Hanging deer, in fur or skinned. What's the preference??

[Hayduke]

Jacket off as soon as they get back to the chiller. One job done. Dirty skin gone and the carcass is hanging cleaner. Game dealers and butchers round me don’t hang beasts in skins they get them off sharpish. If you are at all concerned about discolouration a strip of clingfilm along the backstraps and over the haunch’s does the trick.

 

[mole trapper]

Definitely skin on, I was devastated years ago to shoot my first fallow, keeper said skin it while it's warm then put in his chiller, went back to collect it about 5 days later, it was absolutely black, and totally dried out.

 

[VSS]

Has anyone tried the muslin carcass socks for hanging skinned carcasses?
I noted that one particular chef, restaurant owner and venison retailer was using them, so I contacted him for his opinion. "Brilliant" he said "don't think twice about it, just do it. You'll never look back!"
However, I also note that all his most recent social media posts show carcasses hanging in skin. So it appears that his romance with muslin socks was but a brief flirtation, and he's now gone back to the traditional method of maturing venison in skin.
That tells me something.

 

[robgal]

I believe there's also dry age bags that allow moisture too escape but not enter, they work well from what I've watched.

Not done venison but we’ve had 75(!) day sirloin aged in the bags and it worked great

 

[VSS]

The recent spell of cold dry weather has kept the chiller humidity down at a sufficiently low level to enable me to do this 21-day aged haunch as a special order for a customer wanting the more traditional flavour and texture, without the usual mildew problems.
I chose a slightly older, larger animal for the purpose (this haunch alone weighs nearly 6 kg), with a fair covering of fat for protection.
After hanging in-skin for a week as usual, I wrapped the skinned haunch in muslin and hung for a further fortnight.
Just look at that beautiful colour!
I've eaten a few bits off it just now while removing the aitch bone and trimming up, and by God it tastes good! And so tender!

 

[Alhamander]

Has anyone tried the muslin carcass socks for hanging skinned carcasses?
I noted that one particular chef, restaurant owner and venison retailer was using them, so I contacted him for his opinion. "Brilliant" he said "don't think twice about it, just do it. You'll never look back!"
However, I also note that all his most recent social media posts show carcasses hanging in skin. So it appears that his romance with muslin socks was but a brief flirtation, and he's now gone back to the traditional method of maturing venison in skin.
That tells me something.

I have a large (American) Elk bag from Caribou Gear which is not muslin (always found those muslin bags too small for anything I had to get inside them which led to a bloody sticky mess - so not a fan of muslin...just too tight and flies just seemed to sit on it anyway, if they were around). The Caribou Gear bag is huge so will take a whole red which is great. I hang it skin off.

I had been very happy with it as it has lots of room for airflow. However...

The last time I used it, I opened it after about two days and found the entire western hemisphere's population of keds in it. Literally crawling everywhere on the inside of the bag which - to me - was just foul. So that actual bag is fine; the use of it...perhaps not (on the other hand, if I didn't use the bag the shed would be full of keds, so there is that...).

If it wasn't for the keds, I'd perhaps go to hanging skin on...not a fan of keds.

 

[Jh1986]

I've recently grabbed a couple of rolls of muslin to try.

My chiller sits at around 78% average humidity and I get 3 weeks before I get any growth on the inside of the chest cavity.

My usual is a week, then skin and butcher.

I'd like to skin asap and then use the muslin sleeve and see how that goes so I'll try that with my next one.

I also think the sleeves give a really "proper product" look

 

[ianevans]

Had an interesting discussion with a Norwegian hunter and he says take the average day temp and add each day till you get to 40 and then it is ready to process your animal or bird
Thought that very usefull

 

[Polar Lynx]

Yes, standard procedure also here (Sweden). Mean temp day/night times 6 X until 40 is reached. Some use tenderizing timer, same really.
Re. skinning: boar is usually left with fur overnight as they most often are shot in the night and needs cooling until next morning.
Also, with boar there is some testing or rather checking of the red organs. This is done best in full daylight.
After skinning next day boar is placed in chiller for X days. Usually tricinella tests take 3-4 days so when results are at hand boar is then cut up.

With roe and fallow/reds they usually are skinned the day after beeing shot but with moose usually same day as skinning is easier when body is warm.
Some cover skinned carcasses with special net to keep bodies somewhat damp during tenderizing.

 

[griff]

Hi, I have up to very recently always hung any deer I've harvested in their pelt (between 4 and 9 days). A friend suggested that it's so much easier to skin the animal as soon as you're home because the pelt comes off easier on a warm carcass. So I tried it with my most recent animal, it was much easier to skin, but the flesh had dried out in the chiller by the time I got to processing it. Curious to know what other people do and any tips for getting the best venison?

It all depends on what type of chiller you have, evaporative or condensing, one will dry the meat by removing moisture the other just chills the air. Rubbing olive oil over a freshly skinned carcass will stop it from drying out in the short term, and will require 2 or 3 coats depending on the length of time in the chill.

 

[SaOsborne]

I have tried both and also muslim cloth. In skin will let you mature without the risk of drying too much, Muslin does a simular thing but gives you extra costs/ washing to do. I have used ones imported from Canada, which are moist on opening, reading, they are lightely moist in a citric acid plus an undisclosed other substance, they work very well and I have washed them and just re-treated with a citric solution which stops mould for weeks if needed. I find in skin is best as long as chiller humidity not too high for moulds.

 

[weblyish]

Is it fiesable to put a dehumidifier in a chiller?
Will it just ice up?
I've had one in a shed before that iced up in winter

I'm thinking about when you put a dozen wet beasts in it and shut the door and there isn't anywhere for the moisture to go

 

[75]

Is it fiesable to put a dehumidifier in a chiller?
Will it just ice up?
I've had one in a shed before that iced up in winter

I'm thinking about when you put a dozen wet beasts in it and shut the door and there isn't anywhere for the moisture to go

Yes! I used to run one in a chiller but you need the right type. I think it’s desiccant that can run down to 1C but my memory is hazy. My new chiller allows me to turn off evaporator fan when not on a chill cycle so humidity isn’t the problem it was years ago. Be aware that dehumidifiers put out a little bit of heat so your chiller will work harder - not necessarily a bad thing with regards to stripping moisture..

 

[EssexBigMac]