Thread: Tough Backstrap - help...

Shot our first Sika (hind) recently and took off the backstraps, both back legs and one front leg. Put the meat in the meat safe at the hut within an hour of shooting. We left the meat in the game bag in the safe. That afternoon we boned out the legs into muscle groups and put the meat back in the safe (in the meat bags).

When we got home the next day we hung each piece of meat in our old fridge for 8 days. I checked the meat every day to make sure it wasn't smelling bad and it wasn't.

After the 8 days we noticed the meat had a dry outer layer but still moist in the middle when I cut some into steaks.

I have now frozen most on the meat but had the backstrap tonight for dinner. I noticed the backstrap was quite dry after having in the fridge for a week. I popped in a marinade (Olive oil, Balsamic, Maple Syrup, Garlic and Ginger) for 24hrs hoping to get some moisture back into it. I cooked it on the BBQ medium rare, let it rest for 10mins and then sliced it up. We found that it was quite tough and chewy - not tender like people describe backstrap to be...

What did I do wrong?

Please assist us so we to the right thing next time.