Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Cooking Forum => Topic started by: Pat B on July 03, 2014, 11:44:00 am
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How do you guys prep your venison after the kill. When I have the time I remove the shoulders, hams and cut the mid section in half across the body. I put it in the frig (extra frig in the basement for this and sinew and feather storage)with air space around each piece for 10 to 14 days. I like to leave the ones in during the ageing. The meat will "skin over" during this time. When I'm ready to process I cut the dried meat(thin layer) off and then release each muscle for individual wrapping and freezing.
Most meat you buy in the store has been aged. This begins a controlled decomposition which tenderizes the meat and adds to its flavor.
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The aging process Pat describes is not a bacterial decomposition so much as it is enzymatic. Huge world of difference between the two. One causes spoilage, sickness and death while the other stimulates magical and mystical things within the muscle tissue that exhibits itself in richer flavor, more tender steaks and roasts, and great celebration among those that practice this strange and esoteric craft.
I'm pretty dang lucky. Other than archery antelope season, our big game seasons usually allow me to hang my game in the garage and carefully monitor the temps. I now use an instant read digital thermometer in one ham of the deer and another in a front shoulder. There is enough of a temperature difference that I have had to take a deer down from his hind ankles to hang by the neck. I like to get 14 days of hang time if I can. Our climate is pretty dry and any exposed flesh immediately glazes over by drying out. I leave the hide on to slow the drying process, but still find that the deer loses a good amount of weight over that time anyway.
I have never had "gamey" venison that has been aged this way. Not even the antelope I was able to hang for up to 14 days. That does NOT mean that it loses it's own flavor and suddenly it tastes like bland grain fed factory steer! Oh no, it retains that flavor of venison, but does not get rank or strong.
The key is in the temperature. Above 38 degrees the aging speeds up exponentially so that if it reaches 40, it gets cut up that day even if it means not going in to work. Below 38 it slows until at 32 degrees it barely creeps along. If I were to hold at 32 degrees, I would venture to say you would want to give it 28 days of aging! You gonna pay about $65 a pound for T-bone beef aged 28 days.
Last year I tried an experiment to try cutting down on moisture loss. I have one of those pump sprayers for cooking oil and I spray painted the interior of the carcass after allowing it 48 hours to "skin over" as Pat puts it. I think it retained a bit more moisture and there was less waste trimming off the crusties. Does the moisture loss cause the meat to cook up more dry? Danged if I know, I cook mine to rare, medium rare at the most and have noticed no difference. The few roasts that end up crock potted with veggies and all to make pot roast can't be too dry because they are swimming in beef broth and good red wine! If you are cooking to medium well or (God help you fools) well done, there ain't a thing you can do to keep it from drying out. You can't even inject enough moisture into it to save a steak from that treatment.
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If it's not in the hundreds I hang it in the shade, if not I'll cut it up, I don't go to the butcher to often bunch of butchers in my family if I need help, but heck I don't get a deer every year anyways, I think the most important thing is to field dress it and get it cooled down asap
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Gut it and cool it down, bring it home and hang it until it's ready. I give it a week at 35 hide on
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We field dress the deer and then bring them to the house. I built a heavy duty skinning station behind my Dads garage. We skin them, quarter them up, and then put them in a fridge. I can get a deer from on the hoof to the fridge in about an hour if the shot is good and it doesn't go far. We can check the deer in online now which saves a lot of time. I like to let them age just above freezing for 1-2 weeks. I process the meat myself. I cut it into roasts, steaks, and small chunks. I save some of the scraps and trimmings for catfish bait.
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Do it the same way Clint (,cept the Catfish bait :laugh:). Bob
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You should try the catfish bait Bob. I caught a 30 lb cat on a chunk of deer scraps.
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Hide on
hange for at least a week if its too cold a lot longer
unless I am canning it then get at it right away as some cannerys let it set there
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If it is cold usually three days with hide on. If hot I skin and lay it on ice in a cooler. Do not want it getting into water so I prop it up and allow water to drain out. What cuts or trimmings you use for burger really doesn't need to be aged since it is getting ground into burger. Steaks, roasts and back straps need aging.
I have heard many times that fat needs to be added to burger to make it hold together. I do not add any fat to venison burger and it patties just fine. I like it lean and all venison.
Also the thick winter fat on the exterior of the body can have a gamey flavor. Fat found between the muscles is good to leave in the grinding or on a steak.
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too hot in texas to "hang" anything...i use an ice chest ..put ice down ..then meat..then top with ice...check it every day ,,add ice if needed...keep the plug open and let it drain...do thos for 3 to 7 days...mmmmm...gaminess gone ...then remove and process...put processed meat in freezer... did a sow like this and you could pull the backstraps apart with your hands
made some up with wild rice and onions...it was awesome! dont remember a winter in texas you could hang age meat.
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I do the same as 4Dogs, hot here, too.
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If you take it to a processing plant you just ruined your kill throw it away and start over
Hang it,bleed it,skin it,cure it then cut it up and eat it and if your feeling adventurous wrap it in bacon
P.S. dont ever share the backstraps
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Funny you should mention that, tyker! We have horrible deer up here, they don't even come with backstraps.
Last guy that asked me to cut up his deer for him for free found that out the hard way.
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Thats exactly what would happen if somebody asked me to cut up there deer I'd label the hind quarter packages as loin >:D
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Tyke is a sneeky bugger like that >:D . He has shared a lot of wild game with me. So he isn't all bad.
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Ive found the key to good tasting venison is a super duper clean job as soon as possible, within hours. I rinse and rinse and rinse until all the water coming out of the, what was once a popper, is clear as a bell. I leave the hide on and hang the deer for no less than 3-4 days if its under 45 degrees. After that we do it all up in a few hours with dads commercial equipment. Clean, clean, clean, cant emphasize it enough. One ruptured bladder contents sitting on a ham for a few hours too long will taint the whole quarter and make it taste "rutty" or "gamey".
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Pearl Drum's Pearls of Wisdom! I cannot argue with any of your lesson or offer counter-arguments. I was looking inside a friend's deer hanging in his garage and there were deer turds in it. I asked him which family member got those "cuts".
Seriously, If I crapped on your dinner plate, would you only brush it off? Or brush it off and give it a quick rinse? Maybe go so far as to brush it off, rinse, wash, then rinse again? How much poop is enough poop on your plate? It amazes me how far people go washing their hands after field dressing a deer but fail to think about the inside cavity of the future meals lying there on the ground!
Some defend their laziness by saying, "Well, it's gonna get cooked anyway." To which I respond, "So a deep fried deuce is cool with you? Just make sure it is hot all the way thru, eh Carl"
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I caught the "Carl" thing J-dub, VERY funny!
On a side note. If you do find yourself stuck with "rutty" or "up-north tasting" venison. A small cap of white vinegar in the fry pan works wonders.
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No, never had that taste.
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I skin and quarter as soon as possible, then leave the quarters on top of ice in a cooler with the plug open for a week, then process it. Tenderloins are usually gone by then. Backstraps get cut in half, hams seperated into muscle groups and cut into steaks, chunks for stir-fry and meat for later slicing on my meat slicer for Phillie steaks, gyros, and such, and the sirloin tips left whole for roasts. I grind most of the shoulders, neck, brisket, rib meat, and trimmings. I add no fat at all to the ground meat unless I'm making sausage. Everything gets portioned, vacuum-sealed, and frozen.
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I sometimes skin and bone as soon as I get back with them,or sometimes let the hang in the cooler at 42 for a few days[lucky to have one at the farm] ;) if I am lazy or busy hunting,after they are boned I put them in a big cooler and ice them down,rinse every day for at least 3 days or until the melted water is pretty clear, not bloody,then let drain for a few hours and cut it into steaks/roast/ and stew meat. I would rather skin hot because I save the hides for tanning and they come off much cleaner when hot,but a lot of times things get in the way,either way works fine for me. :) Clean and blood out is key for the way I like it,some like the wild taste but not me or Miss Joanie. ;) :) I have done it this way with many deer that was gut shot and not found until the next day and can't tell any difference in the taste. :)
Pappy
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I don't have that luxury of hanging down here. It's usually skinning and quartering as soon as you can and in the cooler on ice. I put the meat in an industrial trash bag in the cooler of ice for 4 or 5 days, then cut and wrap. No poop on my meat :D.