Post by: RockChuck on October 18, 2009, 01:50:40 PM
Post by: rawhide on October 18, 2009, 02:00:31 PM
Post by: edmondshunter on October 18, 2009, 06:08:10 PM
Post by: GregU on October 19, 2009, 06:46:37 PM
Post by: BENCHLEG on October 19, 2009, 07:05:05 PM
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Post by: Ripper on October 19, 2009, 09:23:23 PM
Post by: Missing on October 19, 2009, 09:28:35 PM
Post by: Axle on October 20, 2009, 03:59:32 PM
There is really no advantage to aging a deer. Cabelas sells a meat tenderizer with blades that work extremely well. Aging will give more 'taste' to it that turns off many people. The 'gamy taste' is exaggerated even in the freezer over time. Hard to imagine but it does happen.
One way to help the burger is to cut the meat into cubes, put it into a big plastic tub with towels in the bottom to absorb all the blood and extra stuff that drains off the meat. This will really help the flavor of the meat because the meat itself is good but the blood has odor in it. Let it sit for a day, then grind it. If the meat didn't drain well when the animal was taken (which is most often the case in a rifle-killed deer), then let the ground meat sit another day (after being ground) with more absorbing towels in the bottom of the big plastic tub. You would be surprised at how well it will turn out!
Post by: billythekidrock on October 20, 2009, 04:12:13 PM
Post by: halflife65 on October 20, 2009, 04:15:56 PM
Sometimes it's a couple of days until I'm in a place to cut it up, but I'll usually try to get it cut up and frozen within 48 hours with whatever portion is going to the butcher either frozen or at the shop (grind for burger or sausage, the rest I cut myself.)
Post by: PA BEN on October 20, 2009, 05:22:47 PM
Post by: rasbo on October 20, 2009, 05:46:22 PM
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Post by: stumprat on October 20, 2009, 05:51:44 PM
Post by: rasbo on October 20, 2009, 05:57:32 PM
ll venison is not equal. Venison can be consistently excellent table fare, or, with poor handling and preparation, can be about the quality of a boot sole. Many people who do not like to eat venison had bad experiences with improperly handled or prepared meat. Many factors affect the quality of venison, including deer species, deer age, stress prior to harvest, field dressing, contamination of meat, cold storage temperature, excessive moisture during storage, aging of carcass, butchering and packaging.
Venison that has been butchered
and packaged for different recipes.
To keep things simple, these comments focus on the meat of wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer and mule deer. Some of these details would be different for large deer species such as moose, elk and caribou or non-native deer such as fallow, axis and red deer.
Meat from mature bucks more than four years old that are harvested during rut sometimes can have a little off-flavor and be a little tougher than female deer and young bucks. Nevertheless, mature bucks are usually very edible when handled, aged and butchered properly. Genetics most likely impact tenderness of venison, because I have encountered some old does that were more tender than some young does. However, I do not know how a hunter can recognize a deer with the genetics for tenderness.
A clean, quick kill of an undisturbed deer probably provides the best-quality venison. Meat quality usually declines in animals that are stressed or run extensively immediately before death. A deer should be eviscerated (field dressed) immediately after death, but this can be postponed up to a couple hours during mild weather and even longer during cold weather. The combination of evisceration and the bullet or arrow wound usually adequately bleed a deer—there is no need to cut a dead deer’s throat. Also, contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to remove the metatarsal glands because they do not affect the meat after death. However, avoid rubbing the glands on the meat and avoid handling the glands and then handling the meat without washing well.
Soon after evisceration, the carcass or quartered meat should be cooled and stored at 34-38 degrees Fahrenheit. The carcass is easiest to skin soon postmortem, but skinning can be postponed for a few days as long as the carcass is quickly and thoroughly cooled. Tenderness is generally improved when the carcass or quartered meat is aged at least a week at 34 to 38 F with good air circulation around any exposed meat. Air circulation around exposed meat causes its surface to dry—the dry layer should be trimmed off during butchering. Tenderness continues to improve during the cold storage aging process until about 16 to 21 days. The meat that will be ground and the tenderloins do not need to be aged. Freezing should be avoided during the aging process because it inhibits aging and speeds spoilage after thawing. However, meat does not go bad when it freezes during the aging process. The meat should be kept clean and dry throughout field dressing, cold storage and aging processes. Soiling and excessive moisture increase the likelihood of spoilage.
After the aging process, fat, cartilage, bruised meat, dried outer meat and non-muscle material should be removed from the muscles using a sharp filet or boning knife while working on a clean, cool cutting surface. I believe fat is the most common source of off-flavor in venison. Several chemicals that cause off-flavor are stored in fat. Venison fat usually leaves an aftertaste or residue in the mouth and is less palatable than beef, pork or chicken fat. Cartilage, such as tendons, ligaments and fascia, are responsible for much of the toughness in meat.
For most of my venison recipes, I prefer to separate each muscle and cut slices or chunks across the grain of the muscle. The muscles from the tenderloins, back straps and hindquarters are the best choices for frying, grilling and roasting (these muscles are ranked in order of decreasing tenderness, but all are good quality). These muscles, as well as the neck, shoulder and flank muscles, can be used in other recipes such as stews, fajitas, chilies, smoked meats, sausages and hamburgers. Some recipes that work well with beef or pork may not work well with white-tailed or mule deer because these deer meats tend to be “dry,” lacking intramuscular marbling. Avoid undercooking and overcooking venison when frying, grilling, roasting, smoking or microwaving, because undercooked venison might provide a health risk, and overcooked venison becomes tough and dry.
Unless cooking the meat fresh, it should be quickly frozen after butchering. Meal-sized quantities of meat should be placed into plastic bags. Most of the air should be removed from the plastic bags before sealing. When the meat will be stored in the freezer for more than a few days, the plastic bags should be wrapped in freezer paper; the freezer paper should be sealed with tape; and the packages should be labeled appropriately. Meat prepared and stored in this manner maintains good quality for more than a year. Vacuum-sealed bags probably improve the storage process, and vacuum-sealed bags may not require a second layer of freezer paper.
If these comments cause you to treat your deer meat differently, you will probably enjoy your venison meals more.
Post by: rasbo on October 20, 2009, 06:07:12 PM
None of this is true. To understand why, and to find out the best methods to age venison, we have to turn to science.
A Chemistry Lesson
Despite its different taste and lower levels of fat, venison is very similar to beef. It contains the same basic enzymes, particularly lactic acid, and goes through similar changes after the animal dies.
First, the muscles go into rigor mortis, a stiffening lasting at most 24 hours. Butchering a deer during rigor mortis is one of the worst things you can do. It can cause a phenomenon called shortening, where the muscles contract and remain tougher than if butchering took place a day later.
Proper aging begins as soon as rigor mortis ends-and this process is definitely not controlled rot. Rot is zillions of bacteria eating the muscle cells, their waste products creating the familiar stench of decaying flesh. Bacteria attack only after meat is exposed to the air, and bacterial rot is accelerated by higher temperatures. It doesn't happen at all if the meat is frozen. To properly age your deer, you must keep it at temperatures above freezing and below about 40 degrees. This holds bacteria (and rot) at bay, allowing natural enzymes to do their work.
Venison, Restaurants, and Supermodels
Meat is made up of long muscle cells connected by a fairly tough substance called collagen (the same stuff plastic surgeons inject into the lips of supermodels to make those lips full and "pouty"). Collagen causes most meat toughness. Young animals have little of it between their muscle cells, but as an animal gets older, more develops. Natural enzymes break down this intercellular collagen as meat is aged, so the longer it hangs, the more tender it becomes. (Commercial meat tenderizers, such as papaya juice, do the same job-but natural aging is more flavorful.) This is why beef served in fine restaurants is aged a couple of weeks or more. It's also the reason a prime restaurant T-bone costs so much; it takes money to cool a large aging room.
Supermarket beef is aged perhaps two to three days. This isn't bad, since beef-or a deer-hung that long does age slightly. But neither becomes as tender or flavorful as after a week or more.
Aging at Home
Maintaining a consistent temperature is the main problem with home-aging venison. I live in Montana, where outside temperatures during the firearms season normally range from around 20 at night to 40 during the day. My garage provides some protection against cold and sunlight, so deer that I hang there won't usually warm to more than 40 degrees and won't freeze at night. If your weather isn't ideal, you can home-age venison in a spare refrigerator. Skin the quarters and bone-out other large sections of meat. The quarters from a typical deer (or even two) will fit in an average-size refrigerator.
Young deer don't have much collagen, so aging for a couple of days is plenty. Older bucks benefit most from the extended period, and many hunters who do it properly actually prefer the taste of mature bucks. After aging, the steaks are as tender as a young doe's-but with a rich flavor reminiscent of the best restaurant beef.
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Post by: Red Dawg on October 20, 2009, 06:29:13 PM
Post by: jdb on October 20, 2009, 06:36:20 PM
Post by: halflife65 on October 20, 2009, 06:38:19 PM
Venison, Restaurants, and Supermodels
Meat is made up of long muscle cells connected by a fairly tough substance called collagen (the same stuff plastic surgeons inject into the lips of supermodels to make those lips full and "pouty"). Collagen causes most meat toughness. Young deer don't have much collagen, so aging for a couple of days is plenty. Older bucks benefit most from the extended period, and many hunters who do it properly actually prefer the taste of mature bucks. After aging, the steaks are as tender as a young doe's-but with a rich flavor reminiscent of the best restaurant beef.
Do supermodels have tough lips?
Post by: rasbo on October 20, 2009, 06:43:15 PM
Im hoping to find out..But Im doubting that will happen :chuckle:
Post by: halflife65 on October 20, 2009, 06:45:04 PM
Do supermodels have tough lips
Im hoping to find out..But Im doubting that will happen :chuckle:
Yeah, that will be a question that I'll until I die, I suppose...
Post by: RockChuck on October 20, 2009, 07:14:35 PM
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 20, 2009, 07:20:04 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on October 20, 2009, 07:39:55 PM
Post by: huntnphool on October 20, 2009, 07:52:52 PM
Quote
To keep the debate going, which way do you hang your deer, head-up or rear end up?
From the rear legs.
Post by: wilsongideon on October 20, 2009, 07:56:53 PM
Post by: Wea300mag on October 20, 2009, 08:08:41 PM
Quote
hang em from both front and rear legs to keep the flavor from escaping out the feet
I have to admit that's the first time I've heard that theory. :chuckle:
Post by: rasbo on October 20, 2009, 08:21:41 PM
Post by: Missing on October 21, 2009, 08:03:13 PM
I was just about to say all that, ;) I agree with you fully.
Post by: Tony 270WSM on October 21, 2009, 08:14:41 PM
Post by: bow4elk on October 21, 2009, 08:17:56 PM
My young daughters love wild game. I was a proud dad the night my five year old said (with a mouth stuffed full of elk stroganoff), "Dad, I like to look at animals but they are more fun to eat!" I couldn't have said it better.
Post by: Moosehunt on October 21, 2009, 08:31:21 PM