Dry-aging different meats in the same fridge

[JeuneKoq]

Have you guys experienced any problems with dry aging parts of different animals in the same fridge? Say I want to dry age some boar and some sheep, or some deer and some fish, or pheasant? Will the bacteria of one compromise the other?

And do you keep organs in the same fridge you dry age the muscle? Seems Sabertooth does it. I'll probably have a smaller fridge though, because we don't have space for a big one, and I'll probably won't eat that much meat.

[eveheart]

I have no objection to dry aging different meats in the same fridge, but I usually only buy one lamb at a time and perhaps a random whole muscle of beef (like the whole eye of round). I never dry age a muscle that has been cut into because I like the results with the outer membrane intact.

I do not age organ meats, but I might hang some organ meat for a few days while I eat a bit each day.

I don´t really enjoy muscle until it has been aged a week, and after about 6 weeks, it gets too tough and dry, so I limit my purchases to what will get finished in time. I have read that most of the dry-aging changes occur within the muscle structure of the meat, not on the surface, so I never considered external bacteria to be a major factor. (I could be totally wrong about this.)

Also, as you can see, I don´t go crazy with variety. What is sold as ¨game¨ here is ranch-raised, and my son hasn´t been hunting for a while.

[JeuneKoq]

Yeah, I heard it's only worth dry-aging large pieces of meat. I just couldn't picture hanging fish next to sheep, for eg. One's gonna smell and taste a bit like the other, right? Maybe land animals and fowl is ok... I just don't want to build a dry-aging fridge that's too large for the amount and variety of meat I'm allowed to put in.

[eveheart]

I don't dry age fish at all. It doesn't taste right to me when I age it in my fridge. I do eat Korean dried anchovies as a yummy snack.

My 18 cu.ft. refrigerator has the lower shelves and crisper bins removed. I keep fermented stuff and such on the top shelf and the meat hangs from the rack to the floor. My hanging-weight capacity is roughly 45 - 60 pounds. One of my main goals is to beat the high cost of good meat by going to the ranch and getting a whole animal or a large cut, so I set myself up to be able to store the meat. I don't like the texture of frozen-then-thawed meat.

[sabertooth]

As far as I know there hasn't been any cross contamination issues. I primarily have whole sheep hanging and will cycle in new sheep while still leaving parts of the old one on the top rack...sometimes I will hang other meats in the same fridge...Mainly spare beef parts and an occasional chicken as well. With chicken, fowl, or fish I would make sure that there is good air circulation and that it isn't directly touching the other meats.

My fridge is actually a freezer with an additional thermostat that allows me to adjust the temperature to the nearest degree. For larger animals which are to be hung for long periods of time I keep the temperature just above freezing, to keep the humidity down and prevent rotting.

If you cant get a fridge that is able to keep a low humidity then I suggest placing a small fan inside and keep constant air flow. This will help to dry the meat as it ages, and prevents the unpleasant types of slimy rot.

There are also a number of ways to dry age smaller pieces of meat. I have cut small quarter pound strips and hung it for a few days in the fridge, then let it sit out in a cool place hanging in front of a fan for a couple of days, and when its dry to the desired consistency.... eat it up yum!  As long as it relatively cool and their is constant airflow the meat will dry into jerky if left out long enough.