From: boardman%cancer.unm.edu@lynx.unm.edu (Bob Boardman)
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Re: Re: Venison Processing
Date: 31 Jul 92 12:40:32 GMT
Organization: UNM Cancer Center
Originator: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu

In article <1992Jul30.101814.25534@doug.cae.wisc.edu>,
 ses@hpfcls.fc.hp.com (Steve Speer) writes:
>>   (someone else posted):
>>      Basically, the deer is hung and gotten out of its
>> jacket ASAP (all that talk about letting it hang to cool for several
>> days is a bit off the mark as well -- no offense to anybody that has
>> been taught to do so).
>
>This would include every meat packing plant in existence.  Beef, pork
>or any other large animal is always hung for a few days to make the
>meat more tender.  When you get right down to it, it is actually
>beginning to decay. You may be quite happy with your meat not being
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>hung, but that meat will be more tender (and IMHO tastier) if it is.
>Notice how stiff that guy is when you try to get him out of the truck
>compared to when you slid him in?  I'm sure you know that it is called
>rigormortis.  What you may not have considered though is that this is
>a temporary state.  It subsides after about 36 to 48 hours and the
>muscles again relax.  Care to guess what the meat is like if butchered
>and frozen in the earlier state?
>
	I've tried it both ways.  I guess if you have access to a meat
  locker where you can hang the meat at a constant temperature of 45-50
  degrees (F), it probably won't hurt and may make it more tender.
  Most people can't keep it this cool, though, and you risk destroying
  the flavor.  I think carefully de-boning and freezing immediately is
  the way to go - tougher cuts can easily be made tender with a little
  Adolph's meat tenderizer, but you can't fix the taste once it goes
  bad.

>> And all this "wrapping" stuff
>> can go the way of the Passenger Pigeon, too.  It's 1992 people, let's
>> stay in touch. :-)  
>
>I know you said this with a smiley face, but you must be serious.  I
>don't think the basics of freezing meat for long periods of time have
>changed in recent years (except that fewer and fewer people have a
>deep freeze and are trying to use frost free freezers for storing meat
>in).  Those freezer bags provide little protection from freezer
>burning.  That's what freezer paper was invented for.  Used properly
>(and it can be done poorly) you can get meat to last quite well for a
>couple of years (It takes me a long time to eat an elk).  Run an
>experiment some time.  A few pounds done each way set aside for a year
>(maybe you never have meat last that long, I dunno).  The stuff in the
>bags will be suitable for dog treats and maybe some really bad chili,
>but that's about it.
>
	This is complete B.S.  I've used freezer paper (double wrapped)
  and I've used the heavy duty ziplock freezer bags.  There is just no
  comparison - the ziplock bags keep the meat without freezer burn at
  LEAST twice as long as the paper-wrapped meat.  I've actually kept
  meat in ziplock bags for 5 years (alright, it got lost down on the
  bottom of my big chest freezer) and it was perfectly edible (I did
  have to trim a little surface freezer burn off of that chunk, though).
	All my experience is with keeping the meat in a large chest
  freezer at 0 degrees - any "front opening" freezer (particularly the
  "frost free" variety) will not keep meat nearly as well, since every
  time the door is opened, all the cold air drops out the bottom and
  sucks hot air in the top - really stupid design!.  Another trick is
  getting ALL the air out of the ziplock bag.  Just zip the top almost
  all the way closed, leaving a 1" gap or so at one end, pinch the gap
  at each side with the thumb & forefinger of each hand and push together
  slightly, so the gap opens up into a circular opening, put your mouth
  on it, and suck all the air out, quickly zipping it the rest of the
  way as soon is it is totally "deflated" and tight against the meat.
>
>Let's see... antelope in 6 weeks, then antelope the next weekend, then
>antelope again, then deer and elk followed by deer and finally my
>first whitetail hunt in late Nov.  Man, I'm gonna need another
>freezer...
>
>	-Steve Speer 
>	"Get Scouting!!"
>
	Good luck!  Just don't let that meat spoil by trying to "hang"
  it too long at too high a temperature!

  -Bob

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| Bob Boardman,Albuquerque,New Mexico - NRA LIFE, NMSSA, Zia Rifle&Pistol Club|
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