Hanging A Deer

[Burnadell]

To answer your question, Idaho, I used to feel comfortable if the temp was below 50 degrees; learned later that more like 45 or 40 is the safer limit.

[Welderman]

Bacteria will begin to grow at 40, walkin coolers are somewhere between 38 and 32. We don't take the chance, quarter them up, keep on ice for a week to ten days, drain water regular.

[muzzlebrake]

X3- and thats the way I was taught to do it..... I have never heard of aging the meat till I started hanging out on these web sites... I was taught to leave the meat on ice and continue to drain till the water is clear, that was supposed to take all the bad elements out of the meat...

x4

I want the skin and guts out of it long before the body cools off.
Easier to skin and the meat tastes way mo betterer.

[tvc184]

Mine are skinned, quartered and in the ice chest within an 1-3 hours from the time they hit the ground. Lots of ice and drained water after that.

[sailor]

Not above 40 and not below 32
Let'em hang 10 days to two weeks

[keep]

just to cover a few things, the aging process that everyone talks about are the protiens breaking down, that is a fancy way of saying decay. yes it makes it more tender but increases the bacteria. bacteria grows reguardless of temps but grows slower at colder temps and very slowly below freezing almost to the point that it isn't growing. iceing deer is not bad but the major concern is constant temps and the waters effect on the meat and the increased bacteria growth in the water. meat does get water damage, it turns white, which looses it flavor and can cause toughness and if using the ice method keep it in a trash bag and keep draining the blood out of the bag.
I keep mine in the bottom of the refrigerator so it is at a constant temp. its on the bottom shelf which is the coldest and will process it around 5-7 days.
hanging a deer out side leaves other variables that you can't control and I try not to do that but have a few times.
my advise is worth what you paid for it, 0, but does come from spending many year cutting meat in a past life.

[Live2Hunt]

x4

I want the skin and guts out of it long before the body cools off.
Easier to skin and the meat tastes way mo betterer.

x5

[EarleyBird]

Sounds good guys thanks. I was not sure, when I lived in Idaho you never had to worrie about the temp it was always cold enough.

Then let it hang 48-72 hrs. We used to hang ours in a cooler and that's how long we left them in there. Something about beyond 48-72 hrs the muscle fibers in the meat will not relax any more.

[VorTexan]

All I eat is aged beef....

but as Berandel can tell you I have an advantage, may not have it much longer (thought here) but when that meat turns brown it's DOWN!


hmmmm. I havn't had steak in a while.

[Landrover]

Just dropped one off yesterday at the processor that had been in a ice chest for 7 days! I would think the high 30's or low 40's would be good enough to leave outside to hang. I never get that temp down here in SE Texas though!!!

[michaelkolbe]

thats some good advice didnt know that

[Agsfight]

Keep is right, water is an enemy of meat (just ask a butcher). I take gallon and half gallon plastic O.J. jugs fill them with water and freeze them. I use the jugs to keep the meat cold without water damaging it. You don't want pale colored meat. I know if I went to a steak house and they told meat my steak had been sitting in a bloody slurry of ice water, I would order the chicken!

[bowdidiller]

clean it quater it put it on ice you cant go wrong what ever temp

[psebuddy]

the temperatures around here are never never never consistent enough to hang a deer for long enough to do any good... quarter it up - with a knife (i never ues a saw) chill it in an ice slurry, rinse it off, put it in plastic bags (i use ice bags - not trash bags with deoderant in the plastic) and in the fridge for a minimum of a week, and don't worry about it if you don't get to process it for two weeks.