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Hey guys need some guidance. I took a buck at sunset yesterday and skinned and hung it right away. I would like to hang it for a week but a few days have a high of 6 according to the forecast. Will my deer be okay hanging with the low temps over night?
Can you keep it out of the sun
Congrats on the buck !
following to see the responses, but we sometimes dry age meat outside, wrapped in cheese cloth. not 100% positive why.
6 C is good. you will have no problems. I personally don't skin them until the day before butchering it prevents the outer layer becoming real dry and you don't need to trim it of. You save a bit of meat. at 4 C you can hang for 2 to 4 weeks make sure you have some fan to provide air circulation. Everyone has different opinions on this subject. I have hung moose at an abatoir for 35 days at 4 C and controlled humidity. Best meat ever had
Congrats on your buck
Should be no problem to hang for a week as long as you keep dry and out of the sun preferably in a garage or shed.
The only worry would be if the carcass freezes solid then tough to butcher
Very few deer in southern Ontario need to hang at all...most are agriculturally feed (farm fields etc.)
Quote:
If you shot a yearling buck or doe, process it now. These deer are tender by nature and don’t need as much hang time. Shorten the hang time if temps are on the high side (up into the 40s), as this makes both collagen breakdown and bacterial growth happen faster.
You must maintain a temperature of 34 to 37 degrees. (0-3 C) to actually age it properly...requires a walk-in cooler.
I leave our deer hanging for 5-6 days skin on, and then skin before butchering. At 6C you're good as long as it's sheltered and not in the sun.
-N.
I dont know his age but he had a large body small 6 point rack. He also walked with a major limp and I'm sure I've seen his track on this farm for the past three years.Attachment 42747Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
The arrow in the bottom is a sadly the finishing shot. The original shot was perfect but found him alive for some reason.
Why not just butcher it right away? I never age my deer, and the meat is always great. If butchering yourself and you have a spare fridge, store the quarters in the fridge while you work on it, or consider it the "aging" period.
Edit: Congratulations on the deer, by the way!
my rule of thumb is 5C, make sure the belly is spread, keep out of sun and a breeze is nice don't skin until time to butcher. Skinned once the day before the butcher got there, boy was he pissed. The outside meat was all dry and he had to trim it all off. The butcher also said that deer didn't need to be aged as the meat is not marbled like beef.
It's not the high temp......it's the low temp, the aging process stops when it's below '0'. The high temp is associated with bacterial growth etc.
Quote:
The most important part of that environment is temperature. Too cold, below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the enzymes stop working. To warm, above 40 degree Fahrenheit, and bacteria multiplies rapidly, causing spoilage and leading to conditions that could very easily cause food poisoning. To properly age venison, the temperature needs to remain between this 32- and 40-degree temperature range, or at least very close to it.
https://www.realtree.com/brow-tines-...ll%20reproduce.
If you leave the hide on it you keep in a lot of heat and increase the rate of bacterial growth.Quote:
Originally Posted by sabmgb
I skin everything out as soon as possible and I leave at least 24 hours for the meat to setup but ideally long enough to make sure that rigor is out of it, but this is in an insulated garage in the fall and or winter.
I do this with goats and deer and will do this for a young steer this winter too.
no matter where you go this topic comes up
ideally hanging inside a cooler is best ( I'm fortunate to have my own). in actual fact you can get away with temperature fluctuations as long and the shot wound is trimmed out and the animal is properly gutted and cleaned out
I've stopped excepting random guys deer, bear and moose to butcher because over 75% of what I've seen in recent years is not gutted or cared for in a proper manner.
It's every hunters responsibility to learn how to properly care for their game after you've harvested it
When I first joined the Hunt camp and they would hang deer for the week....no matter what the temps. The old guys said it was to 'Age' them... the reality was, they left them hanging for the guys from other camps to see the 'Racks.
No climate change back then, snow down and freezing cold. The 'ageing' enzymes that break up the muscle etc stopped working at '0' so nothing was accomplished and we had to skin them when they were frozen solid. Ahh, the good old days at camp HaHa.
Congrats on the nice deer.
I do not think You should vorry,6 C is perfectly fine.As long as the deer is not in the sun,not wet,clean and has air circulation-i am not telling you what to do,but even +10 C is ok.
I do not think You should age.Deer will be fine eating regardless.My buddy ages his deer,and the"smell"of the aged deer meat is a turn off for me.
You already skinned it-likely will not do this the next time.......I did it once,never again.
Good luck and let us know.
Congratulations on getting a nice buck! As for hanging the deer, Mike Pal has some good information. One reason to hang the animal is to get air circulating around it so that it cools quickly. To that end, it’s a good idea to open the the neck up to the jaw bone and remove the wind pipe, and crack open the pelvis.
The truth of the matter, unless you can age the animal at a constant 2-5 degree temperature (i.e. in a cooler), you won’t be accomplishing much. As Fox says, let the carcass cool and allow the meat to set up, then butcher away.
By the way, let’s hear the story.
Don't keep it in the sun and don't let the legs or head touch the floor. If you have to hang it head up and saw the bottom legs so they aren't hitting the floor. You'll be surprised how easily mice can climb up a leg lol.
We don't skin until the day or day before we butcher. 6° should be fine. Last year we had deer hanging for a week when it was over 10° during the day. Congrats on the buck.
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Most deer that get shot here are in the afternoon....so it gets hung in the barn and skinned immediately, while it's still warm. I then let it hang overnight and butcher it in the morning.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bowjob
If it's really cold (Dec ML season), I'll quarter the meat and put it inside the shop overnight so it doesn't freeze. Usually everything gets done in less than 24 hrs.
1. A butcher would never hang meat in an environment where the temp wasn’t constant.
2. No one would ever freeze and thaw a steak 3-4 times and expect it to be decent
IMO (and that of the butcher I had hunted 20 years with and processed a pile of deer with) the better process is as follows;
Hang 24 hours, skin on or off to let rigor pass. butcher completely then either dry age or bag age cuts in a fridge at constant temp (approx 4 degrees) for 3-7 days. For bag aging, drain the blood daily, for dry aging cover with parchment paper to prevent drying and drain blood from tray daily.
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Exactly. Unless it’s too hot waiting for rigor to pass is preferred. If it’s warm butcher right away.Quote:
Originally Posted by outdoorlife
I always skin when they are warm it’s just so much easier
You guys who are convinced hanging is a good idea should take a hind quarter off right away and butcher it. Then compare to the same cut from the quarter you had hanging for a week.
You will quickly realize that it doesn’t improve the meat and you have much less loss of meat
Yep, I remember the "gamey" taste of Eastern Ontario deer, the reality is that it was not the taste of the animal but rather the taste of the rot.Quote:
Originally Posted by FishHog
Above 4C is the danger zone for bacteria, between 0C and 4C is the temperature you can age game at, but good luck keeping your deer hanging with the hide on outside for 2 weeks at that temperature, we were eating rotting deer all those years.
Nothing will convince me hanging deer or moose makes a lick of difference. Poor taste often attributed to wild game is more often then not because of poor handling.
"That deer taste like turd. Should of hung it for a week".
"Oh really, what happened to it?"
"Bob shot it at dusk and we didnt find it until 11AM the next morning laying in a swamp. It was 14C that morning. But ya, not hanging was the problem".
Well I'm going to butcher it tomorrow the meat was just above 0 in the hams at 12 today before I went to work. Ribs had froze slightly over night but not worried about that to much. The high today was 5 and the shed could of been a bit warmer due to the early morning sun but hopefully the snow reflected most of heat.
Couldn't agree with you moreQuote:
Originally Posted by blasted_saber
the amount of deer I've had dropped off with the esophagus still inside the deer is mind blowing. Hence why I don't accept random dropoffs anymore
I strongly disagree with the advice not to age the venison. I base this on my lifetime consumption of approximately 65 animals, all harvested in southern Ontario. I've tried all scenarios and this included both sexes and variable age (fawns, yearlings, adults). I have a well insulated shop that I can usually manage to keep at near optimum temperatures during most years. This year was great for hanging - managed to keep the carcass at 3 - 10 C air temps for a full 8 days. Even on the day with the 10C air temp, my electric thermometer still showed a carcass meat temp of 6 degrees.
Some years - out of necessity due to warm temps at harvest, and forcasted warm temps in days to come - immediate skinning, approximately 20 hour hang, then butcher. Steaks and roasts are noticeably tough (probably still affected by r. mortis and muscle fibers are still contracted). flavour totally lacking. I wouldn't say bland, rather more like a sharp metallic, "iron blood" taste. Same inferior taste even noted in the grind when used for things like shepherds pie, meatloaf. I'd compare the meat experience to that of commercial pork loin chops - the meat looks great then you cook it and you eat a bland, tough piece of meat with no taste
Fawns - I've had better results for texture (tenderness) on short hangs (1-2 days) when compared to adult deer.
Based on me and my family's and friends opinion - best tasting venison is by far from animals that have been hanging for at least 5 to 7 days. No "blood metallic" taste, definately more tender, esp. roasts and steaks. Very noticeable in cuts from sirloin tip, hind rounds, rolled shoulder and neck roasts. Loin cuts definately more tender.
I do not have a meat locker so I don't have the ability to hang longer . I would if I could ! The best venison I've had was from dry aged carcasses that hung 10-14 days. Problem is finding a butcher that will be willing to have it occupying a spot in their meat locker for that long. For a few years back in the 80s we used to get this done in Lindsay at DeKoker's.
https://www.fieldandstream.com/story...ang-your-deer/
Check this out. Seems like a pretty fair trial.
Re: skinning - I definately skin right away if temps are very warm at harvest or I can see excessive damage from the shot, Otherwise I prefer to leave the skin on until butcher day. It will insulate the meat and keep it cooler on the days when your shop temp goes above the optimum 4-5 degrees for the day. A skinned carcass has no thermal blanket and the meat temp will rise to match the air temp. I also don't like the meat waste and the extra time it takes to trim black rind off all the meat.
A lot of good advice there, Fenelon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fenelon
Most deer 2 1/2 years and younger don't need "aging" - but it shouldn't hurt if done right.
IMO:
- Needs to be hung indoors
- Needs to be kept dry - don't wash it out unless it is gut-shot
- Pelvis and sternum don't need to be split, but the body cavity should be braced open
- When field dressing, make sure you get all the blood and clots out of the body cavit
- Should not be skinned until ready to cut
Deer are not supposed to have the same problems with toughness that beef does.
I used to believe that until I cut up a big buck - shot friday am, cut saturday am.
Even the t-bones were inedibly tough. Unbelieveable, I thought.
That's why Old milking cows (same age as an old Buck ?) are sold a hamburger...ground meat.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
someone advised me to leave the meat in a saltwater and vinegar solution over night.
I believe it helped pull all the blood out and made the meat more tender. but I am new so take it for what its worth.
I shot the deer last light almost. field dressed and moved it to the car.
hung it overnight and morning skinned it, and quartered the deer and took it home.
then left the quarters in the saltwater+vinegar overnight, in the backyard with alot of covers to prevent animals getting to it. it was 0-3c.
butchered it in the morning, and left it in fridge, wrapped in cheese cloth.
the day after i cut up smaller pieces and froze it all.
it was a youngish Doe ...
The saltwater/vinegar is if you have one that's a bit ripe already.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ata83
No need for that on a good deer.
Some final thoughts on hanging: not many hunters can hang a deer or moose properly (constant perfect temperature) for 14 days. The carcass will either freeze (and tenderizing stops) or you run the risk of temperature swings that promote bacteria growth. Do the best you can in your situation without ruining the meat!
Exactly...I wouldn't risk spoilage just on the off chance I would get more tender meat by hanging it in less than ideal conditions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Menard
Most of my meat gets cooked in a Slow cooker. I could throw in a piece of shoe leather with a can of diced tomatoes and after 8 hrs it would be edible :)
When aging deer - or any other meat - contamination is the enemy, not temperature.
Moisture and warm temps will make the problem orders of magnitude worse if you do get contaminated meat.
One thing I would recommend is that under any questionable conditions, you check the deer every day.
If the exposed surfaces are not drying or you can detect any odor, you need to clean it up and cut it immediately.
Mikepal - as far as the crock pot - do you do this even for backstrap, rump and tenderloins? That would seem like a real waste.
Then again, so does putting an entire deer into sausages which a lot of guys do.
Generally I cut up a deer and use the cuts similar to as I'd do beef, except when cooking, I do it a lot rarer than I would beef.
Moisture is in the air, you cannot stop that, unless you vacuum seal the entire enemy. Temperature is the critical factor in bacterial growth, period, anything about 4C is in the danger zone, irrelevant of what people claim they did in the past, it is science.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
If the outside of the meat is dry, that provides the bacteria.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fox
Moisture is equally important to temperature.
Not sure why you are so insistent on something you are so wrong about.
Many meat preservation methods rely on drying meat so it does not spoil.
It's not like natives use curing salt when preserving meat and fish - they just dry it.
Also, a lot of the old European meat preservation is done by drying the meat - literally anything air cured.
Sorry, I should have clarified...I slow cook roasts etc that way because cooking in an oven dries out the meat...anything that can be cooked over an open flame...gets put on the BBQ :)Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
most of my deer this year went into sausage. bit of a mis communication with my butcher when i assumed my roasts would be cut into steaks. 60 pounds of sausage isn't anything to complain about though!
We gut them out in the field but they get washed/rinsed out back at the farm house then transported to the butcher. Our butcher often complimented us on such nice clean deer we brought him. LoL ! From the truck they go onto a hoist to be limbed and skinned put on hooks and into the cooler by this point they have bled out and are dry. They will sit for a few days until butchered. We have never had bad tasting meat as we pay attention to the ambient temperature and of course care of our harvest. It doesn't hurt either that we are getting "farm raised deer" down here in Norfolk County which has a huge bearing on meat flavour.
My brother has been a butcher for over 40 years and explained a lot about the aging process of red meats and how Temps vs. Time plays into it the breakdown of the tissue thereby making it a choicer piece of meat. So , yes there is a science to aging meat but not all meat needs to be aged.