What is Dry Aging?

I pass a popular restaurant down on Penn Ave here is DC and they have racks of beef in the window dry aging. What exactly is this and why do it? Why doesn't the beef spoil?

You expose it to cold dry air, enzyme processes inside the meat break down the collagen so it gets nice and tender.

It also loses water weight and first a "scab" forms and then a crust.

You can do this at home, but you need a spare fridge that nobody ever opens, the temp should be constant.

It is a little like the old philosophy of "hanging game" -- you get extra meaty flavors as a reward for waiting.

But you have some loss since you have to trim off the crust.

Wet aging is something I have never tried, the meat gets very tender but you don't have the same flavor enhancement.

It doesn't go bad because the germs mainly collect on the surface if there are any germs, and the drying out inhibits them.

Dry aging adds flavor to the beef and also make it more tender. It is a "drying" process so the meat loses some of it's weight from both the moisture reduction and the trimming. It therefore sells for a higher price per pound. Most restaurants purchase their beef (especially their steaks and rib roasts) in sealed plastic bags that if it has any aging at all it is wet aged. Most time this meat is or has been frozen.

When I was in the restaurant business in the 1980's we purchased loins that were dry aged a minimum of 21 days. We then cut them ourselves. At that time the wholesaler had only three customers for the dry aged loins in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. The flavor was outstanding and appreciated by the discerning customer. Unfortunately this did not describe the typical customer.

If you ask around for a good butcher you can find dry aged steaks.

It is worth the effort but they CAN be expensive. In Manhattan the best dry aged beef sold for prices pushing $30 per pound last time I looked.

Then there is Brian Flannery if you want to buy online...

Thank you both. I know I've had dry aged steaks and now that I know more, I'll have to have them again. Thanks, too, for reminding me of Brian Flannery and buying online.

You can do this at home, but you need a spare fridge that nobody ever opens, the temp should be constant.

I've done it in a regular fridge and it still works well. Even just 3-4 days on a rack wrapped in regularly changed towels makes a noticeable difference in texture and flavor.

When Gene and I were first married and began to build our family life, we started buying 1/4 of a beef at a locally owned meat market. Gene, a former owner of a meat locker, and meat cutter, himself. knew all about dry aging beef and as far as I know, the beef was always aged then, (47 years ago) and for as long as our children were at home, we bought from the same meat market. I have not seen that good dark red meat in a very long time. We still buy from a locally owned meat market, a different one, and the next time I am there, I am going to ask if they dry age. I know Gene used to ask for a 10 to 14 day aging on our meat and I think he had bull meat added to our hamburger. I had actually forgotten about the dry aging until I saw this post. Can you still have bull meat added to hamburger?

When Gene and I were first married and began to build our family life, we started buying 1/4 of a beef at a locally owned meat market. Gene, a former owner of a meat locker, and meat cutter, himself. knew all about dry aging beef and as far as I know, the beef was always aged then, (47 years ago) and for as long as our children were at home, we bought from the same meat market. I have not seen that good dark red meat in a very long time. We still buy from a locally owned meat market, a different one, and the next time I am there, I am going to ask if they dry age. I know Gene used to ask for a 10 to 14 day aging on our meat and I think he had bull meat added to our hamburger. I had actually forgotten about the dry aging until I saw this post. Can you still have bull meat added to hamburger?

I know in the 1950's-80's we always had our side of beef from the farm that were processed at the locker aged 14 days. However I read in the 1970's In the Rodale Press book Stocking Up that a university had done test that showed that at least in the case of normal aged meat (14 DAYS) if you were going to keep it frozen for a number of months it did not make any difference. I wonder in the case of really well dry aged beef what are the results of freezing and frozen storage?

To give you an idea on the progression. A whole standing rib roast primal that I did at home:

Trimmed of the funk:



Fabricated rib-eye steaks:

Nice shots!! Thanks for those.

Yes, thanks, Bill. Those are great pics!

I buy primal ribeyes at Costco and dry age them in my beer fridge. I use a dry bag that is made for the process, and the steaks are incredible. Here's a link, watch the video. -RP

http://drybagsteak.com/

Randy, Bill Tex knows more about this than I do -- but I have dry aged several chunks of prime beef from Costco with good results. I stopped doing that when Bill Tex said that he had seen tiny holes, meaning that the meat had been tenderized by piercing. The problem here is that there is an opportunity for bacteria to get to the INSIDE of the meat. The whole process of dry aging operates on the assumption that the beef is intact and the bacteria must be on the OUTSIDE only. Perhaps he will come back and explain this more, or someone could send a PM.

BTW the conventional wisdom is that it is not worthwhile to age beef that is not "prime" -- "choice" won't give nearly as satisfying a result. Part of the reason may be that the fat itself also changes flavor and with less marbling there is less of the fat to contribute to the change.

I've not noticed any holes but then again I never looked. If that was done there would be a very good potential for bacterial contamination. I'd like to know if they are tenderized before being cryovaced but I don't think the meat guys at Costco would know. -RP

[Jenise]

I've not noticed any holes but then again I never looked. If that was done there would be a very good potential for bacterial contamination. I'd like to know if they are tenderized before being cryovaced but I don't think the meat guys at Costco would know. -RP

So you're sayingit would come to them that way from the packing plant. It's a bit uncomfortable how many decisions about meat cut etc are being made now at the packing plant level, isn't it?

Yeah, but in this case I find it hard to believe the primals are tenderized, individual steaks maybe, but not primals. -RP

I have run into both strip loin and standing rib roast primals that have been run through a Jaccard tenderizer...in CryoVac. Other folks around the country have seen this as well, so it appears to be regional as Costco seems to source from several packing plants. I have also seen needle marks in flap, flank and top sirloin. The best way to see if the primal has been affected is to get the CryoVac bag and "bend" it where the fat cap is. The needle marks are more readily visible in the white fat as the juices fill them in. I would never attempt to dry age any primal that has been treated as such, as it is a serious recipe for bacterial contamination throughout the meat.

To the question of USDA Prime for dry aging...I have done both Prime and Choice with good results. The real concern is a good fat cap and that will protect the meat during the drying process. Once dry aging has been completed, the resulting steaks will have less water in the meat and will cook faster and dry out way faster. Prime gives you a bit of insurance by providing extra intramuscular fat that will help keep the steaks moist and juice. Of course if you go to well done, it matters not the grade or aging process involved.

[Jenise]

I buy primal ribeyes at Costco and dry age them in my beer fridge. I use a dry bag that is made for the process, and the steaks are incredible. Here's a link, watch the video. -RP

http://drybagsteak.com/

Randy, just checked out the site, thanks. Can you tell me what this vacuum bag system offers different from, say, using a FoodSaver...is it the bag material itself?