losthwy

This not a post about "aging" meat for a week or more.

Seems I remember reading that meat should be given a short period of time for it to "relax" again after rigor mortis. Freezing before this time results in tough meat. What it the time frame, I recall it was somewhere 48 to 72 hrs., or is this true?

Alsatian

I have read that rigor mortis is associated with an important pH chemical change in the animal which improves the tenderness of the meat, hence you want rigor mortis to occur before freezing. I have also heard that there are bad effects which occur if you freeze the meat too soon. I would think that freezing the animal 48 hours after the animal died would be sufficient time for such things to occur. I have a book on butchering that addresses these topics and a John Barneses (Spelling?) article on the trouble with freezing too quickly. I'll try to consult these authorities tonight and add more info tomorrow.

skeeter 7MM

Rigor mortise is the process after death where sugar are converted to lactid acid. After a period of 24 hours they have been converted back to sugar or relaxed. Not to be confused with aging of meat though...which is a widely debated issue when it comes to wild game! Meat should be kept under 50 degrees in this period to prevent bacteria growth.

If the meat should freeze prior to this 24 hour period or you must debone due to warm temperatures...their is a cure if you find the meat tougher than you like. Take the meat out of the freezer, place on a plate with paper towel and let it age in the fridge(leave in butcher paper). Once the paper towel is blood soaked it will fridge aged and will be as tender if relaxed or aged. Timeframe depends on age and cut of meat 3 to 10 days (roast). I have done this with tough beef roasts where they age for 10-14 days and it really does work!

Alsatian

John Barsness in a November 1996 Field and Stream article admonishes that freezing meat too soon can cause "cold shortening" of muscle fibers. This contracts muscle fibers, setting them in a way which isn't affected by standard methods of tenderizing -- moist, slow cooking; marinades; aging -- all of which work upon the connective tissues between muscle fibers. Barsness says to get the meat down to 60 degrees within 4 hours and then down to 45 degrees within the next 12 to 18 hours. After this you can keep the animal -- aging -- for quite some time if the temperature remains below 50 degrees. Well, as you know, hunting conditions aren't real conducive to carefully controlled temperature environments, but this give some idea of what is ideal.

My butchering book says that if the weather is warm, hang and skin the deer immediately and put the meat, presumably cut into quarters, in a cooler for 24 to 48 hours before you cut it into pieces. If the weather is cool -- nighttime temperature from 26 degrees to 40 degrees and the daytime temperature not above 50 degrees, leave the hide on and hang the deer in a cool, airy place out of the sun. Do not let the carcass freeze within the first 24 hours. If it does freeze, as soon as it thaws, cut it up immediately, package, and freeze. This is form "Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game" by John J. Mettler Jr.

Again, general parameters. Cool the meat. Try to keep the meat close to but above freezing for 48 hours. Then skin and butcher it. Under adverse heat conditions, you are driven to other procedures.

Alsatian

One other point that I failed to make. I read that if you are going to leave your game hanging it is often a good idea to enclose it in tightly woven cotton bags of some sort which will keep off flys and dirt. These bags are sold commercially and can be reused. Flys, in warm weather, may deposit eggs on the meat, and these eggs turn into maggots.