Hanging/Aging Birds

[See_Bennie_Point]

In trying to figure out the best way to go about plucking birds (warm, cold, dry, wet etc) I came across several articles about hanging and aging birds. I guess my biggest concern is spoiling/tainting meat with any possible shot in the guts, maybe it's prevented by the cold? Most of what I've read says to hang them whole between 2-10 days 45-50 degrees F then pluck. It's supposed to add some tenderness and a little gamey flavor which I personally enjoy. Is anyone doing this?

 

[Oregon]

Frequently. I actually used to just keep them on the garage floor. Up to 6 days. Only cleaned ducks on Sundays. So a Monday shot bird was cleaned on Sunday.
Now, I’m older, I gut birds first, then hang. Have a hook in garage just for birds. I don’t pick every bird I shoot, but mallards and pintail with good thick white fat and no pin feathers get hung.
Couple pulls of feathers from breast gives you an idea if they’re pluckers.

 

[Poser]

I’ve done it before. It’s weird and nonintuitive, but there is centuries of methodology to support the practice. I wouldn’t use this method with gut shot birds, though.

Best bet is to start with a single bird as an experiment and hang it with its entrails and compare the results and You’ll build your co offended over time. Hank shaw has written about this extensively and is your best source of reliable info.

 

[johnnycake]

I do it all the time for upland and waterfowl. I rarely clean a bird without at least a week hanging whole in 35-45F. It is just fantastic. But for birds that really get shot up badly I do gut them out and clean them without hanging.

 

[Baddog]

What if you pluck and clean the bird then hang? Same effect or not?

 

[Poser]

What if you pluck and clean the bird then hang? Same effect or not?

Similar effect, but not “the same” process.

 

[Maki35]

A friend hangs his upland birds up to 3 days. He said the meat taste better.
I usually clean & prep them after a hunt.

 

[Poser]

How to Hang Pheasants and Other Game Birds

The science behind hanging upland game birds.

honest-food.net

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JShane]

baddog, pluck and clean then hang has a slightly different effect in that the skin of the bird dries out. If its a fat mallard or pintail as suggested above you'd be losing some of the fat/skin. as for pheasants I can only speculate that their skin is thinner than waterfowl and would dry out faster. Finally another vote for Hank Shaw and the info he has available

 

[willfrye027]

Never tried to hang them that long but I’ll have to give it a shot.

upland birds I usually sit in the fridge for 24hrs

waterfowl I hang 24-48 hours

the biggest difference for me is the tenderness of the meat. The birds are absolutely Devine after 24 hours. The ducks get very tender as well.

 

[See_Bennie_Point]

So I plucked one rooster in the field and skinned the other. The plucked one I let "age" in the fridge and it definitely dried out the skin, so won't be doing that again.

 

[See_Bennie_Point]

Have not cooked them yet to see a flavor difference. The skinned one went into a brine for 24'ish hours then was quartered and vacuum sealed (gonna make soup later) and the plucked was frozen whole for roasting down the road.

 

[Tbuckus]

I age upland and waterfowl at least 3 days to a week, mainly depending on my work schedule.
laying them on the garage floor works great. if we are out camping, i just make sure they are breast side up.
Ive never had an issue with meat going bad. I do not do a thorough assessment to see if they are gut shot. If they are shot up really bad I just clean them immediately and bag the meat.

 

[Tbuckus]

forgot to mention that the big thing I notice is the meat is more tender. Flavor for me is still undetermined for upland.
I did have an awesome dry aged duck breast once, but it took work. I think it may be Hank Shaws recipe or some other known game chef.
I aged mallards for 3 days. I then plucked the breast, removed and rinsed breast. Set them on a wire rack in a baking pan. Covered the top with cheese cloth to allow some air flow. I did that for 7 days. The skin was dryer but not dried out.
I then cooked it in a pan medium rare. Wow! It was like eating a steak. Tender with minimal waterfowl flavor. My wife couldn’t believe it was duck when I cooked the rest for her. She will eat waterfowl, but doesn’t care for it. She hates cooking so she never complains about what I cook.

 

[wyojdubya]

How to Hang Pheasants and Other Game Birds

The science behind hanging upland game birds.

honest-food.net

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This for upland and waterfowl, but not if gut shot.

 

[ptwysocki]

late to the game here. I had your exact concerns. But then a gastro surgeon told me he always hangs his birds, so I figured it was OK!

I err on the colder side. Anything above 50 and I wont do it. But if you just neck hand them for 3-4 days in 40-50 deg weather, Im here to tell you, you'll never go back. Last season I did a "side by side" taste test and everyone that ate with us favored the "hung" bird. I also find it makes them a lot easier to skin strip and clean. Albeit I admit I really only deal with the breast meat.

It makes it much more tender...flavor profile change wasnt nearly as noticable as the tenderness