>Dean Esmay writes:
>>I do
>>know that in centuries past one of the most popular ways to eat meat,
>>especially among the well-to-do, was to "hang" it, which basically meant
>>stringing the carcass up and hanging it from a roof and then letting it rot
>>for a few weeks

Most of the red meat you buy has already been hung - hanging is part of
normal processing.  Beef is usually hung  in a cooler for  5-7 days, lamb
for about 3 days and I'm not sure about pork - I think it's hung for 4-5
days.  Hanging allows the muscles to relax, thus providing more tender meat.
The time period is largely ditated by economics:  butchers want to move meat
in and out as fast as possible - a two-week hanging period for beef and
comparatively longer periods for lamb & pork would give the best flavour and
texture.  People regularly dropp by the farm to ask if we'll kill a lamb for
them and hang it for what they consider to be a proper period - at least ten
days.  These people (usually older Greek and Italian gentlemen) are so eager
to get "properly-hung" meat that they don't care that we don't have a cooler
- hanging it in our barn would be fine with them.  Luckily, the practice of
killing on-farm for customers is illegal:  it may be to some people's taste,
but I don't think it's very sanitary.

Chris

Note of interest:  I've noticed that our dogs never immediately eat what
they catch (bunnies, groundhogs, etc)  - they cache the body or bury it for
a week or two, then drag it out and have a feast.  Instinctive curing, I guess.