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[Momofone]

Does anyone know the best way to go about aging meat?  I had always heard that you would hang it and let it set until the hair could be easily pulled off the carcass with your fingers.  Sounds really gross!  Any ideas?

thx

[boysmama]

My dad is making a homemade cooler to age meat in. -- A used chest freezer with a plug in thermostat to go between the outlet and the freezer cord. Temp should be between 34* and 45*. He will then add some sort of bars across the freezer to hang skinned out quarters on for 7-14 days. If his works well then we are going to make one also. Would be nice to have those nice tender steaks, but know what went into them! 
We have at times had access to a cooler but we always skinned out the meat before hanging. 

[bowhunter]

The chest freezer idea doesn't sound too bad.  Personally, I wouldn't age the meat with the skin on.  Just about the only red meat we eat in our house is deer, and we don't bother with aging it.  I've had it both ways, and can't tell a difference. 

[leoandsea]

Hang it in a cold place 34-40 degrees or cooler. Don't freeze it. Yes, I agree...skin it. Age it for 7- 28 days max. (my opinion) You can age it longer. What you are describing is done by the English. Americans generally just don't like that. During this aging process a crust forms on the outside, very similar to the texture of beef jerky. This layer is trimmed away, leaving usable meat that is superior in tenderness and flavor. During the dry aging process, the natural blood/fluids are absorbed into the meat, enhancing the flavor and tenderizing the meat.

[Ray Murphy]

Yes, here in the UK it would never be thought of not to hang our meat. Beef is left usually for 2 to 3 weeks hanging in a cold room. Lamb and pork for 24 hours. Older sheep, mutton might be left for 3 or 4 days.

Ray

[Larry]

Hi boysmama

How did the cooler project work out?

The way I understood aging is that the proteans begin braking down and the meat becomes tender. I like venison or beef aged up to 21 days, with the skin off.

[boysmama]

Larry, before he bought the thermostat he made a new friend...with a walk-in cooler already set up. Lots of space for all friends and their relations to hang meat almost anytime of year. Project abandoned... Sorry, I can't say how it worked out in reality. In theory it should work well. Large beef quarters might have to be cut into smaller pieces to fit.

[doggymom22]

Last yr when we got a couple deer during hunting, we just put them cut up/skinned, into a big cooler with ice. (it may have been dry ice; would have to ask my bro) We let 'em sit in that for about a week. It worked well for us!!

HTH!
~Edith

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