The process of smoking can be broken down into three stages and the first of these is the curing or brining which forms part of the drying process and it's also an opportunity for flavor enhancement. In the case of fish the message is always the fresher the fish the better but this is not always the case when it comes to preparing meat for smoking.
The issue with meat is that it has to age before the meat will be absorb salt. Beef must be hung for at least 10 days before it will absorb salt and preferably for longer. This can be an issue if you don't know and trust your butcher and certainly it's a big issue if you're planning to buy your meat in a supermarket. There is absolutely no guarantee about the length of time that supermarket meat has been hung other than not enough.
I know you're going to argue that meat is cheaper in the supermarket but there is a reason for that. Hanging meat is in effect a drying process so the longer meat is hung the drier it become and therefore the greater the weight loss. The hanging time is a cost to any butcher, space to do it, inventory etc. etc. so it's logical that a butcher is going to charge more and it's logical that a supermarket can charge less but frankly there's no argument when it comes to quality and flavor.
Ideally the beef should be aged in the carcass but this always isn't possible. One point to note however is that aged beef discolors to a brown – this doesn't mean that the beef is going rancid, it is exactly how it should be.
So for aging, fourteen days is about optimum and when it comes to game I like to do it a little less. Many will argue that game needs to be well hung if it's going to be full of flavor but I find that that an overly gamy taste conflicts with the smoky flavor.
On this basis I prefer my venison to have aged by only a week and game birds not to be aged at all although some would say two or three days.
What about frozen meat? Some argue vociferously against smoking any meat that has been frozen but I'm not so sure. To be fair I always like my meat fresh whenever possible but if frozen is the only option then feel free to try it.
Certainly the aging process must be completed before frozen and in the case of game the birds should be plucked and gutted. It's always a good idea to wrap any meat that is to be frozen for any period of time in aluminum foil or brown paper rather than polythene bags because this will prevent the meat from drying
