Butcher fast or hang???
 

I know a lot of hunters that hang their deer regardless of weather. I've found that if you butcher as soon as the blood drains the meat tastes the best, with the least amount of waste. What do you think?

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I think hanging for as long as you can will bring out a better flavor provided the meat has been properly dressed and cleaned up. Hanging definitely makes for more tender meat. The worst thing someone can do is shoot it, dress it and butcher it.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I think a lot depends on the age of the animal, how well it was taken care of in the field, how far you are from home, and how you like your meat.

Personally I lik to take out the loins and backstraps, and fry them up for dinner in camp.


Here are some tips from my Venison Lover's Cookbook which may help you:

Field Preparation
There is no question that venison from all big game, especially a buck or bull in rut, can be tough and gamy. The way to prevent this is to field dress the game as soon as possible, removing all the entrails. Be sure to split open the pelvis to remove the entrails, and reach up into the neck as far as you can and cut off the windpipe. Then prop the chest cavity open with a stick. All these tricks help cool the meat and keep it from spoiling. As soon as you can, skin the meat to help it cool even more. Be sure to keep your hands and the meat clean. If the meat gets soiled with hair or dirt, or hair or sweat from a horse, wash it with clean water as soon as you can.

Before you quarter the animal take a fish fillet knife and remove the back strap, along either side of the outside of the backbone, from just in front of the pelvis to the shoulders. Then remove the meat along either side of the backbone inside the body cavity. These are the best tasting most tender cuts of meat on the animal. They should be placed in zip lock bags and cooled immediately. Wash thoroughly before cooking or freezing.

For the best camp meal you’ll ever eat slice the backstrap or loin meat diagonally into one inch thick medallions, and broil them over an open fire. Serve the meat with baked beans, and thin-sliced potatoes with the skin still on and fried in bacon grease (Bachelor Potatoes). Season them with your favorite seasoned salt. The big game marinades in this book will remove any gamy flavor from the other cuts of meat.

Storage
In camp you should cover fresh meat with a game bag and hang it in the coolest place you can find. Then get it to town, and have it aged, wrapped and frozen as soon as you can. If you are going to take care of the meat yourself keep it cool until you get to the locker plant, or get it home. Trim all the fat and silver skin from big game meat when you cut it up. Dry-age the meat as soon as possible; ideally it should be hung and stored at 38 degrees for one to two weeks. Then cut off the dark layer of outer meat and wrap it and freeze it. If you can’t age the meat immediately, but do have it cut, wrapped and cooled, you can age it later. When you are ready to store the meat, double wrap it in freezer paper and label the outside with the date, type of meat, and the cut. Trim all the fat and silver skin from the meat before freezing or cooking.

Cooking Preparation
Before you cook the meat unthaw it, still wrapped, in the refrigerator at 36-38 degrees over two to three days. If you weren’t able to dry-age the meat earlier you can do that now. After the meat has thawed remove it from the wrapper, dry it with a towel and place it on a rack in the refrigerator, turning once a day. Allow another three to four days for aging, then cut off the dark outer layer off meat and you’re ready to cook.


God bless and good cooking,

T.R.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I like to skin them asap then put themin a cooler for about 4 days changing the water daily.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

X2

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I butcher as soon as I can. Sometimes I let the deer hang for days but only because I can't clean them right away. I never try to age meat. Proper aging requires a controlled environment. Hanging a deer outside in changing temps and sun / shade will never age meat properly.
I might be wrong but I don't think aging meat has any effect on the taste. I believe aging only tenderizes the meat.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I have from day 1 thouroughly cleaned and processed my venison ASAP. Probably that habit was because I started deer hunting in south Louisiana back in the 1960's. Most years our winters are not what one might refer to as cold. And it was not unusual to be hunting in 85F+ weather week afet week. So hanging was not an opition.

As another mentioned,weather conditions and hunting location do matter when it comes to what I do. About 95% of my deer huting is on property whereI have ready access to fresh clean water, a skinning rack, and in one camp, a walk in cooler.I will return tocamp ASAP, where I will in short order gut and wash off the the deer. If the air temperatureis not going to exceed about 35F, and I am tired, I might leave the carcass hanging outside half a day or so ... or overnight while I rest up. However, most of the time I skin and quarter out the deer, and get it on ice ASAP ... or at the camp where iIhave access to a walk-in cooler, I'llthen hang it until I head to the butcher shop.I'll have the carcass at the butcher shop no later than3-5 days after I killed the deer. I used to do my own butchering, but now I am old and lazy!

Many times my buddies and I will strip out the tenderloin and back strap, and cook that for a dinner meal. Not much better eatingafter a tiring day of hunting that marinated back strap steaks wrapped in bacon and cooked on a grill !!

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I think the key is in the cooking. I doubt anyone would know the difference between venison that was processed immediately in comparison to some that was properly aged if you do a lousy job of cooking it. Although one surely would NOT want to eat any meat that has almost spoiled due to aging it improperly. I have never found venison to be tough even if butchered right away. Some parts are tougher than others, but that goes with beef, pork or anything else as well. Those parts one should then use in stews or ground meat. I also find it funny how some people insist on aging venison and then turn most of it into ground meat or jerky. I can assure these people that their aging efforts were a complete waste of time! I think the best way to assure yourself of good eating is to process it as soon as possible. The meat will be plenty good and you won't risk spoilage.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

My dogs seem to prefer their venison hanging for a couple of weeks.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

That's the reason that people buy "28-day aged Angus beef".
Yes, it does have to be done a careful temperature and environment, in which the connective tissue/muscle tissues will break down, hence, forming a type of natural tenderizing...
After the beef has been aged, the butcher will then chisel all the outer brown cukka meat to divulge the yummy flesh we all love to eat!!!

Yes, I stayed at a Holiday Inn express last night.;)

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I hang mine anywhere from overnight if it's above 55 degrees to 8-9 days if the temps are 34-38. I hang in my garage most of the time and can regulate the temp by opening the door at night and closing during the day or vica-versa. I leave the skin on and once it's cooled, (even with gallon frozen jugs) the hide holds in and helps regulate the temps. Keeps the deer cold while the outside air warms, by the time the deer starts to warm the temps are dropping. I also moniter a thermometer twice daily.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

After I get it out of the woods, I hang it, skin it, and cut it up. I put the cut up meat in an ice chest for a couple days, or whenever I can get to it. Five or six days max for me.The meat tastes just fine. I tenderize the meat I will use to fry or smother before I freeze it in vac sealed bags. I agreewith the ones saying you don't have to age venison for it to taste good. The only time I will let a deer hang overnight is if it is cold, not cool, outside and I killed the deer late evening, and I don't have to go to work the next morning.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Venison is not beef, beef has marbling and can age,venison does not have marbling and just starts to rot. Clean it and freeze it
RC

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Butcher quick in So.Cal and Arizona...JMO

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Aging has nothing to do with the fat. It has everything to do with enzymes which break down the fiber of the meat, making it more flavorful and tender. When a deer dies rigor mortise sets in which constricts muscles and shrinks the meat. Butcher a deer at that stage (first 24 hours) and you have tough meat. The aging process happens when the enzymes start to break down the meat and it actually relaxes.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I clean and let it hang until the blood drains and then butcher. One I've got the meet off it goes in the cooler and I wash excess blood off. then its put on ice.

I've never experimented with it though, that's just the way I've always done it.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

i skin my deer out and then i let it hang in either the barn or the "cave" because if its cold like 32 or below we let er hang in the barn anything above that we put in the cave a my paps place[8D]

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

IMO this is a poll that can't be answered as a definate. I feel that it the weather is cool (not freezing or not warm), then hanging for about 3 days is great. Otherwise I won't let it hang more than 12 hours if its hot or below freezing.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I come from 4 generations of butchers and I let them hang or put in cooler if to warm i think this poll is flawed also ,cooler and let it hang does the same thing .

Let them hang and eat them rare!!





Shane

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Here in Fl.you best skin as quick as you can and either git it into a cooler or freezer.If not you'll share it with the flys.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

My game meat , elk and deer, always tastes better when it was allowed to hang a day or soin above freezing temps.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I process asap . ageing has to be done in a controlled environment with the right humidity . Most of you are not doing that i would say . there is a fine line in aging and rotting

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

If temps are between 32-38 (degrees F) I will let it hang for a couple of days. If it warms above 38, I'll cut it up immediately.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Let it hang, preferably in a cooler or shed of some sort. Even if the temp is desirable, leaving the critter out in the sun can straight up rot it...killed in the afternoon, hung overnight and cut up tomorrow is my preference.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I Have an old refrigerator in my utility room i use for the freezer, however during hunting season i remove the racks from the fridge. As soon as i get a deer home i skin and quarter it and the put the meat in the fridge, works great for early season bowhunting when temps are really warm. then i can take my time and butcher at my leisure, will keep for almost 2 weeks in there. Over the years i have found that regaurdless of whether i let it hang, or process it imediatly, old deer or young, buck or doe, i cant tell any difference in the taste. It's all in how it is cut up and cooked. It is NOT beef and can't be processed or cooked like beef. I know a lot of people that pay to have their deer processed and these are usually the people that say they don't like the taste of venison. But when they come to my house and try some of mine, they love it. Debone it, clean it well, cut it thin and cook it hot and fast and you can't go wrong.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Poll is incomplete there are to many varying factors, weather, age of deer, sex of deer ( a rutted up buck needs some extra care).

Martin

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

When we hunt, our group usually takes between 15-20 deer, so most are skinned right away, then we butcher the meat the following weekend. After we butcher, we smoke and process into bologna, except the loins, usually within a couple of days. Works for us, and taste amazing!

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

In the heat of our hunting season, I butcher it as soon as possible.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

We normally skin,gut and quarter it.We'll then put it in an ice chest for several days before butchering it.It's so dang hot down here it would ruin without the icing down.I'm sure you all do this,but we strip all muscle sheaths and white ligaments and tendons(everything that's white).It really makes a difference in taste.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

I like to hang them for 3 days minimum, five to seven if the weather's cold enough. It's more tender if you hang it. If you hang it in a cooler, you can get away with 7-10 days if the deer is real fat.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Most of my hunting is done in a place that requires me to quarter the deer just to be able to get it out of the woods....so I quarter the deer up, and put it in a cooler with ice. I drain the fluid every day and replace ice as necessary for about 3 days. Then I cut everything up the way I want it.

RE: Butcher fast or hang???
 

Here, in Iowa, during the gun seasons,k we can control the temperature of our attached garage pretty well. If it is a bit warm out, we open doors at night to get the interior cold and keep the garage closed to hold in the cold during the day. If it is bitter cold we do the opposite, open the garage up in the day to let warmer air in and then close it up at night to keep freezing air out.

We can usually keep the temperature between the upper twenties and lower forties, the body mass of the deer staying in the thirties. Once in a while it is warmer or colder. If it is warmer we do like you southern boys always have to do and butcher right away. If it is colder, we hope for a winter thaw or it may be a while before we even CAN butcher frozen carcasses.

As I said, the vast majority of the time we have no problems and let the deer hang at least a few days (sometimes a bit more than a week). We hang with the skin on, skinning all deer first thing on butcher day, trimming away all air exposed meat, and singeing stray hair. Our picnic table is put in the garage, bleached, covered with plastic, and bleached again. The large cutting boards, coolers, knives, grinders, plastic gloves, stuffer, beef and pork trimmings, wrapping paper, tape, jerky slicer, spices, and casing, and all the rest are also made ready to go. Butchering usually lasts two days, hamburger ground and in coolers, sausage mixed and in coolers, jerky curing, steaks and roasts in the freezer the first day. The hamburger is packaged and frozen, the sausage packaged (or stuffed and packaged) and frozen, and the jerky batches are started in the oven on the second day with maybe sausage in the smoker.

Back to the original poll, we hang because we can here in Iowa due to our normal winter temperature range. If I lived in a warmer place, I may have to build a big electric cooler. It is nice not having to butcher right away while you are still perhaps tired from the physical activity of the hunt.

Every year we add things that we make and every year we are more pleased with the results.

Bob