This is something I have been learning about and have had to improvise with keeping meat cool for any prolonged period of time. Being in Texas, we rarely get nights, let alone weeks with temperatures cool enough to age meat by hanging the carcass in a barn or the garage. Most often my main concern after killing an animal is getting the animal cleaned, quartered and on ice. Yes, you could use a walk in cooler, but not everyone has those. I wish I did I that’s for sure.
In recent years I have been reading about aging and this year I’ve learned and experimented with keeping the meat on the bone through a full rigor cycle; at least a day or more. Given the warm temperatures here, The tenderloins and backstraps always been the first to come off the animal, typically while the animal is still warm. Now I leave them on the spine/rib cage through rigor.
For aging I leave the meat on ice in a cooler. I fill milk jugs and freeze them and cycle them out with the meat, keeping the ice fresh and while the meat drains, about a week or so is what I tried this year. I tried this with 2 bucks (both mature and rutting) and my elk last year (young bull) and the meat has been the best all around meat since I’ve been hunting and butchering my own game. I also salt my venison well when it comes out of the freezer and allow it more time to drain and get to room temperature before cooking.
I killed my first deer 25 years ago and I am only now learning so much about the fine art of butchering and aging the meat. It has been a fun and rewarding process. My wife liked the elk so much she’s not too upset about me leaving this November to hopefully go find another one.
