.  I think this works much better.  I've found that the meat can sit in the fridge for quite a long time too.  I've had pieces sit in there for over 10 days and still be fine. 

[Doc]

Back when I was a kid, you would see deer hanging from trees in people's yards for days. It was the common thing. Often they hung there with the sun beating on them all day and then freezing back up at night. I remember being invited to eat some of that abused venison, and it was some pretty nasty tasting stuff. It's an embarrassing situation to sit there at the dining room table fighting back the urge to toss your cookies, and trying to be polite about it all. I can't remember whether it was any more tender, because the main memory I was left with was the disgusting flavor. Thank heavens people have gotten a lot smarter regarding treating harvested meat. And yet as recently as 2 years ago, I saw a tiny doe dangling from a tree at a neighbors a couple miles up the road, for about 2 weeks and watched it disappear a little bit each day as these people went out and hacked off a dinner each night. The thought kind of turns your stomach....lol.

Doc

[Geno C]

I butcher my own deer... however the thought of aging deer in an un controlled environment is kind of scary. for your own health and others...

[Buckstopshere]

I age venison when the temperature is right sometimes a month. I control the temperature by filling the body cavity with frozen 2-liter bottles full of water, check them twice a day and rotate them out as they melt. Leave the skin on. I have a cement floor in a closed garage.

I know it is easier to skin a deer on a fresh kill, but the meat's texture and flavor is much better when the meat is properly aged.

A lot of people grew up eating green venison and said it was gamy tasting. No wonder. The best cuts of beef are aged. Use a digital meat thermometer to keep tabs on the meat every day. Everyone says my venison is the best they ever had. We feed the family and friends, venison is such a blessing. It's getting near dinner time and my mouth is starting to water just thinking about it.

There is a lot of info on the internet about aging meat. There is a restaurant out in Vegas that displays the aged meat in a glass cooler in the casino. The more it is aged, the more expensive it gets.

There is a lot to aging meat. I learn more about it every year.

[Doewhacker]

Really a month? From what I have read the gains go way down after 14-17 days, I have never had a problem with tenderness or flavor. The USDA web site is good for getting studies on aging meat if you want to read more.

[Buckstopshere]

Well, a lot depends on the temperature of the meat, right? To give a specific time to age meat is too simplistic because it assumes that meat aged at 36 degrees F. and meat aged at 44 degrees F. would be the same when obviously it isn't.

Last year in late November and December we had a cold spell that kept my deer at about 34 degree F. with very little fluctuation for a month. Secondly, older deer seem to tender up better when it is aged longer. Some of the long nosed does I get are quite old, I think about six or seven years. Their teeth are worn down, flush with their gums and black.

One size fits all when it comes to aging meat really misses the mark. That's what I mean when I say that there is a lot to it. By the way, all beef is dry aged from one week to a month.

[Doewhacker]

ahh now I see your'e point, yes temperature plays a big role in lenght of the age. Warmer temps will speed the process up but also allow bacteria a chance to grow which is the fine line every one must watch. It seems you know that though being that you check the temp and rotate ice daily. There are alot of factors that contirbute to tenderness, not flavor allways but tenderness can fluctuate due to, age of animal, diet, stress at time of kill, genetics, and also the environment the animal lives in. Oh and beef and venison are very different when it comes to aging, every animal should be aged for different lenghts of time. Venison requires less time to age typically and the gains aren't as great after a while. The usda use's a test where they measure the meat's reaction to cutting and the amount of pressure it requires to do so during the aging process. Again every animal is different and some like those old does you spoke of may require more time to tender up, and you could run into that same toughness on a much younger animal. You just never know. I get worried when I hear guys talk about aging meat, not every one knows like you to take care of it.

[sweet old bill]

I have done it just like you for year. I do treat it like a great piece of beef. The key for me is the outside temp and I try to get the hide off Asap.

[ballbusta]

I rarely do maybe in the fridge for a few days if i dont have time to bone it out right away I never had a problem with gamey venision

[Cabin Fever]

I butcher my own also. We have no electricity at camp, so hanging time depends on the outside temp, but it's always less then 24hrs. I skin the deer, soon after it gets hung, as a warm deer skins so much easier. Then, if the temp is low enough, I will let it hang for up to 24hrs, cut how I want depending on what I'm going to do with the meat (steaks, canning, cubed for processing, sliced for jerky). If the temps are too high, I'll de-bone and loosely pack in coolers with ice or frozen 2 liter bottles of water. Or if I'm coming home that same day, I'll debone, loosely put pans (to allow air to circulate), and put in the refrig at home.

[Doc]

I find that aging the venison adequately makes bone removal a lot easier. They tend to slide out a lot easier and cutting them out really is not necessary. Saves a lot of effort.

Doc

[Buckstopshere]

And it is easy to break apart the main sections in the hind legs, or haunch. I use my fingers and separate the main cuts; the top round, the bottom round, the eye of the round, and the sirloin. Hardly need a knife on the back legs.

Also, once I make my main cut down the backbone, it is easy to peel the backstraps back to where they are connected to the ribs. Hardly need a knife there either. 

[Tony Sorrento]

Here is an article from Field and Stream .... good stuff, guys! 

There are some persistent myths about aging venison that may cause you to stock your freezer with inferior meat this season. I'm sure you've heard them: Deer meat can't be aged like beef, because it dries out if left hanging. Or: Aging is simply "controlled rot," and why let good venison rot? And: You only need to hang deer a day or two for tender meat, so any longer is a waste of time.

None of this is true. To understand why, and to find out the best methods to age venison, we have to turn to science.

A Chemistry Lesson

Despite its different taste and lower levels of fat, venison is very similar to beef. It contains the same basic enzymes, particularly lactic acid, and goes through similar changes after the animal dies.

First, the muscles go into rigor mortis, a stiffening lasting at most 24 hours. Butchering a deer during rigor mortis is one of the worst things you can do. It can cause a phenomenon called shortening, where the muscles contract and remain tougher than if butchering took place a day later.

Proper aging begins as soon as rigor mortis ends-and this process is definitely not controlled rot. Rot is zillions of bacteria eating the muscle cells, their waste products creating the familiar stench of decaying flesh. Bacteria attack only after meat is exposed to the air, and bacterial rot is accelerated by higher temperatures. It doesn't happen at all if the meat is frozen. To properly age your deer, you must keep it at temperatures above freezing and below about 40 degrees. This holds bacteria (and rot) at bay, allowing natural enzymes to do their work.

Venison, Restaurants, and Supermodels

Meat is made up of long muscle cells connected by a fairly tough substance called collagen (the same stuff plastic surgeons inject into the lips of supermodels to make those lips full and "pouty"). Collagen causes most meat toughness. Young animals have little of it between their muscle cells, but as an animal gets older, more develops. Natural enzymes break down this intercellular collagen as meat is aged, so the longer it hangs, the more tender it becomes. (Commercial meat tenderizers, such as papaya juice, do the same job-but natural aging is more flavorful.) This is why beef served in fine restaurants is aged a couple of weeks or more. It's also the reason a prime restaurant T-bone costs so much; it takes money to cool a large aging room.

Supermarket beef is aged perhaps two to three days. This isn't bad, since beef-or a deer-hung that long does age slightly. But neither becomes as tender or flavorful as after a week or more.

Aging at Home

Maintaining a consistent temperature is the main problem with home-aging venison. I live in Montana, where outside temperatures during the firearms season normally range from around 20 at night to 40 during the day. My garage provides some protection against cold and sunlight, so deer that I hang there won't usually warm to more than 40 degrees and won't freeze at night. If your weather isn't ideal, you can home-age venison in a spare refrigerator. Skin the quarters and bone-out other large sections of meat. The quarters from a typical deer (or even two) will fit in an average-size refrigerator.

Young deer don't have much collagen, so aging for a couple of days is plenty. Older bucks benefit most from the extended period, and many hunters who do it properly actually prefer the taste of mature bucks. After aging, the steaks are as tender as a young doe's-but with a rich flavor reminiscent of the best restaurant beef.

[Buckstopshere]

Excellent Tony. Well said.