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//BEEF AGING
 Why
is meat aged? How is meat aged? What does the aging do to meat? Can all
meat be
aged? These are just a few of the questions I hear quite often. On this
page you
will find the answers to all these questions.
Why
is meat aged?
Beef
and venison are aged for two main reasons. The first is to make the
meat tender.
The second reason is to enhance the flavor. During the aging process
moisture
evaporates from the muscle creating a concentration of flavor.
How
is beef aged?
Beef
and venison is aged in one of two ways. One way and the best way is to
age meat
with what is called dry
aging.
Dry aging is the process by which
the beef is stored in a cooler at a specific temperature between 0
Celsius to 2
Celsius, (32F to 35F), from 7 to 28 days. In this process the beef
hangs split
in two halves or whole quarters and always with the bone in, to avoid
dry out
and excessive weight loss. Dry aging is done in a controlled
environment by professionals and is NOT recommended for home meat
processors or hunters that have no access to a professioanl meat locker
designed for that purpose.
Another way to age beef and venison is called wet
aging.
The
difference here is that the meat can be normal processed and even cut
to
steaks, if desired, and then it is vacuum packed. This process of aging
meat is
much faster and without any loss of weight due to dry out and spoiled
outer
layer of meat. However, wet aging will not increase the flavor
of the meat
that many people, including me, desire. The reason for this is that the
humidity does not evaporate from the muscle and thus there is no
concentration
of flavor molecules.
What
does the aging do to
meat?
Aging
does two things to meat. One aspect I just described above, the
moisture
evaporating increasing flavor, so we skip that and move to the second
part,
which is tenderizing the meat. How does that happen? Well, as the meat
hangs or
is vacuum packed and stored for some time a change happens in form of
enzymes,
which multiply and begin to break down the fibrous tissue. Depending at
the age
of the animals, how they have been feed and how tender the meat is
desired
these enzymes are going to be busy between 7 to 28 days. Any longer
then that
and the enzymes are beginning to die off turning in to bad bacteria and
meat
rot sets in.
Can
all meat be aged?
As
a rule it is best only to age beef and wild game such as deer, elk,
buffalo and
moose. Do not age any pork or hog and sheep or goat meat. Why not?
Sheep and
goat develop too much flavoring giving the meat even more "mutton
taste" which many people not appreciate. Pork has an acid that turns
sour,
giving pork a distinct sour taste. The beef recommended to age comes
from
healthy animals with a good layer of fat. DO NOT age beef from
emergency
slaughtering. Fat on beef and wild game is good because it serves as a
moisture
barrier, meaning it prevents that the meat dries out and thus there
will not be
so much meat to waist. For my money I rather cut of spoiled fat then
spoiled
meat.
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