Aging Meat At Home

[Yruslow89]

What are the opinions on aging meat?
Do you age your meat, or not?

If so, how do you age it? Wet or Dry? And for how long?

Do you think it’s necessary to age?

 

[ssramage]

In the past I've always quartered my deer and left them in a cooler for 5 or so days. Decided to up my game this year and built a chest freezer/cooler.

https://forum.gon.com/threads/100-deer-cooler.974434/

 

[NCHillbilly]

Yes. It makes a huge difference, IMO. At least three days or so to get it through the rigor mortis cycle at the least. I prefer a week or 10 days. Moisture is your enemy. Keep it reasonably dry. I age mine in a cooler, tilted, with the drain plug open. If I had a walk-in or an extra big old fridge, I would use that.

 

[Dutch]

Quarter deer, layer meat and ice in cooler, let drain, add ice as needed.

I do this for 5-7 days before processing.

Makes a difference.

 

[alwayslookin]

Not always necessary but can make a big difference. I debone and use the bottom two drawers of an old fridge in the garage. I don't like it getting wet at all so I keep it dry and also throw some saran wrap over the top. Usually leave it in there 5-7 days and will rotate and remove any liquid on day two and check every couple of days.

We have a walk-in cooler at camp and some guys hang deer for up to two weeks in there.

 

[shdw633]

For those that keep the meat dry, why do you prefer that way? What do you do when it comes to cutting the meat up in regards to the hardened exterior that the meat gets from drying out? Personally I do mine like Dutch does for 7 to 10 days.

 

[Jimmypop]

Here's my method. 1) Bone out meat and put in large ice chest. 2) Pour in 1/4th box table salt and cover with ice water ( frozen 2 litre bottles). 3) let it soak 1 day then drain. 4) let it age on a rack in ice chest 5 to 7 days using ice bottles changed daily. ( I use 4). 5) process as you like. I only make 4 items , hamburger, sausage, stew and steak ( as much cubed as I can).

 

[specialk]

I grind everything but loins and backstraps so aging is a moot point..i leave it in a iced cooler sometimes till i can grind it up.....less than a week most times...

 

[antharper]

I just layer mine In a good cooler and keep plenty of ice on it and keep water drained off for 5-10 days , been doing it this way for years , and yes I think it makes a difference

 

[Havana Dude]

I keep a big igloo cooler just for this. Quartered, and layed on ice, then frozen milk jugs on top, as many as will fit in there. Helps keep SOME of the moisture on the meat down. Usually a week.

 

[Toliver]

I'm sure there are others out there somewhere but I've never seen anyone else's. When I was a kid, my dad bought an old Coke machine. The compressor worked but I guess it was outdated at the time. He removed the vending parts and was left with an open space. We would skin a deer, quarter it, and hang the meat in the Coke machine for a few days.

 

[greene_dawg]

I have aged in the cooler as well astaken the directly to the processor and I'm not sure I can tell a difference. I'm in the camp that doesn't like the meat to sit in water. Even a little. I just don't like the brownish grey that the meat turns. Just personal preference. Wish I had a deer cooler ?

 

[hawkeye123]

I quarter & put in cooler, btrap & tender loins in pan in fridge to air dry, sometimes trim off the hardened meat sometimes just cook it up, got a new used fridge in garage for fish & game this summer so no more tilting coolers & adding ice over & over for a week!

 

[fishman1957]

We put our's in one of the xxl zip loc bags in a cooler with ice for a week water or ice on meat is not your friend turns outside grey and dry to much waste when trimming bag keeps meat dry and out of water which dries it out

 

[brian lancaster]

an old timer told me to cover it in baking soda while in cooler would make taste much better

 

[Toliver]

I don't know if pork is different than deer meat but on a gator hunting trip in Florida, I killed a wild pig the first day there. We quartered it up and put it in a cooler and covered it in ice. Each day we poured the water off and added ice. This continued for the next 4 days until I got home. Best tasting pork I ever had. Never done that before but I plan on doing it again next time I kill a pig.

 

[CurLee]

My take on using a cooler: I cut old dishwasher racks to sit in a large Gott cooler ($25 yard sale item I've had for over ten years). I can dump 40lb ice in bottom, then place racks so meat sits above ice, four quarters plus backstraps, neck, etc.. First night I lay two bags of ice on top of meat for initial cool down, then maintain ice below meat only. Keep meat as dry as possible. Plug open to drain of course.
Keep on a porch that gets little sunlight.
I hunt on weekends so meat will stay in cooler until following weekend to butcher, ideally, otherwise I wait until at least Wednesday or Thursday if I'm tied up the following weekend.

Marked improvement over not "aging", and I think it goes beyond just getting past the stages or rigor. 7 days is a notable improvement in tenderness and flavor over 3 days.....

 

[jrickman]

I just bought an old refrigerator to try out dry aging this year. Gonna quarter it and hang it from a rod inside the fridge.

 

[bfriendly]

What are the opinions on aging meat?
Do you age your meat, or not?

If so, how do you age it? Wet or Dry? And for how long?

Do you think it’s necessary to age?

Biggest thing IMHO is trying to keep it dry as you have it on ice. I used to soak pork For a few days but always found myself Trimming off the grayish stuff......extra work and less meat was frustrating to say the least. Not gonna let that happen to my venison!
I like using those game bags and keep it on ice for at least a few days to a week. When you grind it up you’ll want it very cold to partially frozen too.

 

[bfriendly]

I just bought an old refrigerator to try out dry aging this year. Gonna quarter it and hang it from a rod inside the fridge.

This would be ideal! If I had a walk in cooler to truly hang one up, would y’all hang your Deer up skin on or off?