Originally Posted by Bulletbutt
This is a little off subject, but I'm trying something new to me and I'll share it. Maybe some of you have done it, or would want to try it.
Some time ago I read something by a "chef" that interested me: He said to let steak sit in the refrigerator a few days after it's thawed, allowing the blood to drain away from the meat. He said it'll tenderize the meat, more so than if it just sat there in its juices.
I remember he said not to use a metal pan or rack for the meat to sit on, and I finally devised a rack out of plastic to fit in the bottom of a plastic Rubbermaid container with a snap on lid. It looks like it will allow the blood to drain off the meat really well.
Of course, as soon as I made one, I found a new Rubbermaid "Produce Saver" in the grocery store that comes with a rack and is just right for the amount of meat I'm dealing with. They hold 5 cups and have a green lid, if you go looking for one.
I'd be interested in others' thoughts on this. Do you think it would work, or just make for dryer meat?


I was watching one of the TV chefs a couple of months back and he preached this as being very important. He liked to defrost beef 36 hours ahead of time to let it drain and "set"...He didn't mention anything about flavour, but apparently a "dry" steak fry's a lot more consistantly than one running with blood/juice. He also advised removing the steaks from the fridge an hour or so before hand and allowing them to come up to room temp, by which he meant a cool storage type room rather than a warm kitchen. Again this was more to do with the cooking side than "aging" or flavour.

fish head,

A fridge works fine for hanging game, and certainly beats racing the warm weather to get a carcass butchered. Below is a Roe carcass hanging in a fridge in my shed.

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That fridge is just big enough for two Roe or one 80lb Fallow pricket carcass. A lot of stalkers over here use double door coke chillers and while ideal for 4 roe, they are a bit lacking in height internally for anything bigger than a Fallow pricket.

I'm looking for a larger unit myself, but I don't have the space nor the ��� for a proper walk-in chiller.

I generally hang my carcasses about 10 to 14 days with the temp set just above freezing. The important thing abut this fridge is that it has a built in fan to circulate the air, and this runs constantly as long as the door is shut.

Good air circulation is cruial and for best results the carcasses must have space around them to allow the air to circulate.

The other thing is that carcass must be in good condition when it goes in..if you gut shoot a beast, drag it through a swamp after doing the gralloch and then transport it home over the hood of your car, don't be surprise if the meat is poor quality.

Regards,

Peter

Last edited by Pete E; 04/22/09.

Men of Harlech[Linked Image]