# Aging pork



## frog1437 (Mar 21, 2005)

I will soon be doing the deed on a pretty nice size sow.. I was wandering if letting the meat hang in a cooler helps the taste as with beef,deer etc.thanks


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Frog, I hope you were wondering rather than wandering  Hanging in a chiller will improve all meat although personally I don't attach as much importance to it with pork and mutton as I do with beef. With pork, my prime aim is to get it hanging and chilled as quickly as possible to avoid bone taint.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## cowgirlone (May 9, 2002)

We don't age our pork either. I like to chill it overnight and cut and wrap.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Same here, slaughter one day, let the carcass hang over night to chill completely, and then cut and wrap the next day. 
Good luck!


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## montysky (Aug 21, 2006)

thequeensblessing said:


> Same here, slaughter one day, let the carcass hang over night to chill completely, and then cut and wrap the next day.
> Good luck!



Cowgirlone and thequeensblessing are dead on, chill overnight and cut, dry aging does nothing for pork but rot it.


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## frog1437 (Mar 21, 2005)

Ronney said:


> Frog, I hope you were wondering rather than wandering  Hanging in a chiller will improve all meat although personally I don't attach as much importance to it with pork and mutton as I do with beef. With pork, my prime aim is to get it hanging and chilled as quickly as possible to avoid bone taint.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ronnie



Actually Ron down here we just wunder.. thanks for the spell check though..Looks like she will be chilled Sat night and cut and wrapped Sunday (nite) o


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Frog, I don't know where "down here" is but to wunder sounds like a good all-round thing to do  My spelling ain't too brilliant either at times. 

The ideal time for pork and mutton to hang is 24 hours - this gives it time to set which makes butchering much easier so your Saturday and Sunday nights are now taken care of. When doing our own pigs we cheat a bit by laying the chops in the top of the freezer for an hour or so. It makes them much easier to cut up if one doesn't have a band saw.

We don't have a chiller and Kevin came up with this bright idea of filling the bladders of wine casks with water, freezing them and stuffing them into the carcass. Works well.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## BobK (Oct 28, 2004)

because it never gets really cold where we live now we have to slaughter on one day...hang overnight to chill as much as possible....break the carcasses into prime cuts...pack into plastic bags and cover with crushed ice for an additional day to chill the meat to the bone before cutting and wrapping........not as easy as when we lived in the mountains and could just pick a nice frosty night for butchering...


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## GeorgeK (Apr 14, 2004)

I routinely age the meat. It is much more tender that way. However, it probably depends on your system and your breed. Mine get a lot of exercise and so the meat is lean and dark, not white like commercial pork. It is probably less beneficial to age the meat if you have penned animals. I dry age the meat for about a week and then let it age packaged for another 2 weeks before freezing.


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## VApigLover (Oct 6, 2004)

GeorgeK said:


> I routinely age the meat. It is much more tender that way. However, it probably depends on your system and your breed. Mine get a lot of exercise and so the meat is lean and dark, not white like commercial pork. It is probably less beneficial to age the meat if you have penned animals. I dry age the meat for about a week and then let it age packaged for another 2 weeks before freezing.


GeorgeK, It sounds like you use a cooling unit to dry age, if so what air temp in the unit to perform dry ageing of pork? Was wondering about the hanging time for older hogs, everything I studied up on based the hanging time lenght on normal size six month old, one to four days max.

We just slaughtered a four year old sow, meat had great flavor but tough as leather on some cuts, so was wondering if a longer hanging time would cure that or would the fat go rancid first?

Anyway, very interesting post


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

I've experimented with hanging pork for 0, 1, 3, 7 and 21 days. There is no difference other than that the meat is easier to cut when it is chilled rather than warm. They all tasted the same. There was no bone taint.

I have also experimented with brining for 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days. I like a longer brine because I like the salt taste but after 7 days there was no noticeable difference.


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## cowgirlone (May 9, 2002)

GeorgeK said:


> I routinely age the meat. It is much more tender that way. However, it probably depends on your system and your breed. Mine get a lot of exercise and so the meat is lean and dark, not white like commercial pork. It is probably less beneficial to age the meat if you have penned animals. I dry age the meat for about a week and then let it age packaged for another 2 weeks before freezing.


George are you talking about aging pot belly pigs or all pigs?
I'm curious, I've never tried pbps, I might have to find one to try sometime.


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

Our pork is always tender, but then, we always butcher at between 7 and 9 months of age. I don't think I've ever eaten a pig over a year old!


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I never age pork as it is tender regardless. I do work the sausage while the body heat remains in the meat as I am of the opinion the seasoning is better absorbed. Since I skin the animal, working the meat for the sausage is less effort than if the animal was scalded.


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## GeorgeK (Apr 14, 2004)

Right, 35F. A spare frost free refrigerator. The longest I've dry aged was 2 weeks followed by a week sealed (to get the moisture to redistribute). Dry aging concentrates the flavor since you are slightly dehydrating it, (lose about 10-15% weight due to loss of water) and helps tenderize it by allowing the muscle bundles to break down

Rotting happens because of bacteria which for all practical purposes don't grow below 40F. The more below 40F the less likely, but you don't want it to freeze since then it won't age. If you just use your kitchen fridge it is probably opened often enough to risk the meat temperature going too high and allowing it to rot. You want a spare fridge that isn't being opened all the time



VApigLover said:


> GeorgeK, It sounds like you use a cooling unit to dry age, if so what air temp in the unit to perform dry ageing of pork? Was wondering about the hanging time for older hogs, everything I studied up on based the hanging time lenght on normal size six month old, one to four days max.
> 
> We just slaughtered a four year old sow, meat had great flavor but tough as leather on some cuts, so was wondering if a longer hanging time would cure that or would the fat go rancid first?
> 
> Anyway, very interesting post


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## GeorgeK (Apr 14, 2004)

right, but it would apply to any animal that gets a lot of exercise




cowgirlone said:


> George are you talking about aging pot belly pigs or all pigs?
> I'm curious, I've never tried pbps, I might have to find one to try sometime.


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