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Dry aging venison
#5432459
11/20/14 03:34 AM
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Joined: Dec 2012
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Simple Searcher
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After following wacorusty's post on dry aging rib-eyes in Umai's dry aging bags, I decided to give it a try with venison. I have dry aged venison in a walk-in cooler with great success. We usually do this for two-three weeks. But the walk-in is at the ranch and going there to check on hanging meat isn't always convenient. So I decided to go with the dry aging bags and do this at home in the garage refrigerator. My daughter supplied me with two backstraps from a 4 1/2 year old buck. I cut them about 15" long to fit in the 8" x 18" bags that I got from Umai. After a little reading I decided to stop removing the silver skin from the meat. As the surface dries it will need to be trimmed, the silver skin will be removed then. I am about a week and a half into the aging and I plan on breaking them out for this weekend. The backstraps have already turned really dark red. I weighed them after they were bagged at 2 lbs 5 ozs and 2 lbs 5.6 ozs. They have already lost a lot of moisture weight, they are now 1 lb 10 ozs, and 1 lb 11 ozs respectfully. I expect that they will still lose a few more ounces before trimming. I was surprised at how small they have gotten, I hope to have enough for a good dinner, we'll see.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5432693
11/20/14 11:14 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
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jdk1985
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I'm surprised they already lost that much moisture.
Looking forward to the results
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5433780
11/20/14 08:28 PM
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redchevy
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Will be interesting to see how it turns out.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5433838
11/20/14 09:00 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
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Cast
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That's gonna be good. I would like to volunteer myself as an impartial judge.
Cast I have a short attention spa
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5433910
11/20/14 09:32 PM
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redchevy
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Do they make one of those bags big enough to stick the whole leg in?
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: redchevy]
#5434230
11/21/14 12:28 AM
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don k
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Do they make one of those bags big enough to stick the whole leg in? I may be wrong but you have to be careful if leaving the bone in.
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: redchevy]
#5434404
11/21/14 02:12 AM
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Do they make one of those bags big enough to stick the whole leg in? They make a 16" x 28", plenty big for a leg. http://www.drybagsteak.com/shop-all-umai-dry.php
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5438575
11/23/14 06:09 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
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jdk1985
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How are these looking a few days in?
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5440583
11/24/14 05:46 PM
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redchevy
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It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5440599
11/24/14 05:57 PM
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jdk1985
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It will be interesting to see how much is left after the bad stuff is cut off and moisture removed
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5441174
11/24/14 11:21 PM
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Joined: Oct 2013
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Whiptail
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I'm wondering the same thing.
Would it better to age the entire carcass or bigger chunks so that more meat gets protected?
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: Whiptail]
#5442438
11/25/14 04:30 PM
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I'm wondering the same thing.
Would it better to age the entire carcass or bigger chunks so that more meat gets protected?
Okay, I'm back from a kill and catch (blast and cast, fin and feather) trip and ready to grill the first backstrap, maybe today (I have to check with the wife on dinner plans). Whiptail, I am also concerned about the major loss of mass. We usually dry age the entire deer (for 2-4 weeks) in the walk-in cooler at the ranch. There we leave the hide on, this keeps it from drying too much and saves the loss of meat due to trimming. It is clear that the straps are going to be much smaller. redchevy, I like your idea of an entire ham in a bag. This would probably help with the percentage loss too. Weight is down to: 1 lb 7.4 ozs 1 lb 6.4 ozs I am beginning to think that I may be making some huge pieces of jerky.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5442497
11/25/14 05:01 PM
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Whiptail
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We usually dry age the entire deer (for 2-4 weeks) in the walk-in cooler at the ranch. There we leave the hide on, this keeps it from drying too much and saves the loss of meat due to trimming.
This sounds interesting. How would you describe the results after 2-4 weeks?
Last edited by Whiptail; 11/25/14 05:01 PM.
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: Whiptail]
#5442618
11/25/14 06:10 PM
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We usually dry age the entire deer (for 2-4 weeks) in the walk-in cooler at the ranch. There we leave the hide on, this keeps it from drying too much and saves the loss of meat due to trimming.
This sounds interesting. How would you describe the results after 2-4 weeks? The results are excellent, we have guest request it. We generally marinade the backstraps in whatever we find left in the camp house. We then grill them like a filet mignon, wrapped in bacon. We will usually put two pieces of backstrap together before we wrap them, it makes for a bigger piece that way. When we butcher the deer we remove steaks and grind the rest. We think that the burger is even better.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5442663
11/25/14 06:41 PM
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I just trimmed the first backstrap, here is what I got after 17 days drying in the garage refrigerator: 37 ounces, starting weight 26 ounces, at 11 days 22.4 ounces, dried weight at 17 days 14 ounces, trimmed and ready to marinade (the bag only weighed about .4 ounces) The side that I left the silver skin on clearly lost less meat than the other side, due to less surface drying. The ones that we do a hide-on aging lose almost nothing due to surface drying, and also less moisture loss. So I have clearly lost more. But the idea here was to see what can be done at home.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5442674
11/25/14 06:52 PM
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jdk1985
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: jdk1985]
#5442695
11/25/14 07:06 PM
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skinnerback
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5443681
11/26/14 03:46 AM
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After a little time on the grill, everything came out excellent. I grilled the 1"-1 1/2" steaks a little longer than I wanted and they came out about medium-well, I was shooting for medium. Still the flavor was great and very tender. I was really surprised that it wasn't dry at all. After I added a side of Brussel sprouts and garlic bread, it was an excellent dinner. I have heard of dry aging in a refrigerator causing meat to smell and taste like a refrigerator. The Umai dry aging bags definitely kept this from happening. The final product as very similar to the dry aging that we get using a walk in cooler. I will do this again, probably with an entire ham.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5443979
11/26/14 01:15 PM
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redchevy
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Looks great! I think I am also going to try this with a whole hind quarter.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5444143
11/26/14 02:41 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
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Palehorse
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This is excellent, I've always wanted to try dry aged venison but never new how to do it without a walk in cooler. I've got a nice doe hindquarter that I'm gonna try this on. Thanks for the posts!
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: Palehorse]
#5444205
11/26/14 03:11 PM
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 39,536
redchevy
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This is excellent, I've always wanted to try dry aged venison but never new how to do it without a walk in cooler. I've got a nice doe hindquarter that I'm gonna try this on. Thanks for the posts! Do you know about the Bone in thing? Another poster indicated you may not be able to age it bone in just wanted to see if you had any more info on it.
It's hell eatin em live
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5444215
11/26/14 03:18 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
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Palehorse
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If you age the whole deer in a walk in cooler, or a frosty barn like up north, it's full of bones. I can't see where leaving the bone in would hurt anything.
Hey Simple, have you ever dry aged any wild hogs? If so, how did it turn out?
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5444250
11/26/14 03:34 PM
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Joined: Dec 2012
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We commonly will trap a hog Saturday night and will hang it Sunday morning before we head home. We will finish processing it 6 days later when we return. That is the most aging that we ever do. We are fortunate that our pigs are feral, they look like farm pigs and they are very good eating, like grocery store pork. We call them "HEB pigs." So we haven't looked into aging any more than a week. I would look into it further but the pigs are already so good.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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Re: Dry aging venison
[Re: redchevy]
#5445305
11/27/14 03:49 AM
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 32,488
kmon11
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junior
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This is excellent, I've always wanted to try dry aged venison but never new how to do it without a walk in cooler. I've got a nice doe hindquarter that I'm gonna try this on. Thanks for the posts! Do you know about the Bone in thing? Another poster indicated you may not be able to age it bone in just wanted to see if you had any more info on it. On curing hams leaving the femur bone in is ok but do not leave the part of the pelvis bone on or it will often spoil. Learned that the hard way one year when fully processing our own hogs as a kid. Would think it would be a good idea to remove that portion and the shank portion before dry aging a deer ham in the bags. Could also just separate the muscles from the ham and dry age in bags individually for smaller portions.
lf the saying "Liar, Liar your pants on fire" were true Mainstream news might be fun to watch
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Re: Dry aging venison
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#5445714
11/27/14 02:54 PM
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Good idea on removing the shank and taking the meat off of the pelvis. I always cut them up that way anyhow. It would be pretty simple to separate the muscles at natural divide and remove the femur as well. I bet that would pack pretty nicely with no bone in it. I just might have to try that.
"Man is still a hunter, still a simple searcher after meat..." Robert C. Ruark
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