by assateague » Sat Sep 28, 2013 11:52 pm
But you can't "age" something when it's wet. Well, I guess you can, but you certainly never hear of a steakhouse serving "wet-aged steak". If it's just gutted and hung, all the moisture and outer fluids (in the sinew and exposed muscle casings) on the outside will form a plastic "skin" in about an hour. The deer is dry to the touch. Bugs, flies, whatever cannot get past this. This helps keep the inside from drying out to much, but still allows the meat to start breaking down. Keeping things in a wet environment encourages the wrong kind of bacteria for good breaking down. But by all means, do what works for you. Not saying one's right or wrong, but I've done both. All the deer I shoot in the summer I have to put in a cooler on ice, because it's too hot to hang, and they have never been even close to as tender or tasty as one which was gutted and hung. Not even close.