Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Anyone wet age their venison?

I was thinking about soaking the de boned venison in salt water before I grind it into Humber to see if it would be better or worse. Researching some I found some guys soak their deer for 3-5 days in ice water to wet age the meat.

Huh.

Always been told that water is the enemy of meat...

The folks who soak venison seem to want to make it taste less "gamey"..

I don't find venison particularly gamey to start with and I actually like my venison to taste of venison, not a bland bit of pinky red meat...

Personally, I like to hang a carcass 7 to 10 days at just above freezing, usually in the skin to stop the surface going leathery.

I will usually skin about 24 hours before I intend to butcher and this gives time for the meat to "set" or "firm up" with out going leathery..

Since I started hanging carcasses in this manner, I have noticed an improvement in the flavor, especially with Roe as Roe venison can be quite bland if the carcass is butchered too quickly...

I wet age mine for up to 5 days changing out the water daily. It helps when that buck has been in full rut.

If you're trying to take out some of the gamey taste, soak it overnight in buttermilk.

Humber?

I don't think they mean cuts of meat. I could be wrong, but it sounds like sides or quarters in a tub of water?

The soak also helps give me a wider window of possible times I can sit down and process a deer. After I skin I begin quartering and put the pieces in a large marine-style cooler with 6-10" of cold water. This pulls a lot of the heat out of the quarters quite quickly. After it sits for a half hour or so, I drain off the water, load the cooler in my truck, and drive 30 minutes home, stopping to get 6-8 bags of ice on the way. I'll put 4-5 bags on the meat straight away and then pour another bag of ice on it each day. Sitting for 5-6 days in ice water seems to hurt nothing. If I'm doing several deer at the same time and don't have time to grind and bag on the same day that I cut, I will put the burger chunks and the whole cuts in 18qt plastic dishtubs, run them nearly full with cold water, place some plastic wrap over the top, and put them in my outside fridge. I drain off the bloody water the next day and grind/bag for the freezer. This has worked for me for years.

Doh! That would take a lot of buttermilk!