Aging Venison Question

[bowenarra]

I have axis backstrap and tenderloin in a ziploc in the fridge. She was killed Saturday evening. I was planning on grilling part of the meat for my wife and I tonight and tomorrow.

Now to the good part...my schedule opened up, and it looks like I can get back out to the lease tomorrow. That means I'll only cook about half of it tonight and save the rest. How long will the rest of the backstrap and tenderloin stay good in the fridge? When would you freeze it? If I get back on Sunday or Monday and it's been in there over a week, is that too long? Unfortunately, I can't keep it on ice the whole time, or else I'd just age it in the ice chest.

Thanks, guys and gals.

[dbaio1]

I age my venison in a fridge maintaining a good 34 degrees from 14 - 18 days.
I drain the blood and pat down with towel and clean out the ziploc and dry it good befor returning the meat to it. As time goes you can smell the meat getting a really sweet smell. I have done this for years. I have kept meat in the freezer wrapped in plasic wrap, then freezer paper then in a vaccum pack bag for up to two years. There is never a bite left on the serving plate. I am very particular about my processing and probally waste a lot of meat since I have a zero wild fat/gristle or what ever you want to call it content rule.
100% meat here. I can't stand the taste of wild fat after its been in the freezer for more than a 3 or 4 months.

[bklem]

I age my venison in a fridge maintaining a good 34 degrees from 14 - 18 days.
I drain the blood and pat down with towel and clean out the ziploc and dry it good befor returning the meat to it. As time goes you can smell the meat getting a really sweet smell. I have done this for years. I have kept meat in the freezer wrapped in plasic wrap, then freezer paper then in a vaccum pack bag for up to two years. There is never a bite left on the serving plate. I am very particular about my processing and probally waste a lot of meat since I have a zero wild fat/gristle or what ever you want to call it content rule.
100% meat here. I can't stand the taste of wild fat after its been in the freezer for more than a 3 or 4 months.

Same here. Only difference is I don't use ziploc bags. I like to get air to all parts. I like about 2 wks to age it and then I freeze it.

[keep]

Red meat is hard to ruin if it's refridgated and it have been gutted and cared for properly in the field. You should be fine when you get back, I leave mibe in the bottom shelf (colder)for around a week.
You will see it turn a dark color, it fine. When red meat goes bad it will have a slimey feel (like soap) and smell kinda funny bot too bad of a smell though. Green is another give away but I probably didn't need to mention that. Red meat isn't like pork or poultry both of those will let you know when they are bad by their smell.
Anyway, 5-10 days at 30-37 degrees should be fine.

[SolocamShooter]

I age mine for about a week normally. I keep it in a ice chest with plenty of ice on it until I process it.

[bowenarra]

Thanks, guys. I've aged mine for up to a week on ice, but not in a Ziploc in the fridge. I didn't know if that changed how long I can age it.

Good info here on TBH.

[Snakelover]

It should be fine. On the other hand, I've never found it necessary to age backstrap for more than about four days anyway. You can. It doesn't hurt anything, but I've never found much difference between aging four days and aging over a week, especially when it comes to backstrap. The aging mostly has to do with tenderizing and the backstrap normally is a pretty tender piece of meat anyway. Since you are eating some tonight, you should have a good idea. If it's already to your satisfaction, you might as well freeze the rest at that point. But if it's a little tough and you think, "This could have used some more aging," then, yes, it should be fine when you get back too.

[Snakelover]

The above post was with freezing in mind. If you're going to eat it as soon as you get back, I wouldn't freeze it.