# resting/aging pork



## PepperNose (Feb 6, 2018)

This weekend will be our second time butchering a hog. The last time we made the mistake of dispatching, butchering and freezing on the same day (sausage and bacon was made on day 2 and 3). The meat was very tough so we had to plan meals 7-10 days in advance to allow the pork to thaw (in the refrigerator) and then sit long enough to become tender.

This time I want to do it right. How long do you rest your pork before freezing? I'm assuming that resting is done at refrigeration temperatures.

Thanks!!


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

We have done a dozen pigs ourselves, with a one day 'hanging' before freeing the meat.

In the last year we have shifted entirely to commercial meat processors, they hang for a couple days.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

It is quite important to rest the meat until the rigor mortis has passed. That takes a day minimum. The heat comes out of the carcass. Then butcher cold rather than hot. I like cutting with the meat about 29°F to 30°F. Meat freezes below 25°F due to the salts in solution rather than the 32°F of water.

As a separate issue, pork, like beef, benefits from aging. I did tests up to 21 days. At one week it hits the sweet spot and fits with our production cycle of slaughtering and butchering weekly. We slaughter, age a week and butcher each week the carcasses from the previous week. The science backs up this aging period.

After butchering either sell fresh or freeze for storage. The faster it freezes, the time spent dropping in temperature past the heat of fusion, the better as a fast freeze results in smaller ice crystals that do less damage to the meat. I use a blast freezer (setup fans) for this purpose. Home freezers are not as good at freezing as industrial freezers so spread the meat around - don't clump it.

-Walter


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## gerold (Jul 18, 2011)

PepperNose said:


> This weekend will be our second time butchering a hog. The last time we made the mistake of dispatching, butchering and freezing on the same day (sausage and bacon was made on day 2 and 3). The meat was very tough so we had to plan meals 7-10 days in advance to allow the pork to thaw (in the refrigerator) and then sit long enough to become tender.
> 
> This time I want to do it right. How long do you rest your pork before freezing? I'm assuming that resting is done at refrigeration temperatures.
> 
> Thanks!!


Hang by Pelvic for 10 days. at 33 degree f.


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## Bruce King (Jan 11, 2018)

24 hours rest after slaughter is what I do, sometimes more depending on schedule, want the temperature of the meat at 40 degrees within 2 hours of kill, accomplish that by packing the carcass in ice; roughly 1lb of ice for each pound of body weight. I went with a commercial ice maker so I have plenty; you could do the same with bagged ice. 

I used a probe thermometer the first few times I did this - took the temperature in the thickest part of the ham, back of the neck, shoulder, to verify the internal temperature. The faster the meat is chilled the better it stands up to hanging without loss of 
quality. 

I don't have a walk-in cooler on my farm; I use large coolers - yeti brand - and usually we deliver the pig to the customer the day after slaughter, so they get it chilled and cook it soon after.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

If you're interested in some articles about it there are quite a few. Here's some of what I did:
http://sugarmtnfarm.com/2007/08/24/hanging-around/
and this search pattern brings up a bunch more by other people about dry aging pork:
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=aging+pork&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
Start with:
http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/2364/ageing-and-the-impact-on-meat-quality/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4942552/
http://butcherinfoblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/dry-aged-pork.html
It used to be thought that aging was only for beef, heck, many people didn't even age beef. The thinking has changed with the times and now it is recognized that all red meats benefit from aging: beef, goat, sheep, pork, etc. Temperature and humidity control are important. I suspect the reason for hot cutting was simply to move product faster through the plant. Hanging and aging takes up space and costs money.

-Walter


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## PepperNose (Feb 6, 2018)

wow! Thank you everyone for the valuable information. I really appreciate it! Walter, I'll read through the links you posted before this weekend. Thankfully this time its a smaller hog. Last one was 450 pounds and we were rushing around trying to freeze asap to keep it "fresh". Lesson learned


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

If you are going to dry cure or brine cure cuts without injection don't age those. Get those started asap after initial hang.


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## GeneV (Nov 28, 2015)

I'm just curious if that makes any difference from freezing cuts up front, but then letting them rest in the fridge a few days after defrosting before cooking. 

I only did pigs twice, I didn't hang them. I butchered right after the kill, into freezer bags went the bits, and then right into a deep freezer. We've been eating them, it's been fine.


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## PepperNose (Feb 6, 2018)

Thank you everyone again for the advice. 

GeneV- our pork definitely became more tender after thawing and then resting in the fridge for a few days before cooking. 

We butchered Saturday and the meat is resting in a spare empty fridge. Our nighttime temps were too warm to hang, so we cut into 6th and put straight into the fridge to cool. Bacon is salt curing and tonight we're going to grind extra bits and organ meat into sausage. The first hog we butchered was 450lb. This one was only 140lb. I was cursing after the last one and swore we'd never do it again. This was a young guinea hog and the amount of lard was quite impressive.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

We have a homemade meat locker and we hang for 7 days


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