Hanging Meat

R

Ross06

Guest
I have heard different things from people but I was wondering what you all think is the proper time for hanging your meat, The temp is in the low to mid 30's during the day. Any recommendations would be appreciated.
 
I would say the longer that you can hang it the better. I usually can't go more than 5 days. I've heard that when the meat starts to get mold on it then it's agfed j8ust right and cut it up.
Jeremy
 
I'm no meat processing expert, but I can say from experience that if the meat is hanging in temps much higher than 36-38 degrees, it is basically rotting. I just finished cutting up my whitetail that has been hanging in temps around 33-35 degrees for 5 days. It was like butter. I do not like hanging my deer without the hide on. Some may disagree, but I don't like the dried out shell that develops on the exposed meat. My 2 cents. I would let the temperature dictate how long to hang. If you can keep it at 34-35 degrees, 5-6 days is not a problem. Any higher temps and you better think about cutting him up quicker.
Course, I live in Saskatchewan, so most years I have to THAW the deer out before I cut them up.....
 
4-5 days works out fine for me.....also if it is just boned out meat you can put it in the fridge with dry towels under it to soak up the blood and wet towels over it so it doesn't dry out too bad. This works well too....pretty much the same as hanging it, you are letting the blood leech out.
 
I always hang my deer and elk for at least 10 days. if its warm, I take it to a meat cutter and have them hang it in their cooler. I never let them cut it up though. I do that my self.
 
I hang elk and beef at 36?f or less for at least 14 days before I cut it up. Deer, for about a week.
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Eric
 
I have 2 refrigerators and a stand up freezer and bought a new chest deep freezer this year.
I quarter up my animal throw them in the fridge and cut them up when I get the time. It could be from the next night or a couple days. But it all tastes good to me and used to give time to age but never tastes different to me. All the same.
Was told by several different meat cutters and they told me its just a wives tale of the hanging. But each has there own preference on the hanging of game.

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My dad swore by hanging deer and elk for 7 days or until it got a thin layer of mold on it. I did the same up until about 5 years ago. I read an article (dang if I can remember who wrote it though, but he was a well-known magazine outdoor writer) where they did some tests on aging deer. Come to find out, deer ages just fine in the freezer and there's actually no real need to hang them.

And, I can't notice any taste or tenderized difference at all between deliberately aged game and freezer aged game. None. Nada. But to each his own, if you want to hang your critters, just make sure it's between 34 and 38 degrees in that locker or refrig....
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-06-05 AT 09:02AM (MST)[p]Our elk from the day it was taken hung for about 7 days before processing. Deer, I'm not sure if they are the same but I'd think so. Personally I wouldn't want it going for more than 5 or 6 days at the most.
dutch
" Man who excels at putting worm on hook is Master Baiter"
 

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