DRY AGED BEEF

Why Dry Aged Beef?

So what makes dry aged beef different, and how is it done? Let’s start with what sets dry aged beef apart from unaged beef. There are two major elements that are affected in dry aging beef – the tenderness and the flavour.

If you look at dry aging from a scientific perspective, you can think of it as a controlled decay process. When done in a monitored environment, introducing the beef primals to the air allows the occurrence of natural enzymes that slowly begin to break down the molecular bonds of the meat. As these bonds are slowly broken, the end result becomes more tender.

Now, the next question you’re probably asking yourself is ‘So the longer dry aged the better?’ Not necessarily. In a properly controlled dry aging environment, you could in fact take a primal out of 100, 150, even 200 days. However, the noticeable tenderness of the dry aged steak at 200 days will not be tremendously different than that same steak dry aged 100 days, or even 45 days. What is going to be hugely different is the flavour.