Elk Meat

[mburrows]

I like letting any meat hang for at least 2 days so it can get through rigor. I've let em hang for 2 days and up to 10 days and have a hard time telling a difference in quality of the meat. Usually I hang game for 3-4 days in game bags to try and minimize the meat loss from drying out.

[HntnFsh]

Cows, don't matter if they hang 1 day or longer. They taste great either way. Bulls (even spikes) have never been good for me unless hung for a min of 4 days.
My last spike only hung for 2 days, and then cut up. It was like any bull, not tender at all. That was a hard lesson. My wife is a phenomenal cook with any game meat, so it definitely had to do with lack of hanging time.

I don't think so. I think its each individual elk. I've butchered the same day and hung 3-5 days. No difference.

[stickslinger]

I always hang atleast 7 days, in my opinion it does help tenderize the meat a little bit. But the real reason I do it is u won't get near as much blood in the frying pan when u are cooking it

[buglebuster]

Cows, don't matter if they hang 1 day or longer. They taste great either way. Bulls (even spikes) have never been good for me unless hung for a min of 4 days.
My last spike only hung for 2 days, and then cut up. It was like any bull, not tender at all. That was a hard lesson. My wife is a phenomenal cook with any game meat, so it definitely had to do with lack of hanging time.

I believe that to be more of an issue of how the meat was handled and taken care of from the field. Spikes are literally the best eating elk out there.

[LDennis24]

There is more than one reason for making a good shot on an animal as well. Adrenaline ruins meat. If you chase an animal or run it before shooting it, it's gonna taste different and be tougher than shooting an animal that drops in its tracks. The meat will be tougher due to a PH change and the flavor will even be different. Secondly, hanging meat literally allows it to start decaying which is what makes it more tender. Meat that is aged by hanging will absolutely always be more tender than meat that was not. Our ancestors have known this for centuries. It's what charcuterie is all about. That and preserving the meat.

[jdw12885]

Thanks guys for all the input!!

[Caseknife]

Pretty much hang everything for about a week, skinned in game bags.  My BIL has a walk-in cooler and cutting room, so I am kind of spoiled.  Tough to hang in a garage when it gets hot during the days.  If it is a rainy wet hunting season and the game bags get wet, will change to clean dry bags before hanging.

[7mmfan]

I did a test a few years back. The test subject was a spike elk backstrap.

1. Cut and wrapped 2 days after kill.
2. Cut and wrapped 7 day after kill.
3. Cut and wrapped 10 days after kill, AND wet aged in vacuum seal bag in fridge another 11 days for an even 3 weeks of aging.

Number 1 was good, it was a well cared for spike.
Number 2 was more tender. No noticeable difference in flavor.
Number 3 was notably more tender and the flavor was superb. It's amazing how much you can get away with, with lean red meat if it's just kept cold.

I now cut all my meat no sooner than a week if possible and I get meat out of the freezer and allow to sit in the fridge for a week to 10 days before cooking. I think it makes a big difference.

[jae]

Well, all of the above are reasonable methods. I have done just about everything imaginable. Hanging in a walk in cooler for 7-10 days (if lucky enough to be in proximity to a cooler), large cooler method on out of State hunts for 7-9 days, (on ice draining water and adding ice as needed), cutting and freezing same day before leaving for another hunt, 7 days in a cellar with fans and dehumidifier (this one was recommended by a friend and I was skeptical, meat was debone and hung by individual strings in smaller pieces, turned dark but was incredible outcome) definitely more than one way to skin a cat. I prefer to get off bone in field and cool as soon as possible.
I Immediately separate meat out of meat bags and thoroughly pick any missed hair or blood shot. BUT many ways to make it happen.

[dilleytech]

Aging doesn’t happen until about 7 days and pretty much ends after 3 weeks with 2 weeks being a nice length minimum. but it is good to atleast let it sit 24 hours before cutting it up. Hanging for 3-5 days does nothing for quality. If you want to age elk meat without the luxury of halving a walk in cooler try wet aging. Works just as well is a lot easier and you don’t lose any meat.

[elkchaser54]

Immediately get skin off, cut up and freeze.

[dvolmer]

My hunting buddies grandpa who used to be a butcher in Dayton WA many years ago did tons of beef and wild game.  He always told us 14-21 days for beef, 7 days for elk, and no days for deer.  Now that I do the gutless method to process my animals and de-bone them in the field, I don't hang meat at all any more. I can't tell all that much between an elk that was hung or an elk that was de-boned and processed quickly myself.

[LDennis24]

Like I posted earlier I believe, and have read, that if an animal was stressed when it was dispatched, whether hunting or butchering cattle, that it makes more of a difference in the meat taste and structure or toughness. The hanging part isn't as significant unless it's truly aged over 14 days like Dilleytech stated. I don't know if elk or deer is different than cattle in how long the meat takes to begin breaking down and changing enzymes as I'm not a butcher and haven't actually done any research on it as in taking two pieces of meat from the same animal and treating them differently in preparation for packing. It would be fun to truly figure that out and run all sorts of different lengths of aging on deer and elk meat to find the sweet spot as they say.

[Karl Blanchard]

I've put meat up every way possibly imaginable.  I hate the loss you get from trimming the rind from an animal that has been hanging. I often don't have the time between hunts to have meat iced down. I debone in the field always now so when I get home I just cut it up and freeze it.

One thing nobody has mentioned is meat ages in the freezer, just at a slower rate. Cut it up, keep your freezer properly rotated, and you'll never notice a difference between that deer you hung for a week and the one that got chopped up immediately.

With the very real thread of things like Brucellosis, you should be freezing your meat for a while before consuming anyways

[huntnnw]

I always try and age steak cuts. This isnt an opinion that meat might get more tender hanging... it does. I have cut up backstraps immediately and left one to sit for 25 days not even a comparison between the 2