Dry Aging?
09-08-2003, 09:03 PM
#2
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Gunnison CO USA
Posts: 197
RE: Dry Aging?
Anyone know a butcher that would be willing to share the process in exchange for some prime game? I' m serious. This works so well for Beef, I shudder at the possibilities for Elk and Deer.
09-09-2003, 06:58 PM
#3
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location:
Posts: 86
RE: Dry Aging?
BM I checked with my Butcher a long time ago on this very subject and this is what he told be and wrote out for me: First thing he stated was " aging meat at home is not recommended" He also stated that Wet Aging is better and the meat keeps longer.
Dry aging is very expensive and takes a long time. Meat in hung in a very clean, temperature and jumidity controlled cooler for a period of two to four weeks. Moisture is lost from the outer parts of the carcass and the crust which is formed must be trimmed off and discarded.
Wet aging the the meat and juices are vacuum packed in plastic. the meat absorbs more moisture which results in an increase in juiciness and tenderness. Dry aging in much less costly and gives a much longer shelf-life.
Hope this helps a little...
Dry aging is very expensive and takes a long time. Meat in hung in a very clean, temperature and jumidity controlled cooler for a period of two to four weeks. Moisture is lost from the outer parts of the carcass and the crust which is formed must be trimmed off and discarded.
Wet aging the the meat and juices are vacuum packed in plastic. the meat absorbs more moisture which results in an increase in juiciness and tenderness. Dry aging in much less costly and gives a much longer shelf-life.
Hope this helps a little...
09-10-2003, 06:56 AM
#4
Dominant Buck
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ramsey , Indiana
Posts: 22,545
RE: Dry Aging?
I read an article in the local rag not long ago about dry aging , and it confirms much of what Bauer posted . It profiled a local high end butcher who supplies gourmet(in Louisville?) restaurants with dry aged beef . The fella explained that it promotes a more intense flavor in the beef , but a weight loss of 25% can be expected .
The technique is primarily used by butchers supplying prime beef , which you' ll never find in your grocery store since nearly all prime is snatched up by restaurants .
The technique is primarily used by butchers supplying prime beef , which you' ll never find in your grocery store since nearly all prime is snatched up by restaurants .
09-10-2003, 12:27 PM
#6
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Havre de Grace MD USA
Posts: 703
RE: Dry Aging?
Once upon a time you could go to your corner butcher and buy an aged USDA prime cut of beef. If you have had a good, aged steak, you know it is more tender and flavorful than what you typically buy in the store. The reason for this is that aging allows natural enzymes to breakdown the hard connective tissue in meats and for water to evaporate away concentrating the flavor.
The old method of aging meat in known as dry aging. Dry aging is done by hanging meat in a controlled, closely watched, refrigerated environment. The temperature needs to stay between 36oF and freezing. Too warm and the meat will spoil, too cold and it will freeze, stopping the aging process. You also need a humidity of about 85% to reduce water loss and to control bacteria and you need a constant flow of air all around the meat, which means it need to be hanging in a ventilated space. The last and most important ingredient in this process is an experienced butcher to keep a close eye on the aging meat.
There are many reasons that butchers don’t typically age meat these days. First of all the cost of aged beef can be very high. Because of the weight loss of aged beef, the price per pound can be pretty outrageous. If you add in the time, storage space, refrigeration, labor that price just keeps moving up. For aging to properly improve the quality of a cut of meat, it should contain substantial marbling. This means that there is fat evenly distributed throughout the meat. Only the highest grades have this kind of marbling and make aging worthwhile.
Because of the high price and the space necessary to age meat, dry aging has become very rare. Actually only a few of the finest restaurants buy aged beef. Many in fact, have taken to aging their own beef.
The less expensive alternative to dry aging is called wet aging. Meat is shipped from packing plants to butchers in vacuum packaging. Butchers can set this packed meat aside in their refrigerators and allow them to age. Since the meat is packed in it’s own juices the enzymes will breakdown the connective tissues and make it more tender. However, because there will be no fluid loss the concentration of flavor that you get from dry aging won’t happen.
So why not save yourself some money, and age your own beef? Take that vacuum packed primal cut (from which market cuts are taken) from the butcher and put it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and you’ll have a really tender piece of meat, right? No. Aging needs to be done and precise temperatures under controlled circumstances. The average family refrigerator just doesn’t have what it takes to properly age beef. It is very easy to get a good colony of bacteria going in that meat during the couple of weeks it takes to age a piece of beef.
Worse still is this recipe for a trip to the hospital that’s been floating around the Internet. Take you prime or choice steaks, unwrap them, rinse with cold water, wrap in a clean kitchen towel and place on the coldest shelf of your refrigerator. Every day for 2 weeks take the steaks out and change the towel. At this point you are promised a fantastic steak, provided you live though the digestive process after eating it.
The old method of aging meat in known as dry aging. Dry aging is done by hanging meat in a controlled, closely watched, refrigerated environment. The temperature needs to stay between 36oF and freezing. Too warm and the meat will spoil, too cold and it will freeze, stopping the aging process. You also need a humidity of about 85% to reduce water loss and to control bacteria and you need a constant flow of air all around the meat, which means it need to be hanging in a ventilated space. The last and most important ingredient in this process is an experienced butcher to keep a close eye on the aging meat.
There are many reasons that butchers don’t typically age meat these days. First of all the cost of aged beef can be very high. Because of the weight loss of aged beef, the price per pound can be pretty outrageous. If you add in the time, storage space, refrigeration, labor that price just keeps moving up. For aging to properly improve the quality of a cut of meat, it should contain substantial marbling. This means that there is fat evenly distributed throughout the meat. Only the highest grades have this kind of marbling and make aging worthwhile.
Because of the high price and the space necessary to age meat, dry aging has become very rare. Actually only a few of the finest restaurants buy aged beef. Many in fact, have taken to aging their own beef.
The less expensive alternative to dry aging is called wet aging. Meat is shipped from packing plants to butchers in vacuum packaging. Butchers can set this packed meat aside in their refrigerators and allow them to age. Since the meat is packed in it’s own juices the enzymes will breakdown the connective tissues and make it more tender. However, because there will be no fluid loss the concentration of flavor that you get from dry aging won’t happen.
So why not save yourself some money, and age your own beef? Take that vacuum packed primal cut (from which market cuts are taken) from the butcher and put it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and you’ll have a really tender piece of meat, right? No. Aging needs to be done and precise temperatures under controlled circumstances. The average family refrigerator just doesn’t have what it takes to properly age beef. It is very easy to get a good colony of bacteria going in that meat during the couple of weeks it takes to age a piece of beef.
Worse still is this recipe for a trip to the hospital that’s been floating around the Internet. Take you prime or choice steaks, unwrap them, rinse with cold water, wrap in a clean kitchen towel and place on the coldest shelf of your refrigerator. Every day for 2 weeks take the steaks out and change the towel. At this point you are promised a fantastic steak, provided you live though the digestive process after eating it.
09-15-2003, 08:11 PM
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NYC NY USA
Posts: 498
RE: Dry Aging?
Worse still is this recipe for a trip to the hospital that’s been floating around the Internet. Take you prime or choice steaks, unwrap them, rinse with cold water, wrap in a clean kitchen towel and place on the coldest shelf of your refrigerator. Every day for 2 weeks take the steaks out and change the towel. At this point you are promised a fantastic steak, provided you live though the digestive process after eating it.
I' ve aged deer at home for several years, with modified versions of the dry and wet styles. I have tried aging for two weeks, etc. and didn' t like the result. I have found that it is possible to get a good deal of the enzyme breakdown by aging deer not for two weeks, but for only one week (in actuality 7-10 days). My venison tastes very good as a result. I do watch the temp closely. If the temp is freezing, I hang deer outside in a shed with the hide on, controlling the temp with small heating devices. I keep the temp at 35F or so for the aging duration and the results are extraordinary.
If aging in my fridge, I put all meat in the fridge uncovered for several hours to make sure it is cool through and through. Then I wrap the cuts and let them age for a week before freezing. This approach does not work as well as the approach above, but I find it works better than simply freezing right away.
