Hanging game

tmiller7

tmiller7

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
London, Ontario
I was chatting with an English friend of mine who confessed to me that while he thought Canadian game was generally of higher quality than English, he did not like that we don't generally hang our game to age. According to him, pheasant and partridge need 12 days hanging and hare may be hung indefinitely(!!!).

Does anyone age their game? I've never tried it, but after this conversation and his enthusiasm for it, I think it's something I need to attempt.
 
On the average, I don't hang my large game animals for more than 3 days. I feel that it yields too much wastage from the dry outter layer. In some cases due to circumstances or it simply being too warm, I have not aged it at all. Thus far, no one has ever complained about what I BBQ'd or cooked for them, the empty plates or second trip to the grill attest to that ;)
 
My grandfather used to hang geese on the clothes line by the neck. When they fell off, they were ready to eat.:)
 
Yeah, that's what I've always come to believe, but I've got an old recipe for hare that calls for the hare to be hunt pretty much intact, and then bled out at the end of 7 days. It's in French, so it could very well be that I'm reading it wrong.
 
Many, many years ago, my grandmother was a serving girl in an English country house. The pheasants were hung, whole, until they were ripe. They were then prepared for the table. The kitchen staff removed the maggots before cooking. The servants wouldn't eat them, having seen them during preparation.
Some Inuit prepare a delicacy called "igunaaq". Aged walrus, primarily. There is the occasional incident of botulism when the process is not done properly.
Prime steaks can be aged up to 28 days.
Enzyme action can break down connective tissue, resulting in more tender meat. Most commercial beef is aged a bit, under controlled conditions, while meats like poultry, pork, lamb are not. I suspect a potential problem is that the conditions under which big game is aged at a hunt camp can be quite variable.
I guess what is good food is defined by culture, and one's tastes. I personally prefer my meat to be on the fresh side of the scale.
 
A friend of my father's made mention that back when his father used to shoot deer at their farm they used to hang the deer out in the barn in the winter and go out and take what they needed when they were making dinner(obviously would not work as well in the summer)

With where the farm is located, they only got power in 1986 and from what he has also told me, it was the type of farming area where you shot a deer when you wanted the meat, not always neccesarily when it was in season.
 
I never thought there was a difference in game that was hung one day or 10 days. Then last yr, a buddy of mine who has a commercial fridge in his basement ( 4ft X 30ft at least) hung our deer in his fridge for 3 weeks, and WOW, all the venison is GREAT and so tender. I guess its the fact that the temperature is controlled, and always at a constant temp the whole time its hanging, as opposed to being hung outside where the temp fluctuates.
 
heavyBullet said:
I never thought there was a difference in game that was hung one day or 10 days. Then last yr, a buddy of mine who has a commercial fridge in his basement ( 4ft X 30ft at least) hung our deer in his fridge for 3 weeks, and WOW, all the venison is GREAT and so tender. I guess its the fact that the temperature is controlled, and always at a constant temp the whole time its hanging, as opposed to being hung outside where the temp fluctuates.
Click to expand...

That sounds like my dad's set-up. When we had the foundation dug, we also excavated under the balcony, which pretty much spans the facade. It is accessible from the "workshop" part of the basement. It's insulated and is set-up as a commercial refridgerator. 21 days at 34 degrees farenheit does the job nicely.

All of our hunting friends hang their animals there. Last year he had 21 animals hanging, at different times.
 
I think it's an aquired taste. They will hang game until it's "High", a term that means "Rotten" here. No thanks. Aging just above freezing is a different thing altogether and easily done in typical freezing fall hunting weather in Saskatchewan. Set your shop thermostat way down and let em hang.
 
Last edited:
I do hang grouse, geese, ducks, and hare for some time. All depends on temperature. For about a week if the temperature is below 9 Deg. C but over freezing point. Guts removed, feather / fur on.
I do the same with moose, deer and bear; about 10 days, depending of the temperature when I dressed the game.

It makes the meat much tender, and sometimes remove the "funny taste" of some games (wht many people call "fir" taste).
 
I usually hang big game for 7 - 10 days. but anything small game gets cut up and put in the freezer as soon as i get home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom