Optimal time to let a carcass hang

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Yeah, I am on the 21 days too... but it is hard with our jerseys as they just don't get as much fat cover.... they marble good so usually get 14-17 days for a hang....
 
Yesterday I found a really good video that someone had posted here on CT. I want to say it was Lannie that posted it ? I have been back tracking through post that I was reading trying to find it but haven't been able to find it again. The video was of a couple of butchers comparing grass fed verses grain fed beef cuts of meat. But they also talked about the reason for and how long to let beef hang. It's a good video, alot of good information in it.

The butchers in the video looked like brothers. They both had long beards, and had some kind of rub called black rub to season meat for bbq grilling.

So i was able to find several of their videos by googling Black butchers grain fed verses grass fed videos.

If I knew how i would post thoes videos in our but check butchers forum. Maybe whoever posted the video to begin with could transfer it to the butchers forum if the see this post.
 
It is hard to get a processor here to let one hang for 21 days, they just don't have the cooler space.

According to a butchers video I watched yesterday 21 days isn't always best in some cases. Wish I knew how to find that video again or how to tell you where to find it so you could watch it.
 
The last I got was only hung for 7 days. Animals was grazed intensively its whole life. Was very tender, but bloody.

I dont like the blood in that it had.

14 days is my minimum.
 
Shouldn't be any blood left in the carcass after hanging. You sure it wasn't hemoglobin?
 
Probably hemoglobin, but even then it wouldn't have anything to do with hang time. I've never had a processor hang for more than a week, they just don't have the space. Even the last one that I did myself only hung for about 8 days because of a change in weather. I'm sure another week or so would have made it a hair better, but there's nothing wrong with the way it turned out.
 
14 days. A little less if you grind it all.
Wouldn't 4 days be enough if it's all being ground for hamburger?
The longer it hangs, the fewer take home pounds.

1 butcher told me he considers 14 days ideal.
Another butcher said after 10 days carcass gets slimey with too much loss and
he processes most steers with a 8-9 day hang.

3rd butcher with a small freezer and a lot of business, charges freezer storage
by the day and said most of his customers choose a 7-8 day hang.
 
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Wouldn't 4 days be enough if it's all being ground for hamburger?
The longer it hangs, the fewer take home pounds.

1 butcher told me he considers 14 days ideal.
Another butcher said after 10 days carcass gets slimey with too much loss and
he processes most steers with a 8-9 day hang.

3rd butcher with a small freezer and a lot of business, charges freezer storage
by the day and said most of his customers choose a 7-8 day hang.
Yeah, 4 days should be fine to grind. Our butcher does 5 days on whole grind cattle. I think it's more of a scheduling thing. They like to kill on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The cattle killed on Wednesdays get ground on the following Monday.
4-6 days hanging should be drained good for grinding.

I have relatives that kill on Saturday and cut & wrap on Sunday. I don't eat at their house.
 
The optimal hang time depends on what your goals and plans are for the carcass and, if you're selling the meat, how you are marketing it. Of course, you need to have a butcher/processor who is on board with your plans and has the cooler space to accommodate your wishes. My butcher typically lets a carcass hang 10 to 14 days if they have the space. It's usually a minimum of 10 days. If they are busy, which most everyone is these days, it's cut on that 10th day. He says after 14 days you really start to lose a lot of shrink and you're costing yourself yield. The best beef I have eaten that I raised was from a carcass from 2 or 3 years ago and it hung for 11 days. Yummy!
 

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