Aging Venison : How Long To Hang Your Deer

When aging venison we like to officially refer to the USDA recommendtion for beef – agethree days for every 100 pounds of carcass weight – under strictly controlled temperature conditions, thats a good rule for wild game For venison, optimum conditions are above freezing but below 40 degrees. Then, duration depends largely on personal preference, but 5-7 days is not too long. The problem being is it’s difficult to regulate temperature on a carcass hanging off the old oak tree in the back yard. If you do have a cooler where you can hang it, properly aged venison can be compared to any prime beef steak…some even prefer it.  Some say a week some say three, the main thing to understand is that bad bacteria grows at 40 degrees farenheight and above so always keep it cool.

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