a question about aging venison

I agree with this method..I have hung them for a week or so and there is some waste from the air dried outer layer on the carcass. One time I took a deer and was frying it up in two hours and it tasted just the same to me. Hanging the carcass for 24 hours lets it set up better to debone and wrap up.

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Everyday above ground is a good day

In my opinion, the only reason to let it hang for a day or two is for handling purposes.
It helps the meat firm up and makes for easier, faster, and safer cutting.
We butcher all our animals this way. Try it, you'll see.

Ditto. Proper shot placement, animal is dead before it hits the ground. Clean immediately. Cut and trim any meat that's bloodshot or got anywhere close to 'loose guts'. Wash thoroughly and hang to dry (with a sheet if it's warm enough for insects). Or, if it's warmish, cut and quarter, put in freezer, take out a few hours later and butcher (easier to cut when cold).

Most people don't think about it, but the aging process is nothing more than the meat going through the rotting process.

Gamey flavor tells me someone didn't 'do it' right.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Just wondering if you chew your food or swallow it whole? If you swallow it whole, then Aging does not benefit you in any way.

Taken from a processing book: Butchering, Processing, and Preservation of Meat by Frank G. Ashbrook

Meat from an animal just slaughtered or shot is usually tough and tasteless. Beef, mutton, venison, and game birds become more tender and palatable by the process of ripening, hanging, aging, or maturing. Pork, veal, and lamb, however, should not be aged, for nothing is gained. These animals should be processed as soon as possible after butchering and chilling.

What makes meat tender? There are about twenty-five enzymes in meat. Enzymes are ferments. They act on the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats in the meat and break down the connective tissue, reducing it to a gelatinous consistency. This process makes meat tender and also improves its palatabilitiy, since certain juices are released which enhance the flavor.

Good quality beef and mutton having a firm texture and a coating of fat on the outside will chill and season in 7 to 10 days in a cooler set at 35 to 45 degrees F. Highly finished beef can be ripened for 6 weeks. Venison and other game may be kept to advantage for 2 weeks or more.

From the book: Butchering, Processing, and Preservation of Meat by Frank G. Ashbrook.




Just to let you know, I once let a full matured 14 point buck age for 16 days in a cooler before I processed it. It was so tender you could cut the cooked meat with a fork and was very tasty. If I hadn't known what size of deer it was, I would have mistaken it for a young doe. So I definitely believe in aging, if I have the time and cool weather to do it in.

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r.h. in oklahoma

Raised a country boy, and will die a country boy.