What is Dry Aged Beef?

Dry Aged Sides of Beef
Many of us have heard the phrase: Dry aged beef but do we know what that exactly means or entails? Dry aging beef has been done for centuries all over the world. The purpose for this is to allow the natural enzymes in the beef to break down the muscle tissue and slowly dehydrates the beef of some of its moisture. In return it will concentrate the flavor of the beef and make it tender. From the very beginning, you have to start with a great cut of beef to make it even worthwhile. Typically, you would use “Choice” or “Prime” graded beef; only 4% of all beef are Prime graded, because they will have the higher fat content. The grading determines the amount of fat marbling throughout  the beef;  the more the fat marbling the higher the grade.  When a side of beef hangs, it looses moisture and dries up, which in turn means that a lot more fat will have to be trimmed off.  Dry aging is done in a controlled environment, where the temperature is about 36° with a humidity of 85%. The beef is monitored by a trained eye for the duration of 10 to 30 days. As you can see that this process itself is an art, with a lot of factors to keep in mind before you can age any beef properly. This method of aging isn’t done as often as it use to be, mainly because the cost goes up every single day that it hangs.  So the next time your local butcher hands you that small package of steaks that you have purchased, take a second to think about how much work went into that small but delicious cut of meat that you will so much enjoy.

Try out some Dry aged Beef at B & E meats and seafood. http://www.bnemeats.com