Monthly Archives: December 2020

Dry Aging Venison in the Fridge – My three day method. Updated with dry age bags.

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I knew for years about dry aging but never really needed it till now.  I have lots of vacuum sealed venison in my freezer from deer and moose. Some of the cuts are on the tougher side. I have used the Sous Vide method of using a water bath to cook the internal wild game temperature to medium rare and that works but does not tenderize or change the flavor of my meat.

I am a big fan of the Internet and You Tube to see what others are doing in the kitchen with venison. Personally I like the idea of short dry age times. I tested my theory and it works for me.

I thawed a piece of moose rump steak after much research and placed it on a  non-reactive rack in my fridge and set the actual fridge temp to 38F. Three days later I had meat that was very tender with minimal meat loss. Flavor was excellent and I didn’t trim  much. Now the Sous Vide will do an even better job on a tender, flavorful cut.

Key to aging is getting the actual temperature inside correct.

Aficionado’s, say that 34 to 39 degrees is the window of temperature that is ideal for connective tissue and enzymes in the meat to tenderize yet minimize bacterial growth. I do not have a spare fridge so I experimented in my new large kitchen fridge. I was able to easily set and verify the temperature.

There are many methods and time lengths that one could use, however, I wanted to minimize the loss of meat and almost no meat was cut away using this 3 day method.

Another method I will try is using special dry age freezer bags that allow evaporation in the fridge for larger cuts below.

Update

It took a month to get my dry age vacuum seal bags from Europe. Beginning tonight, 1/8/2021, I will dry age 2 moose steaks and one venison cut of backstrap in those dry age bags for at least 20 days maybe more. See photo below of my vacuum sealed bags that allow air to pass out only. I am dry aging two Moose Rump steaks and one 5 inch cut of Whitetail back strap. It takes three days for the plastic to adhere to the meat says the instructions.  I will follow up this article in 20 days. 

 

How to Dry Age Venison at Home

If you vacuum seal meat and freeze as I do, then, I am told,  you are Wet Aging your meat and to some degree freezer meat that has been vacuum sealed, improves in flavor (degassing) but does not tenderize or break down the connective tissue.

Hope this article helps you eat all that great wild game and go get some more.

Good Hunting!

 

 

 

 

Cooking Venison with my Sous Vide – Video

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It was that pre Christmas storm here in New  Hampshire, when I  made this video to demonstrate my Sous Vide machine that utilizes water to cook. For those who have venison in the freezer like me, it cooks  my venison just as I like it, medium rare. You can set the temperature of the water to cook meat exactly as you like. I cut some mushrooms to add to the cast iron skillet used to pan sear the meat. And it came out tender and juicy!!

Below is the venison dinner.  I cut a piece of this  medium rare meat, just for you!

Wow! Soo good!!

 

Bon Apetit’

©Copyright 2020

 

Christmas Stocking Stuffer Chefing Wild Game with “Sous Vide” Immersion Circulator

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I have to give a hat tip to Steven Rinella and company of Meateater fame to bring the topic of sous vide up. I am a meateater! You too? Great!

I have a gift for you to put under your Christmas tree if you like to cook and eat meat perfectly done. It is fast and is a no muss, no fuss device.  My device is called an Instant Accu Slim Sous Vide, Immersion Circulator with digital touchscreen display below. It is a significantly different way to cook meat! Check on-line to shop and read-up.

https://www.themeateater.com/cook/cooking-techniques/a-beginners-guide-to-sous-vide-for-wild-game-part-1

https://www.outdoorlife.com/venison-sous-vide-recipe-for-perfectly-cooked-wild-meat/

 

This circulator cost is about 79 dollars for my model but you can spend more.

I have briefly read about these devices but for a time, I blew them off, so here I am in the kitchen the other day “without” a sous vide tool, and want to precook my back strap steaks slowly to avoid being overdone which can happen with lean game meat.

So, I cooked some venison backstrap steaks in my vacuum seal-a-meal bag with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and in hot water bath on my stove top and in a pan of water for a short period, like a sous vide but I had t to guess about time and temperature. When I thought the meat was cooked a bit, I  pulled the meat out and grilled to sear them at 400F on my outdoor grill. My meat was tender and juicy. A good guess!  But I want to do that again with the real equipment so I can cook lots of tender game to precise temperatures. I just bought this model shown above. It is coming via Santa Claus.

Game meat has little fat so overcooking lean venison can make your meat tough. For someone like me who has a freezer full of wild game, I think the investment is worth it. There is another method some call reverse searing where you cook meat slowly in an oven  at say 225F then sear at the end like I do with prime rib roasts but that is for a different day. 

Weatherby, Leupold and Nosler AccuBonds in 6.5 Creedmoor – Whitetail Magic

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The Weatherby Vanguard in 6.5 Creedmoor was a great choice for my Texas Whitetail Hunt. And so was my choice in Leupold scopes and Nosler Custom cartridges, tipped with AccuBonds!

 

Shots were perhaps a bit longer than 150 yards, a cake-walk for the creedmoor. The synthetic Monte Carlo style stock takes all kinds of abuse and still looks new. I geared this rifle for New England deer hunting in ice and snow. The barrel and metal surfaces has a weatherguard coating ( a stainless  look) as a rust preventive. We had no rain or stormy weather to contend with, just hot and dry.  Coupled with my Leupold Vx-3 and Nosler Custom 140 grain AccuBonds, it was whitetail magic.

When I arrived at the ranch, a few of us shot our rifles to ensure they were on target. I set up for a 100 yard shot at a black one inch square, upon the recoil, I could not see the bullet hole, but the Ted the lead guide said, ” It’s dead center in the black”. Ok, I said with a grin, “ready to hunt!”

On the Weatherby, it was a very cost effective at around $800, the only thing I changed was the trigger, it was fine as it was but I wanted a bit lighter trigger, so I dropped a Timney trigger in. The beefy looking bolt is very smooth to operate, I like that! I think that I will hunt New England this next year with the Weatherby. For those considering this rifle or caliber, you cant go wrong for big game deer, elk and black bear.

If you would like to read and see a few video’s of the hunt see below.

November Texas Whitetail Hunt on the Cargile Cattle Ranch – By Ed Hale

Good Hunting!

 

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