Aging some venison

[bjarolim]

So my FIL got a deer this weekend and he is wanting me to age it and make some jerky and other things with it and I have never done it before so I'm in need of some advice on all parameters of this.

I do have a meat fridge at the house I do not have a dehydrated tho. I know I've read a little about making jerky on the smoker but I need a little more knowledge about it.

Also what should I do to age the venison properly cause I don't have a clue on what to do about it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[blazinfire]

So my FIL got a deer this weekend and he is wanting me to age it and make some jerky and other things with it and I have never done it before so I'm in need of some advice on all parameters of this.

I do have a meat fridge at the house I do not have a dehydrated tho. I know I've read a little about making jerky on the smoker but I need a little more knowledge about it.

Also what should I do to age the venison properly cause I don't have a clue on what to do about it.

Thanks in advance.

I know nothing about aging venison but I've made jerky a few times. i treat it just like beef jerky. I use whole muscle meat instead of grinding the meat up.

This was the first real batch of smoked jerky I did in my custom vertical offset. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236774

It was fairly easy to accomplish. I assumed keeping a really small fire going would be a pain but it worked out really well.

I kept my cook chamber at 150 degree's. There were times where it rose to 170ish but that is no big deal. I wouldn't go any higher than that for a long period of time.

I always use the high mountain seasoning/cure for my jerky. It's real easy without having to mess with mixing your own cure/seasoning.

Just slice the jerky meat kinda thin, and run a small fire close to 150 degree's. Let it run until it becomes jerky. I had to cut my splits in half and pretty much only cook with small kindling pieces. Like I said though, its a lot easier than it looks.

 

[legendaryhog]

As long as it is cold enough you can age your deer for up to 10-14 days, skin on. After that you won't really get any more advantage of the meat becoming more tender due to lactic acid and enzymes in the meat. You have access to a locker? If not, you need to make sure that it stays cold enough in your garage or wherever you are hanging and is critter-free. I personally don't bother with hanging and instead quarter and butcher my deer ASAP. I can age it after that if I want.

If you have never butchered a deer before, there are many books you can get on it and articles on the web. It's not that hard once you've done it a couple times. A good knife and a reciprocating saw are very helpful.

For the jerky, try and borrow a deli slicer. Seriously, this is a huge, huge, time saver and you will have all uniform pieces of thinness, making it way, way easier to smoke and so it all comes out at about the same time. Put your deer meat on the slicer half frozen and go to town.

Put slices in whatever marinade/brine you are wanting to use (there are literally hundreds of recipes) overnight (or longer) and smoke at 120 or so max. You want to dry it, not really cook it.

Use the round of the deer for the best jerky (in my opinion). That's the booty. It is the leanest, biggest muscle on each side of the deer and you get nice big slices. I've heard tale of some folks making jerky out of the loin (backstrap)....these people need to be flogged. That's like making jerky out of beef tenderloin. ...flogged I say.

 

[gcs]

Up to two weeks hanging is ok, but it has to stay cold, about 40 degrees or a little less. Not outside where the sun can hit it, and no flies allowed.
Then it will be a pain to skin cause it's cold and drying out.
Easiest way is to bone out the major muscle groups, put them in game bags and put in a cooler with ice on the bottom and with a way to keep the meat out of the melt water. I've kept meat this way over a week with no problem, probably could do the same in a dedicated refrigerator without the ice of course.
Theres a lot of methods for making jerky on the web/you tube. pick out one you like and have equipment for. If your oven will work at a low temp you can use that. If you hang the strips on skewers, you can get more strips done then on racks, just hang them so the strips go between the oven rack bars

 

[IamMadMan]

Making Jerky is really easy and you don't need a dehydrator to make great jerky, a low temp in the smoker is all that you need, that way you get smoked meat flavor without having to use the dreadful liquid smoke. The cure (Morton Tender Quick) in the recipes below, is important to prevent food borne illnesses.

If you have never made jerky before, I would suggest buying a jerky kit from The Sausage Maker. or a Hi Mountain kit available through most sporting goods stores. These have the seasoning and the cure in proper proportions and are almost fool-proof for the beginner. This will let you safely learn the basics as you order in the components to make it yourself the next time.

use only very lean cuts, trim off what little fat is there and run it through the deli slicer (or by hand). Marinate and cure overnight then lay on racks to dry until tacky. I smoke for 2 hours with cold smoke then raise the smoker to 110 until it is dry.

The finished product should not be stiff but not break when folded in half. When folding it should create a distinct white line where it was folded without breaking in half



Mild Jerky
This recipe is for 5 pounds venison / beef.

2 Tablespoons of Tender Quick®
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup of brown sugar
4 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of fine grind black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder

Make sure that the sugar and salt are completely dissolved before pouring the marinade over the venison / beef.
Marinate at least one day or and up to two days. Remove from marinade and let air dry on racks until "Tacky" to the touch.

Cold smoke for 1-2 hours (no heat), then raise smoker temperature to 100° to 110° and smoke until dry but slightly pliable.

=======================================


Cracked Black Pepper Jerky
This recipe is for 5 pounds venison / beef.
cracked black pepper is sprinkled on before drying. Coarse ground black pepper can be used in place of cracked pepper.

1 cup of Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 teaspoons of seasoned salt
3 Tablespoons of coarse grind black pepper
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon of onion powder
2 Tablespoons of Morton® Tender Quick® curing mix

Make sure that the salt is completely dissolved before pouring the marinade over the venison.
Marinate at least one day or and up to two days. Remove from marinade and let air dry on racks until "Tacky" to the touch.
Season with cracked or coarse ground black pepper if desired before smoking.
Cold smoke for 1-2 hours (no heat), then raise smoker temperature to 100° to 110° and smoke until dry but slightly pliable.

=======================================


Hot and Sweet Jerky
makes enough marinade for five pounds of sliced venison / beef.

1 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of molasses
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons of garlic powder
2 Tablespoons of onion powder
1 teaspoon of celery salt
1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon of coarse grind black pepper
2 Tablespoons of Morton® Tender Quick®
1/2 teaspoon of powdered cayenne pepper

Make sure that the sugar and salt are completely dissolved before pouring the marinade over the venison.
Marinate at least one day or and up to two days. Remove from marinade and let air dry on racks until "Tacky" to the touch.

Cold smoke for 1-2 hours (no heat), then raise smoker temperature to 100° to 110° and smoke until dry but slightly pliable.

=======================================

 

[cowgirl]

I like to age deer (hide on) for at least a week if weather permits. When it doesn't, I cut the meat off the bone, bag and let it chill in the fridge for at least 3 days before processing.
Congrats on your score!

 

[Norm]

It's too cold here to hang one, be a frozen block of meat. Most times it's in the freezer that night in primal cuts. I'll thaw out a hindquarter and slice it on the hobart for jerky. Only good thing about this time of year is not worrying about the smoker getting hot.

 

[krex1010]

I have aged for 7-14 days in my garage when the weather permits....but in warmer weather I split the carcass into 5 parts and age in a refrigerator....remove the 2 front quarters, Then cut the ribs of right where the backstrap ends and save them, then remove the meat from the neck.....then cut the backstrap section right through the spine in front of the hindquarters, then split the hindquarters....the 2 front quarters, the backstrap section and the hindquarters go into the fridge, arranged to allow maximum airflow and minimal places where the meat touches anything....you don't want the meat sitting in juices. You can age for a week or two like this, then trim the dark rind when butchering.....easy peasy!

 

[bjarolim]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. The deer has already been butchered, was butchered quickly after the kill. I'm more asking of how to age it in the fridge? Do I let it sit out in the open air of the fridge? Do I put it in a bag and flip it everyday? Dry or wet, probably debatable which is vetter, but what's best for venison? After it ages, I am suppose to trim up all the hardness off of it correct? If it needs trimmed after aging, do I need to trim it before it goes into the freezer if I'm not going to be using all of it or leave it untrimmed?

I think the jerky sounds easy enough to do in the smoker, its been pretty chilly here and gonna be chilly next couple weeks I think. So ought to be able to get some cold smoking done for it pretty easily.

 

[gcs]

If it's cut up it will dry out in the fridge unless it's bagged or wrapped in plastic.
meat will keep a week easy that way. Don't know how much ageing you'll get though.
Large cuts in game bags in a cold cooler doesn't dry out.

 

[minAL]

We quarter and lay directly on racks of fridge. Not glass shelves but racks. the key is to have airflow around entire cuts. Spread them out so there is plenty of room between them. We leave them for two weeks to 4 weeks. When we are ready to process, we take the dry, tough "skin" that has formed off with filet knives and then process as needed. Once you try this meat you will always want to do it this way.