Why Age Beef?

I have the pleasure (almost indecent) of serving dry aged beef at The Wilton Food Company. In our open kitchen dining environment, I watch as people roll their eyes, pound their fists, and moan as they pop morsel after juicy morsel of succulent dry aged steak onto their mouths. People often comment that my steaks rival those of their favorite steakhouse, and say they can’t recall the last time they had a steak so good. Inevitably the question of how I procure such luscious meat. arises. My answer: ‘dry aging’. Dry aging is a process which naturally creates a tender, tastier cut of meat . A dry aged steak is firm, yet delicate at the same time, with a nutty, robust, richly beefy flavor, thought by many to be superior to other beef.

Unfortunately dry aging causes a dramatic loss of weight (as much as 15-20%) due to shrinkage and trimming, as well as tying up valuable refrigerator space. This makes it more expensive, causing some people to forgo the process.

Forty years ago, most of America’s beef was dry aged. Then, in the early 1960’s the process of vacuum packing beef became the norm for most processors. The process of “wet aging” the beef in cryovac bags had the advantage of not losing any of the weight of the beef that dry aging incurred. Wet aging in plastic was much more cost effective for processors and sadly the altering of the consumers’ taste buds began to occur.

During dry aging, several things happen. Most importantly, the naturally occurring enzymes begin to act upon the meat, first breaking down some of the proteins into more flavorful amino acids. Second, these enzymes act on the muscle tissue, causing it to lose some of its rigidity, creating a more delicate steak. Lastly, juices which would otherwise be lost are reabsorbed into the meat, concentrating the flavor and tenderizing the steaks. The advantages of superior flavor and texture far outweigh the minor amount of extra work and time involved (or cost for that matter).

In our hectic, fast paced lives, maybe we are so busy and preoccupied with convenience and cost, we overlook the value of something exceptional. Maybe we don’t have the time to appreciate it anyway, which is a pity. But if you ever find yourself toying with the notion of sitting down to an outstanding piece of beef, take the time and a few extra dollars and enjoy a gorgeous cut of dry aged beef.