Hanging/Maturing Meat

[RonnieP]

How do you do this? Where is this done? for how long and at what temperature?

[benmc]

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat book has loads of stuff on this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/River-Cottage-Meat-Book/dp...

[Whoozit]

Depends which meat and what facilities you have. I've hung pheasant, pigeon and partridge very successfully for a week in an unheated garage with luckily cold weather, and pluck and draw them immediately prior to cooking.

[SwanJack]

Whoozit said:

Depends which meat and what facilities you have. I've hung pheasant, pigeon and partridge very successfully for a week in an unheated garage with luckily cold weather, and pluck and draw them immediately prior to cooking.

Game birds can be hung for a very long length of time, as long as its about 5 degrees where your hanging them. A friend who I used to go shooting with, swore that pheasant was ready for the pot only when the maggots had appeared. I used to hang mine for about a 2/3 weeks. I found skinning them was easier than plucking. I found that rabbits didn't last as long.

Edited by SwanJack on Tuesday 23 December 13:11

[dcw@pr]

just eaten two partridge which were INCREDIBLE - had hung for 10 days. It has been quite warm here for the last week, so in colder weather they could have gone for longer.

you can age a big joint of beef outside for weeks/months and just cut off the mouldy bits when you are ready to eat it (assuming it is cold enough)

[lockhart flawse]

If you are refering to beef, which apart from game is the only meat that is aged for significant periods, then the carcass is hung for upto about 28-30 days, depending on the fat cover, in a chiller at a constant temperature of about 2 degrees C.

L.F.