ORIGINAL: WARedBear
How long do you hang your animal after he is skinned and gutted? What is a good temperature to hang in? What temp would be to HOT to hang in. I don't have a meat locker so the only choice I have is in my garage. I was living in an apartment 2 years ago when I bagged my bear. I had to hang him in a friends garage for three days. Problem is the weather turned warm the last day. I cut him up and put him in the refrigerator at home while I processed the meat. I finally got around to the last cut, the ribs, about 4 days later and they were covered in mold. I ended up throwing them out. I blamed the hot weather on spoiling the meat. All of the other meat was good and in fact we are still eating it. We had some bear roats the other night. My wife is wanting me to get another one this year. So how long do you hang meat and at what temperature range?
I have been hanging and processing my own meat for about 10 years. I learned From an old country butcher who was in business for over 60+ years. First of all you should be using a cooler, you cant control the temperature in a garage. Its really dangerous and your tempting to spoil or contaminateyour meat. This can happen in a surprisingly short amount of time. I prefer to hang my animals with the skin still on. This keeps the meat clean andacts as an insulator. (The skin keeps the animal warm while he his alive and helps it stay cool once you've got him hung up.) The skin alsoacts an air tight wrapper preventing the meat from darkening and drying out. I generally hang my animalsby the neck or by tyeing a rope around the base of the rack. Hanging the animal hams down allows anyblood and bloody water to drain from theabdominal cavitythrough the opening at the ass end. (Its the Blood and bloody water that speeds the spoilage of meat.) I also cut the legs off at the knee or hock joint to allow blood to drain from the large muscle groups.I hang the animalfor 7 to 8 days at a controlled temperaturearound 45 degrees. This temperature allows the SAFE bacteria to grow thus tenderizing and adding flavor to the meat. Around day 4 or 5 you will see the formation of a Grey mold on the exposed areas of the hams by the abdominal cavity. This is NOT a sign of spoilage it justgrows from being exposed to Air and high humidity. (This is the same mold that forms on Country Ham and chesses.) You just wash it off when you butcher your meat.By hanging the animal this way you will notice aconsiderable lack of blood and mess while butchering. Your meat will also cut allot easier and neater using this method. Not to mention that skinning is just a matter of cut and pull. NOTE: You'll need to remove the "Inner loins" prior to hanging, they will be exposedto the air and will dry out quickly. There is allot of discussion personalopinionabout Temperature and and hang time.This is the system that works for me. Ive been doing it this way for along time, no one has died and many people have commented that my deer doesn't have a "Gamey" Taste.This method is mainly for deer, if you don't have access to a large cooler you may want to invest in a couple of used refrigerators and quarter you meat to hang. But the whole hanging meat in a garage is in my opinion a badidea. Good luck in your future hunts and continue being a bringer of meat.