Article in Independent

Not sure I believe the figure of 350,000 culled by 1000 stalkers - that would mean an average of 350 each! Or do they mean professional stalkers?
 
Nice article just got his numbers wrong that's all i am sure there are a couple more than 1000 :lol: But hey its nice to read something positive for a change.
 
Boghossian said:
Interesting comment by the chef about ageing venison.

I'm no expert but when Rosemary Shrager was at Amhuinnsuidhe she used to hang her venison for 2 - 3 days.

I suspect that for a reasonable proportion of "cookery experts" or whatever you want to call them all this stuff about hanging meat for months on end is merely some form of affectation or a weird form of snobbery. If one says he hangs his venison for 2 weeks then the next one has to say his hangs for 4 weeks, no matter what the effect on the meat is. I find venison hung for less than a week mighty fine and no worse than stuff hung for longer plus I have neither the facilities nor the inclination to hang it for any longer.
 
An interesting and unusually "pro" article, read the comments after it though..entirly predictable crap!
 
Boghossian said:
Interesting comment by the chef about ageing venison.

Well, I'm certain that if you say buy beef from Tesco where it's bright red and hasn't been hung then it's pretty tasteless compared with going to Waitrose's meat counter and buying their more expensive 'yes we've aged this so you can pay more for it' cuts.

I reckon with venison the meat has more inherent flavour because the deer haven't just been eating processed feed to get them to slaughter weight quicker, so aging probably is not as necessary.

Yes, hanging could be described as mild rotting, but then lots of food requires a certain amount of that e.g. soya sauce, sherry, cheese...

I agree that there's snobbery whenever food starts getting talked about, it is fashionable after all.
 
Red meat does require some ageing in a chilled storage area in order to let enzymes rather than putrification tenderise the meat and develop flavour (but not make it gamey).

Beef sold in most supermarkets is far too fresh and consequently often tough and tasteless. Beef needs to be hung for at least 3 weeks and better if it is 4 or 5 weeks old. There is a good reason for supermarkets selling it too fresh, if you think about the amount of "money" hanging in cold stores for the extra few weeks you can see why they'd want to get it on the shelves.

The best meat to buy is from a local butcher who will tend to hang it longer but if you are in your supermarket look for the beef on the "bargain shelf" as it will be the oldest in the shop, if it is dark rather than bright red and well marbled, that's the one to buy. You can test tenderness by poking it, tender meat will be softer to the touch. If it resists the touch then leave it on the shelf.

Venison also needs a short hanging period, maybe up to a week in a chilled area, but I usually eat it fresher than beef, about the same as lamb.
 
Meat of any kind needs to set, usually over 2/3 days, anything up to a wek or so is about the max I would consider hanging & only then in carefully monitored/ controlled temperatures, any more your into smoking! :eek:
 
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