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Hanging deer

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Wapsi Tree Rat

Well-Known Member
As I get older I find myself caring very little about antlers and more about quality meat. Sorry! I probably just severely offended almost everyone! ;)
My #2 favorite meal in the world is grilled venison with a cheesy baked potato dripping with butter. Deep fried pheasant with hash browns is #1, but I digress...

Seems every year one or two does I shoot are a little tough. I do live in the hills so this is probably expected. I'm wondering if anyone hangs their deer for 5-7 days and is there a substantial increase in tenderness? The obvious trouble with hanging is the weather. Not often we get temps 35-45 for 5 days straight. I'm pretty good with refrigeration work and I'm thinking of building a climate controlled deer hanging cooler. Just want to get some opinions if it is worth it. Love me some tender grilled venison and I want more!





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I believe you can increase tenderness almost certainly by hanging for an extended period of time. Weather is the biggest factor if you don’t have access to a walk in cooler, however I’ve been able to time the weather the last few years to catch a week or more of good hanging temps. A good steak is aged normally 30+ days, I assume that’s where my theory’s started on this topic.

I’m building a dedicated walk in cooler soon at the house, that way we can age anything anytime of year!
 
MeatEater Podcast Ep 227 they had a meat scientist on. It is a great listen! We are familiar with the basics, you shoot something and it is limp, then it gets stiff (rigor mortis), and finally it gets limp again. I think the final point was you need to let the meat get to the post-rigor stage at the least or it will be tough. How far past that is determined by time and circumstance. For me, it is as long as possible given the conditions.
 
When I cut up my own deer more often, back in the day, I would often hang them for several days prior to butchering. I remember reading, pre-internet and YouTube :), on the subject and the French in particular would commonly hang game and fowl for much longer than I could ever bring myself to try. For one...it was common to hang a duck by the neck until such time that the body fell from the head/neck. THEN it was time to eat it. Yikes! I never found myself that hungry. :)

FWIW, my opinion is that it did help, but all these years later I could not quantify that opinion.
 
I have a couple buddies who sorta got into the long hangtime thing. They'll shoot a deer in Nov then let it hang a week or more. We always get some nice mild days and the flies get active again. I always think to myself how the heck are they keeping flies off the carcass. I think the answer is, they aren't. Just because it gets down to 32 at night, well the days get to 45 and even if the deer is hanging in a dark shed, I don't necessarily think all is fine.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
33. That's what the cool botus for. Basically tricks the controller to not turn off
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I was also considering a small window unit, bypass the thermostat and get a thermostat controlled 120 volt power supply.

A couple concerns I had...

1) If an AC cools a specific area too fast, it cannot remove enough moisture from the air (a huge problem with incorrect sizing in home AC). Too many think bigger is better). Does anyone know target humidity levels? I would think too much moisture would promote bacteria growth. Where's Ishi?! He might know with his locker experience.

2) Window units typically cool 20-25 degrees cooler than in flowing air. Some easy math says a target cooler temp of 35-40 and my evaporator coils would be running a chilly 15-20 degrees, easily freezing any condensation. Ice buildup on an evap will eventually block airflow, and without a defrost element or defrost cycle....things could go wrong. Any issues with freezing up?

33 degrees sounds impressive but I don't understand how the AC evap coil didn't freeze.

Thanks everyone for the input, keep it coming
 
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Wapsi Tree Rat said:
I was also considering a small window unit, bypass the thermostat and get a thermostat controlled 120 volt power supply.

A couple concerns I had...

1) If an AC cools a specific area too fast, it cannot remove enough moisture from the air (a huge problem with incorrect sizing in home AC). Too many think bigger is better). Does anyone know target humidity levels? I would think too much moisture would promote bacteria growth. Where's Ishi?! He might know with his locker experience.

2) Window units typically cool 20-25 degrees cooler than in flowing air. Some easy math says a target cooler temp of 35-40 and my evaporator coils would be running a chilly 15-20 degrees, easily freezing any condensation. Ice buildup on an evap will eventually block airflow, and without a defrost element or defrost cycle....things could go wrong. Any issues with freezing up?

33 degrees sounds impressive but I don't understand how the AC evap coil didn't freeze.

Thanks everyone for the input, keep it coming
Click to expand...
We run at 40. I was just stating it can go yo 33. All I know is it works. I don't pretend to be an HVAC guru
 
I normally quarter and keep the meat on ice in a cooler for a couple days while I wait for my back pain to subside enough to do the rest of the butchering and packaging. Wet aging is the way to go, either before it goes into the freezer or after it comes out. More important for round steak out of the hind quarter.
 
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