Hanging, skinning etc…

[Mungo]

I’d be interested if the haunch of venison is a bit tenderer having not been frozen the same day as shot…..

I’ve experimented with hanging times - everything from freeze within an hour or two if shooting and 12 days at 3 degrees.

I can’t honestly say I’m able to detect any consistent effect of hanging on the tenderness. Obvious effects of the age and sex of the beast, some effect of time of year and location, some effect of post death handling (time to retrieval and time to chill), possibly an effect of how quick death was and how far it ran.

My thinking is now that hanging is convenient, and does no harm. But it certainly doesn’t seem to improve anything.

 

[Phil fox man]

on my return I hang in the garage overnight with a homemade chest spreader ( piece of 2×2 ) early next morning out to the skinny tree and get it's coat off.
off with the legs and into the fridge.
next all the good cuts then the "scavenger" cuts and into the fridge.
next day butcher and vac pac and into freezer.
as for the skinning it's a ball ache anyway, though I did once try the Alaska way as I had 3 to do and was trying to speed it up, didn't end well.phil.

 

[75]

The magic number 40 : 8 days at 5 c, 10 days at 4c etc etc …..but not 1 day at 40c!!

Or 2 days at 20C! It's a load of pish really

 

[Sol]

Long as your ever only hanging skinless with skinless and are fine with cutting crust off I would personally just skin and hang Its easier to skin in the moment warm

 

[Mickeydredd]

Don't skin and hang it in certain drinks chillers, I did that once and it turned black. I think the chiller was a "forced air" type and it dried it out and turned black.

Hung in skin they were spot on.

 

[TundB]

If for my own consumption I skin them asap even in the field and hang them a week or two in the chiller.
On first day I set the temperature at 7C, afterwards 2C.

 

[Bowland blades]

This time of year ambient temp is good enough to hang a beast mostly .

 

[Mr.Sloth]

I’ve always skinned ASAP and hung for a few days to a week (weather dependent as I didn’t have a fridge starting out). I still skin ASAP but I leave hanging until a convenient time for butchering now, this is one luxury having a fridge gives.
I have had no complaints from anyone who I have given venison to over the years. Nor can I honestly say I notice a difference in meat that has been hung for a longer period of time etc.
The reason I do it this way is because it is the way I was taught. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to eat venison hung/butchered in any of the combinations mentioned above if someone is willing to do the cooking

 

[tattie]

The last lot of sika I hung (jackets on) in mid September, (mature 8 point stag, clean and not rutting and 2 spiker stags) were hung in my pals chilled larder for 21 days.

Everyone to their own thoughts and ideas.

Cheers

 

[Ali]

Jacket on and 5C for 7 days minimum.


Very inetresting listening to the science behind hanging

Ep. 227: Red Cutter | MeatEater Podcasts

Steven Rinella talks with meat scientist Dr. Chris Calkins, Spencer Neuharth, Corinne Schneider, and Phil Taylor.Topics discussed: debunking meat myths; how stress affects the flavor of meat; myoglobin and hemoglobin; why you shouldn't cut into an animal before rigor mortis is complete; muscle is...

www.themeateater.com

 

[dryan]

Gralloch asap, head and feet off back at the larder. Into the chiller for a day at least at 2 degrees. Skin cold definately easier imo. Only do half a dozen these days for personal use, rest go elsewhere in skin.

Intend to build a skinning frame at some point with a winch to speed up the skinning process.

 

[Antonyweeks]

Question for you folks: I hung a red hind for about 8 days in my fridge (constantly at 4 degrees). When I came to butcher it was fine apart from some greying of certain parts of the meat. No mould and no adverse smell at all. The 'grey' patches were just discoloured and not deep red like the majority of the rest of the carcass. The meat itself was very tender indeed. Is the grey/brown patches ok for consumption? In this case as I wasn't sure I cut them off prior to packing.

 

[VSS]

Question for you folks: I hung a red hind for about 8 days in my fridge (constantly at 4 degrees). When I came to butcher it was fine apart from some greying of certain parts of the meat. No mould and no adverse smell at all. The 'grey' patches were just discoloured and not deep red like the majority of the rest of the carcass. The meat itself was very tender indeed. Is the grey/brown patches ok for consumption? In this case as I wasn't sure I cut them off prior to packing.

It'll be fine. Most likely discolouration around blood vessels. If it doesn't look appetising then trim it out, but it won't do you any harm to eat it. Sometimes a slightly bitter taste to the discoloured areas though.

 

[@theroedeerguy]

There’s more than one way to skin a deer.
I’ve been skinning by hanging by the front legs but I’m going to give this technique a try, looks like a nice tidy job

 

[Bowland blades]

Question for you folks: I hung a red hind for about 8 days in my fridge (constantly at 4 degrees). When I came to butcher it was fine apart from some greying of certain parts of the meat. No mould and no adverse smell at all. The 'grey' patches were just discoloured and not deep red like the majority of the rest of the carcass. The meat itself was very tender indeed. Is the grey/brown patches ok for consumption? In this case as I wasn't sure I cut them off prior to packing.

Picture would help on this matter

 

[Utectok]

About a week in the chiller at 2 degrees seems about right unless it’s badly shot up then a couple of days

 

[TheDeerWalker]

I'm going to restart this and probably ask the same question that has been asked 100 times before.

I normally shoot small deer and have a decent fridge that I would hang them in skin. However, I've been a very lucky lad and got to spend the week helping out with a Hind cull on a nearby estate, I was given a set of skinned hind haunches as a thank you. She was skinned and the haunches removed about 3 or 4 hours after gralloching, I got home and hung the haunches in my firdge as usual but it's been nearing 2 days and I was hoping to butcher them on Sunday but I'm worried I'm going to ruin these incredible pieces of meat.

How long would these be ok to be hung in a fridge set to 4 degrees out of skin?

The haunches themselves weight in at more than the whole beasts I'm used too! Gunna be a good Christmas dinner if I don't ruin them

 

[willie_gunn]

I'm going to restart this and probably ask the same question that has been asked 100 times before.

I normally shoot small deer and have a decent fridge that I would hang them in skin. However, I've been a very lucky lad and got to spend the week helping out with a Hind cull on a nearby estate, I was given a set of skinned hind haunches as a thank you. She was skinned and the haunches removed about 3 or 4 hours after gralloching, I got home and hung the haunches in my firdge as usual but it's been nearing 2 days and I was hoping to butcher them on Sunday but I'm worried I'm going to ruin these incredible pieces of meat.

How long would these be ok to be hung in a fridge set to 4 degrees out of skin?

The haunches themselves weight in at more than the whole beasts I'm used too! Gunna be a good Christmas dinner if I don't ruin them

You'll often hear "40 degree days" mentioned when it comes to hanging deer - so 6-7 days if the chiller is running at 6 degrees, 10 days if it's running at 4 degrees, 20 if it's running at 2 degrees, etc.

That said, because 99% of the deer I shoot are roe and muntjac, if I am out on stalking on a Saturday or Sunday then for convenience I will hang them until the following weekend when I can butcher them. However because I also have a full-time job that often involves foreign travel I have to fit things around that, so I've also had to butcher deer the day after shooting them, and sometimes leave it until after 10 or 14 days. To be honest I've never been able to tell the difference regardless of how long the beast has been hanging - they all taste equally delicious!

Personally I would be far less concerned with the amount of time the deer has been hanging in the chiller than I would the amount of time it spends cooking in the oven, particularly when it comes to a prime cut like a haunch or fillet. In general venison is ruined more by over-cooking than insufficient hanging!

 

[Norfolk Horn]

If I shoot say shoot a muntjac in the morning that I know I'm going to take home for myself I partly skin them so just a strip of skin is left attached over the back and the same with the haunches and if neck shot the shoulders. I then rap them back up so keeping the meat covered and clean for transport.
I do this as its much easier to skin the fiddle bit when warm. I then pop them in the fridge to chill and set before butchering in the next few days.
Fallow and Roe I leave skin on as find them easier to skin.

 

[VSS]

I'm going to restart this and probably ask the same question that has been asked 100 times before.

I normally shoot small deer and have a decent fridge that I would hang them in skin. However, I've been a very lucky lad and got to spend the week helping out with a Hind cull on a nearby estate, I was given a set of skinned hind haunches as a thank you. She was skinned and the haunches removed about 3 or 4 hours after gralloching, I got home and hung the haunches in my firdge as usual but it's been nearing 2 days and I was hoping to butcher them on Sunday but I'm worried I'm going to ruin these incredible pieces of meat.

How long would these be ok to be hung in a fridge set to 4 degrees out of skin?

The haunches themselves weight in at more than the whole beasts I'm used too! Gunna be a good Christmas dinner if I don't ruin them

They'd be OK for a week, at least. Best if hung in a muslin bag to stop the surface drying out and going black.