do I need to hang a goat carcass?

[Jcran]

We're slaughtering 5 goats on Friday. The meat locker will charge 2 dollars a day per goat if we don't want him to butcher. He charges .60/lb to cut and wrap. I wanted to do this as cheaply as possible. Do I need to hang the carcasses or can I keep them and debone them/cut them myself?

[mygoat]

Why not just butcher yourself? It's not difficult and would be free. With a helper I bet you could get all 5 done in a day or two.

I don't hang carcasses. I also cut them all up by hand. In fact, I do the entire process beginning to end.

I just cut up the meat then let it sit in my fridge for 5-7 days to tenderize it. It is then packaged, labeled, and frozen in regular freezer bags. I don't let young kid's carcasses sit - just older ones. I'll immediately freeze young carcasses.

[RiverPines]

We also do everything ourselves.
But we dont hang or anything.
We go from butchering, to freezer, minus some to cook right away that is tossed in a pan.

We never age any meats. I like fresh not partially broken down after a long sitting period in a fridge.

I also cook all our meats slow. I'm in no hurry.

I cant help if aging helps bacteria to grow like e-coli and salmonella.
I refuse to buy store meats because of having to cook it black to keep it safe. I sure dont want my meat sitting in a fridge, raw, for days on end. Its butchered and frozen or cooked immediately.

Fresh meat always.

[A@VT]

I believe hanging is important for meat I think it helps it firm up and improve the texture. I have always only hung it over night I find this gives it enough time to drain and meat is so much easier to cut up chilled. I like it when my meat is hanging in mid 30 degree temperatures. Today I posted a thread titled "Butchering Done!" in it I described how I cooled my meat in summer temperatures to might find reading it helpful. Best of luck A@VT

[ozark_jewels]

Read posts #28 and on in this thread. It is about aging goat meat.

The lowdown on goat meat

I never age any goat meat and we do all the butchering at home. The only meat we age is beef.

[topside1]

Just wrap the quartered meat and age it in a spare refridgerator...or just put it in a five day cooler, keep it covered with ice and open the drain plug....age for 3-5 days....then de-bone.

[Scrounger]

KKK
Kill it....
Klean it.....
Kook it......

Hanging the meat is nothing else but starting the rotting process, even at low temps. Just as stated above, it is also a breeding ground for bacteria - especially this time of year. We NEVER age meat. If I want to taste spoiled meat, I go to a steak house that "ages to perfection". YUCK..

[Jcran]

Thanks for the replies; we've got two older does that will be the choice of the buyer if they want to age or not; otherwise, OUR goats will be butchered and frozen.