I have always aged game meat (deer and elk) by putting it in a cooler for 3-7 days. In a previousl post, someone suggested not hanging it in a cooler. I have heard that this tenderizes the meat. What do you think? for deer, elk, and moose?
Joe Fishin

Moisture control. Dont let the animal be subjected to moisture and it can hang longer. I have always liked to let my animal hang up to a week, depending on temp. As far as tenderizing, I think it definitly helps. Process it yourself, you will be way more happy with the results.

I've heard it go both ways....

This year I hung my elk 2 days including time it was quartered in the woods and it turned out pretty tender.

My deer on another hand hung 3 days including 1.5 days at camp 35-55 degrees and the steaks are fairly tough...

Another arguement is if an animal works up it's adrenaline..... My elk ran 80 yards, my buck never got out of his bed. So that theory plays out the opposite to what I have with textures in my meat....

Another friend of mine that shot a buck within 500 yards of where I killed mine, dropped it in it's tracks and hung it for 5 days in a locker, cut it up then let the meat sit in the fridge for 1 day before wrapping it. The texture is like the best fillet mignon you've ever had.. Pisses me off really!!

So next year I'm going to hang it 5 days and see what happens....

Keith

We always hang four days before cutting and packaging. It makes a difference. I heard the longer the better but it all depends on what time of year and where you have to hang it. If it gets over 55 degrees it seems to start to spoil. in the 40s is perfect. More reason to have a basement.

I had heard something about rubbing vinegar on the meat while hanging. Something about allowing it to hang longer without spoiling and reduces the "game" taste. I don't know if that holds true. Does anyone else do that?

Fixed that for ya, you flaming cork soaker!

In my limited experience it is all about the quality of the animal at the start. I have cut them up when they are still warm and also let them hang a week and had to cut them up partially frozen. Not alot of diference in the taste or quality of the meat if I started with a good animal. (Wisconsin whitetails).
The biggest difference is doing the entire process myself, from woods to the dinner table, I think that is what brings out the best taste. . . . .
Reminds me, time to pull some more tenderloin out of the freezer for dinner. . ..

The vinegar thing is a technique used in the field to keep the flies from laying eggs in the meat that hatch into maggots. The vinegar makes the hanging quarters skin over hard and the flies can't lay eggs under the surface.

Best venison I ever had was a doe from Wisconsin farmland.

Also, the vinegar will wipe away the little mold spores that develop.

I try to hang for up to 10 days, but alot of times I'm going on multiple hunts, and I have to get the deer processed within a few days of the kill cause I'll be leaving again.

Another thing is I hate the hard dry crust that the meat will develop after several days. I don't like trimming it off, plus I love wild game so much I hate throwing anything away. If the situation allows (location of kill as well as weather) I will hang the animal with the skin on, even when quartering and packing out.

The butcher wants you to bring it to them ASAP .,.. they will hang it if they need to but the sooner it gets there the better

I have a hard time seeing you with a pack on your back...lol

I hung ducks out in the shed for 2 weeks one time in a cold stretch. They didn't taste or feel any different than if I just let them hang for my normal period of time (starting when I get home, ending when the game is over, or I woke up from a nap), but being that old freaked me out a little (I thought I might get lock jaw, or jungle gut or something).

So, I don't know if it matters for small game at all. Informative right?

smart ass!!!!!! I bout broke in half when I packed my moose out!

I just got back from a deer hunt in Idaho. I shot a 4x4 muley on a Thursday. We flew out of the mountain runway on Monday the 27th. Quartered the hind quarters out and boned out the rest into game bags. Got home on Tuesday. Took the racks out of the refer. in the garage and put the deer in it. Today I just finished grinding the rest of the burger. So to some it up my deer hung per say for almost 2 weeks total. I've always aged my meat for at least a week before butchering.

Once I get my walk in cool built I will be hanging all of my meat minimum 2 weeks!!

+1

I shot a young doe on a hot September day a few years back and butchered it the same day. I let the wrapped meat set in the fridge for a day then froze it. That wheat fed little girl was the best tasting and tender whitetail I have ever had. I believe that each animal probably has a perfect aging time; guessing what that is, is difficult.

The meat toughness issue is combination of aging and how you cook it. Meat that has been aged for X amount time may cook a little different meat aged more or less than X. So, if your acustomed to preparing a recipie the same way every time; you will have a different results with different animals.

Things also to consider are the age of the animal, thickness of the meat, is it boned or not, sex, time of year...........................................................................................

J-7 is right. Just do a Google search on: age, boning, sex, tenderizing, and meat. I'm sure you'll get results you can use.

Dont forget to turn off safe search.

I have had good results hanging my deer with skin on for 21 days in a 30-40 degree garage. You just have to be sure the temp never rises over 40.
And you don't want it to freeze either. I find that by hanging with skin on, I don't get that hard shell that needs to be trimmed away.

This is why I prefer late hunts in Eastern WA, and I always haul my deer to the relative's in Spokane.

The only reason I hang meat is if I don't have time to butcher immediately. In the past I've hung the meat, but it hasn't been any more or less tender when I skip this step. In fact I usually just end up trimming off and wasting more meat that has dried out on the outside of the animal. I've heard because of the very low fat content of wild game hanging doesn't do much to help tenderize the meat.