One of the most common questions that we are asked is, “What is dry-aged beef”? We thought we’d take a minute to explain a few things. You see, most places don’t actually dry-age their own meat. First off, it’s expensive and incredibly time consuming (think about an entire 50 pound short loin taking up space for 40 days) and secondly, many places aren’t set up for it. So why, then, do we? Because it’s delicious and because we can. That’s why.
1. Let’s get scientific for a moment, shall we? Dry-aging requires meat to be kept at near freezing for the desired length of time (30 days, 40 days, 50 days) while the chemical breakdown occurs. Chemical breakdown? Yup, that’s right! The enzymes in the meat’s connective tissue begins to breakdown over time while moisture evaporates in the muscles. This is a winning combination that leaves you with an incredibly tender cut that has maximum beef flavor (with a hint of nuttiness). During this time, nearly a third or more of the sub-primal’s weight will be lost to evaporation. That’s where the expenses lie- between the loss of sellable product, the man hours to look after the product, and the cost of keeping it near freezing for over 30 days (or in our case upwards of 50… look for an announcement next week).
But, won’t meat spoil over time?
2. We are so glad you asked! The answer, plain and simple, is no. We dry-age whole sub-primals such as Ribeyes (it is both a steak and a sub-primal), Short Loins (where the tenderloin aka, “Filet mignon”, T-Bone, Porterhouse and Strip Steak reside), and Sirloins. The fat, called the “Fat Cap” that we leave on these sub-primals acts a protective barrier and is removed prior to us cutting individual steaks. Once the fat cap is removed, the meat inside is being exposed to air for the first time.
So why isn’t everyone aging meat at home?
3. You probably could, but why chance it? Leave that to us as we built our walk-in with dry-aging specifically in mind. We have high velocity fans that circulate the air and control both air flow and air movement. Typically, most walk-ins are kept around 38 or so degrees. We keep ours at a comfortable 34 (it’s pretty nice in the summer) which helps to move the aging process along. As you can see in the photo above, we have an entire dry-aging rack set up against one wall of the walk-in, directly across from the fans. There are 5 shelves where sub-primals are constantly rotated and are moved each week as we add to the collection. The top left hand corner is the oldest while the bottom right is the youngest.
Technically, you could dry-age beef for quite some time. We know of a few places that push it to 120 days, but we feel that the sweet spot is nestled right in between the 40 – 50 day range. Anything over 60 has a slightly cheesy-like flavor profile that some folks may find off-putting. Our dry-aged steaks are aged for a minimum of 30 days in order to really notice the affects of the process.
Should you have any further questions regarding the process feel free to ask!