wet aged deer

[in. pred]

so i have always been curious about aged deer meat. i dont mean a few days in the cooler. i have always let my deer rest in tree or packed in cooler of ice when early season. i mean taking it a bit farther. so i did an experiment the last month. extended wet aging in the fridge. i cut a round roast from the hind quarter of the last doe. i sectioned it in 3 parts. i ate the first one for a control. then labeled the other two for cooking at 14 and 21 days of wet aging.

so as i did the wet aging experiment. the 14day had some stank when i opened it up. made me wonder what was going to happen to the 21day chunk. lol but after washing it off real good it didnt smell that bad. i have smelled worse pork from store. i cooked it up the same as the first fresh chunk. let it warm on counter 30min. then salt pepper in bacon grease to 135 internal. as it rested it climbed to 148 or somethin. no change in tenderness or flavor. maybe a tad bit more tender but really hard to tell any difference.

so the 21 day came and i reluctantly opened the bag inside the house. lol yup stank just like the 14 day bag. a rubbing wash of cold water and the smell was gone. so i hit it with salt and pepper and let warm 30 min. then i tossed it in the skillet, same as the other chunks. no bad smell like would come from bad deer meat or anything. actually when it started to caramelize it smelled pretty tasty. took it to 135 and rested about 25min.

meat looked about the same as when it went in.

hit the bacon grease

and sliced open after rest

verdict on this chunk was very clear! it was much more tender than the other two chunks. and the flavor was more like a good tbone steak. that is what came to my mind on that first chew. i stood there chewing in slight shock. truthfully i figured this was going to be a bust. it was far from it and well worth the wait. i cant wait to age one 20d then brine 2d and smoke it!! this was just salt n pepper dusting in a skillet and it rocked the flavor. deer meat is free give it a try for yourself. my cousin went rite home and pulled a roast out of his freezer to start another. im guessing it will show itself at new years.

so that is my honest opinion on this experiment. i found it a little bit scary to let meat set that long but nobody got sick. haha and i learned something that i will use the rest of my life. sorry i didnt learn this 40yrears ago!

 

[Timber II]

By wet aging you mean in the bag? I never really heard of that but I’m slow and sheltered. A lot of guys hang quarters for extended periods tho. About 2 weeks is about as long as I’ve went tho

 

[ajbert]

My wife always soak deer and elk meat in water in the fridge for a couple or three days before cooking, but she changes the water 2 or 3 times a day. She does this as she wants to get as much blood out as she can. Me? I'm good eating it as is. Pretty sure my wife would throw out what you did if she smelled it. She won't even fish I bring home if she smells them before they are cooked.

 

[Fueling Around]

The only time I wet brined venison is when I planned to marinate a back strap overnight and forgot about it for over a week.

 

[chopsaw]

The final sliced pic looks awesome . No question there .
I'd have a hard time with it myself . I'm not a fan of people that reply with a negative ,, but I had a hind 1/4 go bad on me once . Never forget that smell .

 

[in. pred]

By wet aging you mean in the bag? I never really heard of that but I’m slow and sheltered. A lot of guys hang quarters for extended periods tho. About 2 weeks is about as long as I’ve went tho

yes in a bag with all the air out i could. it was trimmed very well and washed very well before bagging. the quarter spent 5 days in drained ice before i bagged it up. that time in the cooler was in the aging time too. 21 days from kill to skillet total.
i never liked hanging meat without the hide on. it dries out and turns dark on the outside. thats why i always quarter and pack in ice as soon as i can. those quarters look the same as when they went in after 5days! just the blood has drained out some. no way to cool it faster either!

My wife always soak deer and elk meat in water in the fridge for a couple or three days before cooking, but she changes the water 2 or 3 times a day. She does this as she wants to get as much blood out as she can. Me? I'm good eating it as is. Pretty sure my wife would throw out what you did if she smelled it. She won't even fish I bring home if she smells them before they are cooked.

tell her to think about brine in stead of just water! it removes more blood and gamy taste and infuses the meat with flavor. i cook my brine up with heavy ratio of seasonings. cooked seasoned brine is 100times better than just water salt n sugar brine!! like 1TBLS EACH seasonings you like(got to have rosemary tho!!! :) to 4C of water or broth. then a half hand of salt half hand of sugar. i dont meassure seasonings i just eyeball in my palm. simmer with lid 20 min then cool before adding meat.
put the meat and cold brine in a bag with air squeezed out for two days. (longer id you want, it is a "brine") remove and set in sink to drain. cook roasts whole and then cut your fat steaks from a rare roast. that way you can sear off the steaks if people want them more done. and others of us dont suffer with over cooked meat. lol the difference between 135* and 165* is hellish!
i have no doubt she would have tossed it. lmao i was leery of it myself but this was a medium age time from what ive read. from what ive read, its at least 20days so that the tenderization is noticeable.

The only time I wet brined venison is when I planned to marinate a back strap overnight and forgot about it for over a week.

this isnt in a brine. but i bet those week long brined back straps are pretty choice eats!!!

The final sliced pic looks awesome . No question there .
I'd have a hard time with it myself . I'm not a fan of people that reply with a negative ,, but I had a hind 1/4 go bad on me once . Never forget that smell .

i totally understand about bad deer meat. when it hits the skillet you know its bad! this wasnt like that trust me. if it was rank the cats would have gotten it. lol its that blood that gives you the rank smell.

no you dont have to age like this to get tender deer meat either. acidy marinades or brines can do that in a day or two. slow cooking also helps. wet aging was just something i always wanted to try. i never aged anything past 12 or 14 days in ice pack before. and that wasnt enough time to tenderize. this experiment gave me interesting and positive results so i thought i would give my honest opinion on this subject. it mite give someone/you the courage to try it and maybe enjoy it, as i did.