Venison - Ice Bath vs Dry Experiment Results

[sharpstick35]

good experiment. I may try something similar once I get my walk in finished. currently my meat is in the freezer within 45 minute of breathing.

[Top Of Texas]

My efforts are always dry and goal is to start cooling within 40 min. No complaints.

Yes, sir

[Top Of Texas]

Just my opinion. Don’t get ****** at me but if you soak in water it takes the blood out and all the flavor. That’s where your flavor is is in the blood in the meat. I’ve had both and mine goes strictly on ice but above the ice. I do my own meat processing, but if you don’t I will bet they don’t put it in ice water to age it.

The experiment reveals that either method results in equal levels of enjoyment.

[meltingfeather]

Really nice work!

[Top Of Texas]

There is no “blood” (hemoglobin) in muscle tissue. Myoglobin is the red you see in meat after the blood vessels have been drained which happens when the vitals of the animal is shot and bleeds out. Meat is 65-70 percent water. Water has no flavor which is why when meat is dry aged for longer periods of time than done in this experiment the flavor is enhanced.

Meat can become water logged however, by how much I do not know but would literally water down the flavor of the meat. From the OPs experiment obviously 7 days makes only a slight difference.

The experiment reveals that either method results in equal levels of enjoyment. I intended to do 10 days but work load prevented it. I have done 14 days several times with no noticeable decrease in quality, or being water logged. A primary objective is to keep the meat cool, within my means, until I can free up time to process.

[Top Of Texas]

Awesome experiment. I have never tried dry. Will definitely do a little next time one ends up hanging. Thanks

The dry is definitely less messy and easier to handle and process, but a pain to keep out of icy water in ice chest and takes up more space.

[Top Of Texas]

good experiment. I may try something similar once I get my walk in finished. currently my meat is in the freezer within 45 minute of breathing.

You're way faster than I am!

[wytex]

I'd like to see you do this with some iffy quality quarters, maybe an older deer.
I took an old cow elk last fall, cut her up to dry age in our garage for about 10-14 days.
Tried some strap chops after only 5 days, very tough as the cow elk was a grandma elk. Waited to process til 14 days and the straps made a remarkable transformation, they were almost tender, lol.
My big bull that was wounded never got tender after 14 days of aging, he's all burger.

You loose quite a bit to dry aging but the meat quality does improve from what we've seen over 33 years.

[Briar Friar]

ToT...great experiment. Thanks for sharing. I am an ice bather. But youre right...it makes the meat harder to handle and band saw cut. I had a buddy tell me a trick is too flash freeze the meat before processing and vacuum sealing to make it solidify a bit and less juicy...it works well. Its annoying to have to vacuum seal the same bag several times. Well done Sir.

Wytex...FWIW...Ive never tried this but...my uncle ran a trophy ranch and had a walk in cooler...he said during the carcass hanging and aging the exterior of the carcasses would turn black/moldy from aging and all that would get shaved off and was waste. To combat that they started spraying the carcasses with vinegar water and it kept the meat from discoloring and getting moldy and having to waste all the discolored meat.

[Ætheling]

The experiment reveals that either method results in equal levels of enjoyment. I intended to do 10 days but work load prevented it. I have done 14 days several times with no noticeable decrease in quality, or being water logged. A primary objective is to keep the meat cool, within my means, until I can free up time to process.

I was referring to the 10 percent difference in favor of the dry meat. Am I misunderstanding?

Evaluators were also asked to mark their preference of each blind dish. Those preferences averaged 45.1% for Ice Bath and 54.9% for Dry.

[Top Of Texas]

I'd like to see you do this with some iffy quality quarters, maybe an older deer.
I took an old cow elk last fall, cut her up to dry age in our garage for about 10-14 days.
Tried some strap chops after only 5 days, very tough as the cow elk was a grandma elk. Waited to process til 14 days and the straps made a remarkable transformation, they were almost tender, lol.
My big bull that was wounded never got tender after 14 days of aging, he's all burger.

You loose quite a bit to dry aging but the meat quality does improve from what we've seen over 33 years.

All we can do is try! We don't have the luxury (thank goodness) to hang meat outside in Texas, even in the Panhandle, thus the ice chest routine. I'll let one hang overnight if it's cold enough, but only because it's late, I'm tired, and don't want to quarter.

I have killed plenty of old deer. I would say there is no noticable difference on backstrap or tenders. Probably not on hindquarters either, but due to my perceived suspicions, I tend to make jerky out of hindquarters of old deer. Not exclusively of course. I have marked packages of roasts "old" but not noticed any difference in tenderness or quality. What I'm taking way too long to say is, based on over 100 deer from firsthand experience, I wouldn't expect age to be a reliable predictor of meat quality.

Since I did only 7 days in this experiment, and the dry sample was on a rack, not contacting ice, in a sealed ice chest, then it didn't experience drying out like it would hanging in a barn. So, I didn't experience any loss of meat.

I will say, the dry is a lot easier and less messy to process.

[El General]

ToT...great experiment. Thanks for sharing. I am an ice bather. But youre right...it makes the meat harder to handle and band saw cut. I had a buddy tell me a trick is too flash freeze the meat before processing and vacuum sealing to make it solidify a bit and less juicy...it works well. Its annoying to have to vacuum seal the same bag several times. Well done Sir.

Wytex...FWIW...Ive never tried this but...my uncle ran a trophy ranch and had a walk in cooler...he said during the carcass hanging and aging the exterior of the carcasses would turn black/moldy from aging and all that would get shaved off and was waste. To combat that they started spraying the carcasses with vinegar water and it kept the meat from discoloring and getting moldy and having to waste all the discolored meat.

I've had a very experienced charcuterie chef tell me not to worry about the mold unless it was black and fuzzy. He'd eat it if it was white or green and not fuzzy.

[Jkbow]

Awesome to see folks doing these type of experiments and sharing the results!

[wytex]

I hear ya Top, but with 34 years of aging and hanging experience, age can make a difference but not every time.
Condition of the live animal , i.e wounded or stressed makes more difference in quality of the meat, imo.
Dry aging results in pretty significant loss, but meat quality is excellent most times to make up for it.

For us, aging time depends on conditions in our garage, obviously, but also the condition of the animal before it was shot.
I will say we have dry aged 2 cow bison last few years and that made a huge difference in tenderness and meat quality. Elk also benefit from dry or wet aging, seems the larger muscle fiber bundles like the extra aging.

Pronghorn also have shown real benefits from aging, never as long though as elk.

I see how coolers work great for you all without means to hang your quarters. For me the appearance of the wet meat would be the put off, but the aging process works great.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Backwoods101]

Great experiment, thanks for sharing! it’s nice to have some actual data behind what I’ve always believed to be true. Your evidence won’t be enough to shut the dry aging guys up but hey, you tried lol


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