I shot a couple of does and I'm going to lest them sit in the fridge instead of the cooler. I put them on cooling racks so there is air flow to all sides. Anyone else do this? I usually just leave them in the cooler for a weeks or so, just didn't want to have to deal with the ice all week long.
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The fridge is a better option than an ice chest IMO
the meat won’t get washed out from the water. -
I do it with every deer we shoot. They spend a few days in the walk in cooler at the ranch and then another three or four in the drink fridge at home. I do wrap them in waxed butcher paper so the meat doesn’t dry outComment
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I don't let the meat sit in water. I leave the drain open and the cooler propped up to help drain.Originally posted by AntlerCollector View PostComment
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That’s how you’re supposed to do it. Still better in a fridge. Even better in a walk in cooler, but everyone doesn’t have one of those.Originally posted by mikeyb_23 View PostComment
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If the fridge has a frost free freezer on it, if you just lay the meat in it, after a week that frost free fridge will make jerky out of a lot of your meat by sucking all the moisture out of it.
I leave my meat in my cooler but it is in water-tight bags. If you put your meat in air tight bags, you can leave it in a frost free fridge too.Comment
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By putting your meat in the ice box, you're essentially "dry aging" it. It's a great way to age meat because, in addition to allowing natural bacteria to break down the fibrous tissue, as the meat dehydrates, the flavor becomes concentrated.Originally posted by mikeyb_23 View Post
This said, I have only dry aged cut steaks before and, at that, only for ten days. You might want to do some research about larger cuts of meat and the length of time you can safely let the bacteria do its thing.Comment
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Good point Charlie on the frost free feature.Originally posted by SaltwaterSlick View Post
Vacuum sealing and wet aging it in the fridge would still be an option I supposeComment
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Those big ziploc 2 1/2 gallon bags work OK for that too. They can be opened and drained of any liquid that comes out of the meat as it ages. It doesn't have to be vacuum sealedOriginally posted by AntlerCollector View Post
until it is ready for freezing. It just needs to be protected from the dehumidifier function of a frost free fridge.Comment
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It's just quartered pieces, I don't think it would fit in a vacuum bag or a zip lock. It would probably have to be deboned.Originally posted by SaltwaterSlick View PostComment
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Here's an article from Hank Shaw's website with instructions and additional information regarding dry aging meat. For this article, he happened to have been dry aging a large almost-quarter(?) of venison that had not been deboned. I believe this is the article I read when I first started dry aging.
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The thing you have to watch out for is that the meat doesn’t dry out bad. If it does, you will have to remove a layer on the out side of everything.
BischComment
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And this will happen quickly with a frost free fridge... It will make jerky out of your meat quick by sucking out all the moisture from the meat!Originally posted by Bisch View PostComment
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The above comments are the reason I wrap in butcher paper and have never had issues with excessive drying if I do my part. More detail on what I do is as follows
lay a beach towel on the shelf then cover that in a long strip of waxed butcher paper to cover the bottom and up over the sides then two more pieces going front to back again with enough excess to wrap over. Lay meat in hind quarters on bottom then backstraps, tenders and trim then shoulders on top. Wrap the butcher paper over tightly to keep air out and place another towel on top tucking it around to make a nice relatively sealed package and you are goodComment
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when you have the room it is definitely worth it and will make a huge difference in the end productComment
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