Meat will mature/tenderise/hang, what ever you want to call it, before or after freezing. If you don't have a chiller, butcher it and put it in the freezer before it spoils, then take it out days or weeks before you want to eat it and put it in the fridge until you want to eat it.
why should you hang a deer carcass?
- Thread starter hendrix's rifle
- Start date
I hang roe in chiller at 14deg. C for 24 hrs to allow rigour to come and go (and thus prevent toughness due to muscle shortening) then turn chiller to Zero. As the chiller is air blast it is constantly flowing air over the carcase it prevents mould formation but can dry the exposed flesh so I leave the jacket on. In any chiller there is a degree of temperature fluctuation caused by the thermostat Hi-Low variance as well as the compressor rest time. (last thing you want is close tolerance settings of the thermostat otherwise the compressor is up and down like the proverbial brides nightie) the zero setting is the low where the compressor turns off with a higher 5 degree setting where it comes on. This gives an ideal 2-3 degree C average chill temp (due to the mass of meat varying ever so slightly, the thermostat reading air temerature which has a much lower thermal co-efficient). There is an opinion that meat should cure for a mimimum of 40 degree centigrade days ( chill temp x days hung) I butcher at 20 days which gives 40 to 60 degrees centigrade days , vac packed and frozen.
It woks every time for me!
It woks every time for me!
I've experimented with roe over the last few years, doing everything from butchering while still warm to hanging in a chiller at 3 degrees for 14 days.
With the exception of the very longest hang (12 days plus), nobody who tried the meat could detect any difference at all. Beyond 12 days, it got noticeably more gamey - you could even smell the change when butchering. That transition matched a change in the tenderness, with the meat suddenly becoming much more tender.
I really don't like the gameyness - it really spoils roe, which is usually a lovely sweetish meat. So I'm sticking to short hanging times from now.
I did also test different bleeding regimes, with similar conclusions: with chest shot deer, bleeding is a total waste of time. It makes precisely no difference.
With the exception of the very longest hang (12 days plus), nobody who tried the meat could detect any difference at all. Beyond 12 days, it got noticeably more gamey - you could even smell the change when butchering. That transition matched a change in the tenderness, with the meat suddenly becoming much more tender.
I really don't like the gameyness - it really spoils roe, which is usually a lovely sweetish meat. So I'm sticking to short hanging times from now.
I did also test different bleeding regimes, with similar conclusions: with chest shot deer, bleeding is a total waste of time. It makes precisely no difference.
levigsp
Well-Known Member
I personally think you are hanging it to cold and the natural enzymes you want to work cannot not, then after the 12 days at such temps the bacteria kicks in and the meat is rotting.
I hand mine between 4[never below] and 7oC, each animal is treated separately and hung until ready for butchering and this can be anything from 7 to 15 days.
I'm not sure I follow your logic. Are you suggesting that somehow bacteria aren't active at 4 or 5 degrees, but are at 3? Or are you suggesting that if the enzymes that lead to tenderisation are suppressed, somehow that facilitates bacterial activity?
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rascal_2005
Active Member
Where do you guys hang your carcass?
AN DU RU FOX
Well-Known Member
On a tree behind our caravan.
if i,m lucky enough to be doing overnight and i,ve got one in the bag allready , ps only in winter!in summer straight home,doug.
if i,m lucky enough to be doing overnight and i,ve got one in the bag allready , ps only in winter!in summer straight home,doug.
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levigsp
Well-Known Member
"Or are you suggesting that if the enzymes that lead to tenderisation are suppressed, somehow that facilitates bacterial activity?" I presume this is what I'm saying.
You see I was shown how to hang game by my Father and Grand father and they were taught the same way, a very well ventilated hanging shed and hang till the cut meat indicates readiness, then butcher, it has stood thousands of eastern Europeans in good stead and suits me.
Most of the Beasts I keep for friends, family of self are hung in a slatted shed and not in my chiller! that is used for sold game.
You see I was shown how to hang game by my Father and Grand father and they were taught the same way, a very well ventilated hanging shed and hang till the cut meat indicates readiness, then butcher, it has stood thousands of eastern Europeans in good stead and suits me.
Most of the Beasts I keep for friends, family of self are hung in a slatted shed and not in my chiller! that is used for sold game.
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I have a double door drinks chiller and it's paid itself ten x over , especially in the summer when risk of fly etc .....home get beast pelvic cavity and chest split , tidy up , skin maybe if time , if not next day ...then into the chiller , wether it's right or wrong well who knows but I hang mine depending on what I've got on and planned in next few days ahead , but if I know I'm busy it can hang foe couple weeks till I have time to break down and process etc .....
So sometimes as little as three days sometimes near 10-12 days but I usually like to give it at least the three then get it sorted out vac packed and into freezer .
Paul
So sometimes as little as three days sometimes near 10-12 days but I usually like to give it at least the three then get it sorted out vac packed and into freezer .
Paul
I have also heard that rubbing the meat in coffee grinds increases the gamey taste, though I havent tried that myself.
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