Birds in plain sight left in the back of the pick up wouldn't last long around here. The other day after shopping I stopped for a minute while my wife went into the bank machine. Heard a noise and looked in the rear view mirror. There was a row of happy looking ravens on my tailgate, each with a pork chop in their beak.
Very Imp. Please Read
- Thread starter sealhunter
- Start date
I hang my ducks and geese later in the season for up to 14 days with guts and all. Contrary to popular belief this makes the meat more tender and less strong in flavor. The CO and I would have been butting heads I guess.
Good article on it here.
http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2005/nov/ed_3/
http://www.wildeats.com/journal/?p=17
Good article on it here.
http://www.tpwmagazine.com/archive/2005/nov/ed_3/
http://www.wildeats.com/journal/?p=17
- Location
- marmora ontario
I put a grouse in a paper bag in the rear of the fridge for 2 weeks,feathers,guts and all. Cleaned it expecting it to stink but NOPE!! It was delicious. Have done this many times since.JITC
When the weather is cool (daytime highs around 5ºC or so), I'll let waterfowl age on the garage floor for 2-5 days no problem. I've never had any problems, and I don't pre-gut them or anything, just lay them on their backs.
I usually leave ONLY wing/wings on(for I.D)...and place in bag on ice.
I NEVER leave entrails in ANY bird, fish or ungulate. Just something I have been taught since I was a young lad.
On the flip side....I know of people that leave the hide of Moose on while it hangs @ 33-34 degrees Far. or +1 - +2 Deg celcius for 2 weeks with NO complaints.
It is all up to the individual.
For my personal preference I like the guts out and meat cooled ASAP...just makes sense to me. As there is NO logical reason to leave insides attached to carcass...except laziness or sloppiness?
I NEVER leave entrails in ANY bird, fish or ungulate. Just something I have been taught since I was a young lad.
On the flip side....I know of people that leave the hide of Moose on while it hangs @ 33-34 degrees Far. or +1 - +2 Deg celcius for 2 weeks with NO complaints.
It is all up to the individual.
For my personal preference I like the guts out and meat cooled ASAP...just makes sense to me. As there is NO logical reason to leave insides attached to carcass...except laziness or sloppiness?
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As with a lot of things in Newf you guys (like it or not) have a strong English influence on your culture. Hanging birds in GB is a common practice and nothing out of the ordinary. Still don't understand blood pudding or mummers!
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
If the ducks were in a pen, and he could have them jump at him, then shoot them in self defense, and could get praise for having the beak on his wall, he'd probably like duck hunting too.
2 posts, mine and his off topic, let's get back on, I'm just being humoress
2 posts, mine and his off topic, let's get back on, I'm just being humoress
Same day dressing. Not sure what the circumstances would be that would prevent me from doing it at the end of the day I set aside for hunting.
Sealhunter, does two days age the meat or were you just getting around to it? Just curious.
Sealhunter, does two days age the meat or were you just getting around to it? Just curious.
The only problem with leaving entrails in a game bird is that the acidic juices may flow throughout the bird, if several BB's hit the guts.
Not a problem if you only breast the bird, but may be a problem if one likes the legs, as I favor them.
Not a problem if you only breast the bird, but may be a problem if one likes the legs, as I favor them.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
I think it was OK fo rthe CO to question you, and no charge came from it. Just chalk it up to difference in local culture.
I normally completely clean game birds within hours. But, I shot a snow goose this spring, gutted it and left it with feathers on, in my cool garage for five days as an experiment. The meat was delicious! I may need to try that some more. But I couldn't bring myself to hang them for any length of time with guts in, way too much chance of bacterial contamination of the meat IMHO. Lots of folks do it that way though.
I normally completely clean game birds within hours. But, I shot a snow goose this spring, gutted it and left it with feathers on, in my cool garage for five days as an experiment. The meat was delicious! I may need to try that some more. But I couldn't bring myself to hang them for any length of time with guts in, way too much chance of bacterial contamination of the meat IMHO. Lots of folks do it that way though.
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
I wouldn't worry about it, but I would remeind whoever ( if they do) talk to you about it, tell them that some people leave the cleaning of birds longer than others....
Cat
Cat
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
Personally, I like game aged a bit, however, for the convenience of it, I usually clean in the field anyways, and let the meat age little on it's own after.
I only began cleaning in the field when I first moved west and was renting an apartment, no place to hang the birds. Prior to moving west, I usually hung birds for 2-3 days in the cool before processing them.
When I originally started hanging birds, it was not "hanging" birds, it was just,... well,,, what you did.. there was no one telling you to the hang them or how etc etc etc, it was just tradition I guess..
Later on when I got a bit more involved in bacteria, viruses, infection control and such, I looked into it a little bit further. I have no issue eating game birds that have been hung in the cool, nor moose or any other animal. I would be careful in temperature danger zones though, and not prolong hanging, (though I know many who hang for quite some time)
To answer your question, I had something come up and couldn't clean the birds right away in the field, so I got home, put them in the cool, and didn't have another thought about it.
I got ready to clean them on Monday, loaded in my cutting board,(3 foot piece of countertop) a spray bottle with bleach, a few pairs of nitrile gloves, knife and left to head to a field.
I stopped at the gas station for gas, and this is where the questioning happened.
So I am clear, I did not have any issue with the questioning, and was actually proud of the birds and a bit anxious to tell the story of my Dad visiting and hunting here for the first time.
But after a few questions, it was quite clear I was being spoken to in a very condescending manner.
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Cooled yes. Gutting not needed immediately on birds. But don't work too hard on trying to "make sense" out of that you might have to actually read something and get educated. That could hurt.
Apparently you didn't read the other posts or the attached articles. There are many logical reasons as were laid out there, including more tender, better tasting meat from properly cooled and hung UNGUTTED game birds. But I guess when you bandy about judgments like those expressed above, grasping logic isn't one of your strong suits.
Cooled yes. Gutting not needed immediately on birds. But don't work too hard on trying to "make sense" out of that you might have to actually read something and get educated. That could hurt.
Apparently you didn't read the other posts or the attached articles. There are many logical reasons as were laid out there, including more tender, better tasting meat from properly cooled and hung UNGUTTED game birds. But I guess when you bandy about judgments like those expressed above, grasping logic isn't one of your strong suits.
I read the articles and still didn't see anyone give a reason for leaving the birds guts in while they aged. I understand that many peopel leave the guts in without a problem, but how are the guts supposed to improve the aging process?
Every poulty (chicken/turley/duck) supplier kills, plucks, guts and cools poultry ASAP. None age with thier guts in, as far as I know.
I have always read about aging birds, but never had the guts to tr it. Can i just leave them in the fridge to ago whole? The garage faces west and gets pretty warm earlier in the season. Do I just breast them out the same way after or do the feathers gets icky after a couple days?
You're right they don't. Another article I read had that.
Anyway the reason for leaving the guts in birds while aging to keep outside bacterias off of the meat and out of the cavity AND to prevent the birds from drying out excessively over the week they may be hanging. Obviously you need to check the birds out and any that have been smashed up should be breasted and eaten early. Aging is only good for birds that haven't been heavily shot up.
Suppliers gut and chill immediately because the nature of intensive farming has given rise to the diseases (salmonella et al.) in domestic populations of poultry. Wild birds don't have that problem.
Leave in the fridge breast up for at least 5 days and then breast as per normal. If you put them in a plastic bag, put some paper towel under them so soak up any blood that might leak out.
- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
I can also name you some fish that gets the guts left in
Here's a nice read
Witness to a Hanging
Occasionally I have the opportunity to enjoy the company of San Antonians Bill and Pam Shown, who spend some of their getaway time in my hometown of Marathon. Bill is an avid dove hunter as well as an artist on the BBQ grill. One evening, I was invited over to their rental cottage, where Bill was busy with shish kebobs. The ’bobs were stacked with chunks of red onion, bell pepper, tomatoes and medallions of what I assumed to be filet mignon. The meat was of a deliciously dark red color and a deep rich flavor that rivaled some of the choicest cuts of beef I had ever tasted. Once I polished off more than my share of skewers, our discussion turned to the onset of the west Texas dove hunting season. In passing, I mentioned my reservations when it came to the taste of dove meat.
“You didn’t like the kebobs?” Bill asked.
“Of course I did,” I replied. “Who doesn’t like beef fillets!”
“Those weren’t beef fillets,” Bill explained. “They were white-wing dove breasts.”
Jaws agape, I made my way back to the grill and filled my open mouth with another helping.
Bill swears by his dove-aging routine and says he has aged the little game birds the same way for the last 20 years using the following technique: Immediately after retrieving his downed birds, he stores them in his game bag. Once he’s hit his limit, Bill loads his birds into a gallon-sized zip-lock baggie (a gallon-sized baggie holds exactly one limit of birds) and pitches the baggie into the ice chest. While everyone else on the day’s shoot is busy cleaning their birds, Bill relaxes with a refreshment and Topo Chico, shaken not stirred. (Bills says the bubbles in Topo Chico, a mineral water from Mexico, are strong enough to clean your teeth.) Once Bill returns home, he marks the baggie with the day’s date and throws the bag of birds — heads and feathers and guts intact — into the back of the refrigerator, where they stay for up to two weeks. Sometime during or slightly before day 14, Bill spreads a newspaper out on the coffee table, turns on his favorite sports channel, and proceeds to pick, snip and gut the birds, then washes them, cooks a few for dinner and stuffs the rest into quart-sized zip-lock baggies (eight per bag is a perfect fit). Then he fills the bags with water, seals them and pops them into the freezer. While biologists and health professionals might blanch at Bill’s brazen disregard for meat processing standards, they would be hard pressed to argue with his culinary results.
Aging and hanging game may not be for everyone. For many, a fondness for game continues to be an acquired taste and aging it, while increasing tenderness, may also tend to pump up an already robust flavor. But for those who manage to fill their larders each year with nature’s offerings, hanging and aging game may be another way to make good fresh food taste great. And for the generation of Texas hunters like me who are beginning to feel their years add up, extolling the benefits of aging game might be the only opportunity to discover something positive about watching meat grow old.
Meat Safety Guidelines
Aging game meat considered “red,” such as venison, duck, elk and dove, has its benefits. However, it is usually recommended to avoid aging any “white” meat, such as quail and turkey.
Safe game aging depends upon storing carcasses or cuts at a temperature range between 34 and 37 degrees. Higher temperatures will encourage spoilage and lower temperatures will simply freeze the meat and halt the aging process. For example, keeping meat at a temperature above 40 degrees is a recipe for gastronomical disaster, but freezing the game quickly will cause “cold shortening,” and the meat will become tough. Ideally, meat should be chilled to just above freezing and then held at that consistent temperature for a duration determined by the meat’s species. At 34 degrees, deer, elk cows and moose cows should age for a minimum of seven days. Bull elk and bull moose may require twice as long. Antelope should be aged for only three days, as the structure of antelope meat tends to collapse quickly.
Once aging is complete, be sure to remove any surface fat. Also, look for and trim off any slime due to bacteria and mold growth, especially on lean meat.
Aging meat that has no surface fat at all is not recommended. The lack of fat allows the meat to lose moisture and is likely to encourage deterioration.
It is often advised not to butcher or process game while it is in rigor mortis.
Pork should not be aged. Unsaturated fats in pork meat tend to oxidize, adding a rancid flavor to your chops.
If ground meat or sausage is the final destination of the season’s kill, then aging is not really necessary. The term “freshly ground” applies to the process as well as the flavor.
It is often suggested that removing the crop of a game bird immediately after downing the bird will prevent the meat from souring. The crop, filled with grain, has a tendency to ferment.
Fish-eating ducks may need additional soaking or marinating in acidic mixtures once aged.
A final rule of thumb when aging: If the meat is emitting an unpleasant odor, then throw it away regardless of the amount of time and care spent on processing and aging your game. Recognizing a bad smell is an important tool in the culinary skill set used for preparing wild game.
