Deer processing - Aging vs Immediate

[crappyice]

@GroanALot

a question for you sir - I pulled your pic from the live thread so not to clutter there with butchering questions.

Do you remove the  the dark coating that results from a longer hanging prior to cooking/eating or is that what makes the longer hanged meat more desirable? How many pounds do you sacrifice as a result of trimming the darker coating(assuming you do)?

any pics of the finished product prior to packaging would be appreciated!

 

 

[GroanALot]

The dark dry outer edge is known as pellicle and is a desirable indicator that your aging process is happening in dry enough conditions

i filet that off the drier the easier and there is very little waste, almost inconsequential 

the meat is a color people would want to consume ha:

i would have trimmed more off these roasts for freezing but they are for fresh this weekend so ce la vi

[Bolt Action]

@crappyice I'm going to piggy back of the previous reply. 

I know there are different schools of thought surrounding whether or not to hang/age a deer prior to butchering. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the sooner I can butcher the deer to avoid that pellicle, the happier I am. Having to fillet that dark leathery skin off of every single muscle group adds hours to the process for a whole deer. I am meticulous about cleaning the deer that I butcher, though. I remove every piece of fat, silver skin and pellicle that I can, so it's already a long process. That's time that I could spend on other things that I'd rather be doing. 

[GroanALot]

2 hours ago, Bolt Action said:

@crappyice I'm going to piggy back of the previous reply. 

I know there are different schools of thought surrounding whether or not to hang/age a deer prior to butchering. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the sooner I can butcher the deer to avoid that pellicle, the happier I am. Having to fillet that dark leathery skin off of every single muscle group adds hours to the process for a whole deer. I am meticulous about cleaning the deer that I butcher, though. I remove every piece of fat, silver skin and pellicle that I can, so it's already a long process. That's time that I could spend on other things that I'd rather be doing. 

More than one way to skin a…whatever, but…

To me rushing is wasteful and less fulfilling…

as long as i have deer dry at 38 i am in no rush and can process to the same standards as you descibe (as is also my preference) at my leisure…keeping the muscle groups connected and bone-in/sealed in developing  pellicle keeps it very fresh

I have just in the past few years tried my fresh (never frozen) sirloins sliced and unpealed and more fresh roasts with light connective tissue

also most pellicle develops on areas already shrouded in connective tissue..the leather pellicle is far easier to filet than very thin connective tissue

i ate this early doe 12 day aged scrap as carpaccio…to me looked like sashimi tuna, was on par

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by GroanALot

[Wormser]

I'm on the side of let them hang.  Our favorite meal is canned venison.  For us we can taste the difference from a deer that was cut up within a few days vs. hung for 2 weeks.  I built a homemade walk in cooler just for this purpose.  If I'm making sausage, bologna, or jerky only, I don't worry so much.  

[nywaw]

Split this one out as it's too good of a topic to have mixed in with the other topic 

[crappyice]

@The_Real_TCIII just shared an experience of eating the inner line the very next day after harvest and they were chewy. I tried the tenderloins the day of a kill and they were inedible.

I like the idea of 4-7 days of hanging in a deer fridge and then portion out the muscle groups 

[BowmanMike]

1 hour ago, GroanALot said:

More than one way to skin a…whatever, but…

To me rushing is wasteful and less fulfilling…

as long as i have deer dry at 38 i am in no rush and can process to the same standards as you descibe (as is also my preference) at my leisure…keeping the muscle groups connected and bone-in/sealed in developing  pellicle keeps it very fresh

I have just in the past few years tried my fresh (never frozen) sirloins sliced and unpealed and more fresh roasts with light connective tissue

also most pellicle develops on areas already shrouded in connective tissue..the leather pellicle is far easier to filet than very thin connective tissue

i ate this early doe 12 day aged scrap as carpaccio…to me looked like sashimi tuna, was on par

 

100 % agree,you are trimming the area that develops pellicle anyway,so no difference. Might be easier to trim it with the dry skin actually.

As far as taste goes I have not found much of a difference with aged vs not not aged meat. The early bow harvests get done asap at my house,I am still working on getting a deer fridge.

[crappyice]

39 minutes ago, Wormser said:

I'm on the side of let them hang.  Our favorite meal is canned venison.  For us we can taste the difference from a deer that was cut up within a few days vs. hung for 2 weeks.  I built a homemade walk in cooler just for this purpose.  If I'm making sausage, bologna, or jerky only, I don't worry so much.  

Homemade walk in cooler you say?!?

pics man!!!! I'd love to hear more about this

[Belo]

I'm a "depends on the temp" guy as I don't have a dedicated cooler or fridge. I always hang at least overnight, sometimes 2 days. If I'm honest I've never had a bad piece of venison that I butchered myself, so the time needed to hang, plus then trim isn't worth it for me. No doubt that it's better but not sure if it's worth the effort.

[mowin]

I've processed 100's of deer.  Used to have our own walk-in.  I've aged with skin on, skin off, from 2-14 days. I've also processed deer the day or two after cooling off.  

IMO. There is little difference in flavor or tenderness.  95% of the deer we kill are now processed within a couple days. 

[518BowSlayer]

I finally have a garage fridge that I can hang deer in. Hung my 2 does last month for 12 days. Tried 1 backstrap and it was noticeably more tender than my doe from last year. Flavor was about the same. I used to just throw quarters in my apartment fridge for a day or 2 because I read that you should at least wait for rigor mortis to pass before cutting meat off the bone. Meateater had a good podcast about this with a meat scientist

https://www.themeateater.com/listen/meateater/ep-227-red-cutter

[mowin]

19 minutes ago, 518BowSlayer said:

I finally have a garage fridge that I can hang deer in. Hung my 2 does last month for 12 days. Tried 1 backstrap and it was noticeably more tender than my doe from last year. Flavor was about the same. I used to just throw quarters in my apartment fridge for a day or 2 because I read that you should at least wait for rigor mortis to pass before cutting meat off the bone. Meateater had a good podcast about this with a meat scientist

https://www.themeateater.com/listen/meateater/ep-227-red-cutter

Within 24 hrs rigor has passed.  

Here's the issue, last yrs deer may have been a yr or two older than the deer you shot this year. The mast crop might have been different as well as agg crops/food source. Comparing one deer to another a yr apart or even the same yr is tuff at best.

I've cooked back straps from deer that were only hanging for a couple days, then cooked the other after hanging for 12+. Same deer, obviously skinned, and noticed very little difference.  

Also did the same with deer hanging with skin on, but cut a portion of the hind out and cooked after 2 days, and again after 12 days with very little difference.  

Obviously this will be a debate every yr for as long as hunting is around.  Guess there's no "wrong" way, just different methods.  

 

 

[Wormser]

2 hours ago, crappyice said:

Homemade walk in cooler you say?!?

pics man!!!! I'd love to hear more about this

I'll have to get more pics. Inside has 2 inch foam board and the corners are sprayfoamed.  I have a 5000btu GE AC hooked to a Coolbot (8 years running).  The AC is set to Cool and energy saver.  I have a wireless thermometer that shows me the highs/lows for 12 hours so I know it never gets above 40.  I've never had any trouble to this point keeping it cold even when outside temps got in the 80's.  I can hang 3 deer in at a time.  We've ended up using it for other things as well like beer/food storage for parties. 

Was it financially practical.....no....but it's not why I do it. This is us moving it outside after being in my shed that is now a woodshop. It now has siding that matches the house and some decoration so the misses is happy.

 

 

[GroanALot]

5 hours ago, crappyice said:

@The_Real_TCIII just shared an experience of eating the inner line the very next day after harvest and they were chewy. I tried the tenderloins the day of a kill and they were inedible.

I like the idea of 4-7 days of hanging in a deer fridge and then portion out the muscle groups 

Crappy gonna have to disagree on the tendies…they come out day of harvest with a hand cleaning and devoured barely seared by my boy and I…

As i said before i mostly like to age for the leisurely pace…took 12-14 days on every deer this season so far doing the straps by day3 a quarter every few days after in the painstaking manner as described by bolt above

It takes me less time total then when i used to marathon butcher and i waste less because i rarely go more than 2 hr a session

also more time to consume fresh cuts rather than rapid freeze which because of the nature of ice crystals and meat fibre is always detrimental despite being manageable 

Finally some amount of fat, light connective tissue as in the sirloin and silver skin in shanks and shoulders for long slow roasts is favotable with ag heavy deer…IF done fresh…need the fridge/temps for that

this season watched the phillies roll thru october with knives at hand was awesome 

Edited November 22, 2022 by GroanALot