Venison and Butchering

[Seigelalix]

Hello, recently I began doing some butchering on my own and have really enjoyed it after the hunting season. However I had to cut my aging time down quite a lot due to the weather and opted to put my meat to grind in my extra refrigerator, I didn't vacuum seal it but I wrapped it tightly in butcher paper. The meat had been hanging 1 week (deer a) 5 days (deer b) and 5 days (deer c) but it was in the fridge about 2 weeks before I ground it up tonight. I am worried it might have gone bad but it didn't smell, the texture seemed fine and it was all varying shades of red with a few red/brown spots but nothing atypical from a steak in the fridge for a few days. I opted to cure it and make it into jerky (it's curing now) do you think it's ok. I think it's probably fine but I'm definitely worried about messing it up.

 

[Lightcs1776]

Sounds like it is OK. When I worked in a butcher shop, meat would get dark and have spots on it. I was taught that it was not only normal but good for the meat, but customers didn't like the coloring.

 

[oldtree]

florescent lights will cause meat to turn dark. steaks in the meat case will turn dark on the side that faces the lights.

 

[ylekot]

florescent lights will cause meat to turn dark. steaks in the meat case will turn dark on the side that faces the lights.

Is that actually the light or oxidation?

 

[Bhugo]

If it smelled fine it probably is. Venison gets a metallic sour smell when it goes bad. Aged meat definitely turns brown and dries out. That in itself is not a bad thing. I just trim off the dried out portion.

I butcher all my own deer and have for 35 years. I stopped aging it at all many years ago. The difference was negligible in my opinion and the chance for spoilage caused too much doubt similar to what you are experiencing. I enjoy much of my venison rare and the aging process just caused me to want to cook it more.

I’ll let it hang in temps colder than 40 degrees for convenience for a couple days if I shoot one early at camp, but other than that I quarter it and wrap in butcher paper on ice in big coolers and cut it up when I get home.

Congratulations on a 3 deer season!!!!

 

[oldtree]

Is that actually the light or oxidation?

we wrapped the meat in star form pans with heat wrap plastic film, the side facing up will turn a darker color than the other side. we would show 1 up the rest of them facing down

 

[ylekot]

we wrapped the meat in star form pans with heat wrap plastic film, the side facing up will turn a darker color than the other side. we would show 1 up the rest of them facing down

That answers that!