Hanging game

I had an English game cookbook given to me by a well-meaning sister-in-law. I read the book, and all of the recipes, and basically there wasn't one that I would use. Call me squeamish, but I just do not care for the idea of hanging critters, with their guts in mostly, for DAYS, and then preparing them for the table. But I don't hear tell of many Brits dying of food poisoning from eating the stuff............

I did find out that you can tell how old a pheasant is by sticking a matchstick up its butt-hole. :eek: But since I do not shoot many pheasnats, and could not care less how old they are once I have shot them, I may not ever make good use of that knowledge. :rolleyes:

Hey, insects are a big part of African diets, and I don't care for them either. Every country has its own food culture, and I reckon I like what I grew up with in WASP Ontario.......:p

Doug

PS) BTW I gave that cookbook to a CGNer who expressed interest in cooking game the British way. I am not sure if he is still alive or if he died from botulism.....:rolleyes:
 
A freshly killed pheasant will often be dry and a little tough if cooked immediately. Hanging it in a cool spot of even just leaving it in a fridge for a week or so makes a real difference. More tender and juicier.

As for English cuisine one of the best meals I've eaten anywhere was grilled breasts of wood pigeon at a small pub in the U.K. They were spectacular. I asked after the meal and was told the birds were hung for ten days undressed.
 
I'm actually quite fond of English cuisine, I just think it lost its way long before any of us were ever born. If you can find the good stuff, prepared with pride, rather than shame (and man are they ashamed of it), it's always good.

I've been doing a little reading, and provided the gut bag's not broken, there's not a whole lot that will harm you in high/rotten game. Maggots are another story, but if the flies that laid them are clean, they should be too. Some Sardinian friends used to smuggle a formerly black market cheese called Casu Marzu, it's maggot-riddled shepherd's cheese. It's also heavenly.

This fall I think I'll try hanging half my game, and cooking the other half fresh.
 
Different strokes for different folks, but the British [and other's] habit of hanging birds, rabbits, etc. intact until they are "ripe" is repulsive and disgusting to me. I was invited to a dinner where an "aged" turkey was served as the main course. I could not eat that sucker, and not just because of a mental thing, I found the smell and flavor obnoxious, period. BTW, this meat is not harmful to eat. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Doug said:
I had an English game cookbook given to me by a well-meaning sister-in-law. I read the book, and all of the recipes, and basically there wasn't one that I would use. Call me squeamish, but I just do not care for the idea of hanging critters, with their guts in mostly, for DAYS, and then preparing them for the table. But I don't hear tell of many Brits dying of food poisoning from eating the stuff............

I did find out that you can tell how old a pheasant is by sticking a matchstick up its butt-hole. :eek: But since I do not shoot many pheasnats, and could not care less how old they are once I have shot them, I may not ever make good use of that knowledge. :rolleyes:

Hey, insects are a big part of African diets, and I don't care for them either. Every country has its own food culture, and I reckon I like what I grew up with in WASP Ontario.......:p

Doug

PS) BTW I gave that cookbook to a CGNer who expressed interest in cooking game the British way. I am not sure if he is still alive or if he died from botulism.....:rolleyes:
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I'm still here and still hang my waterfowl with the guts in for 7 -14 days before eating. The hanging actually makes them LESS gamey.

Still use the book too. Thanks Doug:rockOn:
 
Any one else find that red meat that has been hung for a few weeks takes on more of a liver type taste and even texture?


I like to put my boned out deer in the refrigerator until it just starts to take on a sour smell, then it's ready.
 
gitrdun said:
Just as humourous as a French guy commenting. They have to coat everything with sauces to make it edible ... :D
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Hm... What is it with all the sauces anyway? Is it REALLY that bad, that the food needs sauces?

Then again... Escargot. Not everyone's cup o tea by any stretch!

L
 
The meat of fresh kill has a very low ph. Hanging increases the ph by an enzymatic process. The meat starts retaining water better. Result: softer meat, better aroma. Best results: 10-14 days at 1-3 Celsius (hard to archive without a large fridge or cool house).

Pheasants should hang at least 7 days in feathers (cool and dark place).
After that they taste like Pheasant, rather than tough chicken. A fine mesh helps to keep the flies away.

If you turn everything into pie it won't matter anyways.

Enjoy
 
The sauce card is a bit over-played when criticizing french cuisine, but I get the feeling gitrdun is just poking fun. The sauces are a bit of an archaism now; a throwback to Auguste Escoffier and his style of cooking in the early 20th century. Escoffier actually explains why sauces are so important to French cuisine in "Le Guide Culinaire." Apart from roasting, French cuisine relies on braising and wet method cooking very heavily. The natural result is always a broth. If you thicken it, add herbs x y and z, then you get a sauce. Give it a few hundred years and a by-product of cooking becomes the mark of the cuisine. Plus, it's a way to make a meal more filling and in many cases more nutritious--braise some lamb shanks in wine for a few hours and you can be sure half the vitamins are in the juices.
 
Claybuster said:
A freshly killed pheasant will often be dry and a little tough if cooked immediately. Hanging it in a cool spot of even just leaving it in a fridge for a week or so makes a real difference. More tender and juicier.

As for English cuisine one of the best meals I've eaten anywhere was grilled breasts of wood pigeon at a small pub in the U.K. They were spectacular. I asked after the meal and was told the birds were hung for ten days undressed.
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Is undressed guts in or out?

LH
 
The only aged game I've had is deer. And thats because it hangs from the pole outside the camp for up to a week before it gets taken to a walk fridge to be butchered. All tastes the same to me. My grouse, duck and geese are all into the freezer the same day its shot.
 
I think I have that same cook-book that Doug has, it's dated 1924 and talks about hanging birds until they seperate from bodies, hanging ducks until the skin is green and the feathers simply rub off. On the other hand, it has some tasty recipes for skunk back legs and loins, porcupine on a fire pit ( beat it's brains in then toss in on top of a bed of coals)
On another note, last year we shot a bull and it was 85 degrees F. We had to butcher it the next day. You may as well tossed the whole thing in the grinder, toughest meat I'd ever had. Quite a shame, it was a young bull.
 
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