I doubt that would go down well with the boss "WTF is that fallow doing in the front room" Hanging deer, in fur or skinned. What's the preference??
- Thread starter RescueMe0007
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I doubt that would go down well with the boss "WTF is that fallow doing in the front room" 
jonnybotang24
Active Member
What does lewving it in the skin for 7 to 10 days do? Is it tic related or does it improve the meat like hanging pheasants?
Norfolk Deer Search
Well-Known Member
I hang mine a minimum 21-28 days
jonnybotang24
Active Member
Yes but why? Does it make it more gamey?
Norfolk Deer Search
Well-Known Member
The enzymes tenderise the meat with age, at 28 days you can almost butcher it with your fingers
CookM
Well-Known Member
If hanging in a chiller,with the skin off,it is a bit like leaving sausages or bacon on a plate in the fridge,there is constant dehydration.
Skin on prevents this on the outer layer of meat
No its not like a guts in hang.
It stops the chiller drying out the outside of the carcase
Not so much gamey,just the same as aged beef.
Naturally tenderised.
Gamey is not always good.
My dad used to make me skin hares shot on saturday on Apsley Estate,on wednesday night.
They were stinking guts in.
Norfolk Deer Search
Well-Known Member
100%
I am not a fan of the taste when left this long. 7-8 days is my cutoff.
But like everything to do with food, this is totally personal!
Norfolk Deer Search
Well-Known Member
But that also depends on the species, red to be fair I don’t touch red anymore, they get run in to pay the bar bill, but follow, roe and munty are all good up to 28 days usually the right time to butcher is when you’ve got a light cover of mould on the inside of the rib cage which happens around 21 to 25 days!
I am not a fan of the taste when left this long. 7-8 days is my cutoff.
But like everything to do with food, this is totally personal!
But that also depends on what the time I have to do it.
No no no no!
Just reading that is giving me the boke!
Next you’ll be saying you hang hares by the head til the body falls away…
Norfolk Deer Search
Well-Known Member
Well, you have to remember is I’m a qualified butcher I’ve dry aged meat in years gone by, when you have done the job and you understand things it’s a different world out there beyond your seven day must butcher at home!
I don’t even get a knife out of the drawer before 14 days unless I’m desperate
There was a really interesting podcast on meateater a while back - US slant to it with anything they do but quite good discussion and research on aging of venison. Conclusion was 5-7 days was all that was needed as venison doesn't age the same way as beef. You need rigor mortis to pass but the same enzymes aren't present that you find in beef - we don't generally dry age lamb or pork so it's not a universal thing for all animals.
I treat the 5-7 days as a minimum. I like meat to set and firm up a little before butchery and I've regularly hung it for 2-3 weeks without worrying about it. Longer hanging doesn't mean more gamey, just a slightly different texture as there's a bit more moisture lost and the meat is a bit firmer to butcher. That doesn't mean it's tougher (or more tender) in my view.
I treat the 5-7 days as a minimum. I like meat to set and firm up a little before butchery and I've regularly hung it for 2-3 weeks without worrying about it. Longer hanging doesn't mean more gamey, just a slightly different texture as there's a bit more moisture lost and the meat is a bit firmer to butcher. That doesn't mean it's tougher (or more tender) in my view.
shotguntom
Well-Known Member
As I say: taste is entirely personal and subjective.
I really don’t like it hung past a week. You can get away with it with sika, but well hung roe is genuinely unpleasant to me.
Beef is completely different: there, I completely agree. Several weeks is superb.
devon deer stalker
Well-Known Member
After I have killed/culled a deer I hang it in the skin for 5 days
I like this - worth skipping to 22m30s for the taste test between 1 day, 1 week, 3 weeks and 6 week dry aged loin off the same deer.
Jim Hutton
Well-Known Member
Leave it in skin avoids drying out. How long you leave it is an individual preference. You will need to experiment to see what suits you best.
A lot of folk on here talk about skinning whilst warm being easier. Ok with Muntjac but Fallow (especially if fat) aren't so easy as when cold. 1/2" -1"of warm gloopy fat does not help the process and the carcase can end up looking like it died of some horrible disease. We have to skin for one outlet just as soon as it gets to the larder but I'd sooner skin 4 after a week than one warm one in the "Fat Buck" or early doe season. Period of hanging in skin depends on individual taste.
Muntjac and Roe one week.
Fallow & Sika two to three weeks.
Red, would only eat a young yeld hind.
Those are my choices.
Muntjac and Roe one week.
Fallow & Sika two to three weeks.
Red, would only eat a young yeld hind.
Those are my choices.
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