Aging game birds?

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They're doing it wrong.
If you don't believe me just ask anyone on tndeer.
No matter what you do, you're wrong. :D
 
I will try that with the next limit i get .some folks just like their food rotted lol
 
mike243 said:
I will try that with the next limit i get .some folks just like their food rotted lol
Click to expand...

Not rotted at all. I hung my doves by the neck in a mini-fridge, and monitored the temperature. It fluctuated between 49� and about 52�. To be honest, I didn't notice any flavor difference in the meat. As for a rotten taste? None at all. I hung the birds whole and un-plucked for up to 10 days, and the first few I did were hung naked. I didn't notice a difference in flavor, but I think there was a decent bit of tenderization.

And after 10 days, the guts didn't have the slightest stink to them. It was noted that plucking a freshly killed bird is much simpler than an aged bird. One significant benefit, however, was the dried skin. Grilled whole, the skin crisped nicely, which really gave a flavor to the bird I'd never tasted before.

I'll try it with ducks this year, but I think doves are too small to really benefit from the aging process. However, plucking, cooking, and eating 30+ doves is challenging after a successful weekend. While the aging process didn't prove to me a noticeable flavor difference, I learned that it's a great storage method for lots of birds. We ate aged doves for a couple of weeks.
 
TAFKAP,
was leaving the guts in just for convenience, or was there another motive?

I've never aged anything other that deer meat in a cooler (and that's really just because I can't process it all at one time).
 
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Hmm never thought of hanging birds before. Speaking of aging, I got some deer in the fridge now that's been 11 days so I might go and finish cutting, packaging and freezing it today. I think deer meat benefits from just leaving the whole cuts of meat in for at least a week. I keep them in bags as I don't have a setup to hang and dry-age. A walk in cooler sure would be nice but not realistic
 
Crosshairy said:
TAFKAP,
was leaving the guts in just for convenience, or was there another motive?

I've never aged anything other that deer meat in a cooler (and that's really just because I can't process it all at one time).
Click to expand...

Because that was the method described. If I sliced open the first bird and wretched at the stink, I would've been done with it. But nothing even close.....it cleaned out just fine, and the guts were still clean.
 

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