Taking your home-cooked beef to steakhouse quality is no easy task. According to chefs restaurant steaks taste better due to several factors such as better heat sources quality ingredients and of course preparation skills. However that doesn’t mean it’s not worth improving your beef with an excellent technique namely dry aging. By letting steak rest in a specific climate environment the flavor intensifies new savory notes develop and the cut becomes more tender.
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 Certified Angus Beef ® | 2020-06-26 21:15:00 |  60,117 Views |
Top 5 Questions About Dry Age
To reach its full potential the process takes at least two weeks and it can be difficult to know when the beef is done. You must use your senses carefully watching for a darkening color of a rind and a reduction in size of up to a third. Be on the lookout for rotten odors; if they are present the beef is not safe to eat. The same goes for dark-colored mold although small amounts of light-colored mold are permissible. But it really is best to rely on a well-developed dry-aging system backed by a daily counter. Keep careful track of the resting time of your beef and you will be able to predict its condition best.
The process of dry aging is a complex undertaking that slowly but steadily transforms beef. Determining readiness by external inspection is tricky keep an eye on the day counter. When dry aging is done properly there is a large window in which the meat is good to eat.
Tenderizing effects occur after two weeks which is the absolute minimum time worth allowing. Then after 21 days the first visual distinction occurs; the fat darkens and the meat shrinks by about 10%. However the flavors really come into their own after a month which is considered an optimal aging time. At this point the steak loses 15% of its weight and really starts to develop a rich savory palate reminiscent of mushrooms. The funkiness becomes more pronounced the nuttiness increases and blue-cheese notes appear around the 45-day mark. After this point the bacteria-induced flavors can be off-putting to some diners due to their funky pungency (the pungent cheesiness intensifies over time) and the steak will shrink in weight by about 30%. Although the rind can turn almost black as it ages a butchered ready-to-cook dry-aged steak may not appear as deep red as its wet-aged counterpart.
