Aging Beef

MasterBlaster

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Is anyone here an expert? I'm trying to educate myself online, but I don't wanna kill myself. I only buy the marked down, out of date meat cuz it's the BEST. I just like how I after a week or so in the fridge, it turns out tender and tasty as a mofo... I wanna learn!

Stephen, maybe???
 
Enzymes break down the muscle tissues making it more tender. As the meat dries a tad, it constricts making the flavour more concentrated.
Dry aging takes longer where wet aging takes less time. Dry aging is best though. Sort of like hanging a side of beef in near freezing temps or a deer or goat in an old refrigerator for a week or two right after you butcher it.
 
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  • #4
I have 1.5 pounds of marked down THICK NT Strip that I wanna prepare PERFECTLY.
 
I always think in larger sizes. :lol:

If it was marked down, it's probably a week old already aside from previous aging and packaging. Few more days uncovered would do it probably.
I would want the juice off it at this point.
 
I would skip the towel and expose to the air. Good air flow around it. Maybe place the meat in a strainer over a bowl for drippings. Or hang it from a rack over something to catch the drips.
 
Well, probably seven days in the store as cut. If the order came in unfrozen in cryovac bags, it aged in that as well prior to being cut and packaged. They often freeze large amounts in cases though. Depending on the grade of meat, prime, select etc... it was aged before that. They really don't age the beef that goes to grocery as well/long as they used to it seems.
So an additional 4-5 days should be ok.
 
Let me add this boss. That piece of meat is a steak already cut. That means that it has been handled several times and processed as such since butchered. The more process it goes through, the less shelf life it will have. Each time it is handled, it is contaminated by the environment. If you had bought a whole NY strip and decided to age that, you could probably store it wet for almost a month in the cryovac (depending), or hang it and age it for at least a couple weeks. Again depending upon conditions that it contacted from each point of processing. Transporting meat can easily take life off the shelf if a refer unit dies along the way. Seen that happen.. See that with ice cream all the time these days. But no one ever talks about what condition the meat was when it arrived. Hey lettuce, just peel back the slimy stuff and sell it as discount...
Variables one might consider.
 
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  • #15
The piece looks/smells pristine and I rinsed the hell outta it before placing it in an uncovered tupperware container, in the coldest part of my fridge.
 
Dry ageing is the best way of improving flavour and tenderness, but you can't dry age small pieces of meat, you need a whole side or quarter really.

Wet ageing will improve tenderness but won't change flavour much.

All ageing is essentially the start of the decay process, as enzymes start to break down the meat, so care must be taken to avoid food poisoning.

http://bbq.about.com/cs/beef/a/aa030301a_2.htm

Fwiw I buy beef that is hung for 21 days by the butcher. Not cheap but I would rather have one really nice roast a month than a crappy burger every day. A single rib eye steak would be around $18, not that I ever buy them. I usually buy shin, skirt, or if I really want to splash out a whole fore rib.
 
http://bbq.about.com/cs/beef/a/aa030301a_2.htm

Fwiw I buy beef that is hung for 21 days by the butcher.
For some reason 21 days has always been the standard .I remember as a teenager seeing beef hung with cheese cloth cover it while it aged in a cooler .

I don't that much about the actual aging but I was 7th in the state of Ohio in the FFA meat judging contest as a sophmore in high school .Whew that was long time ago .
 
When I take him a deer, I tell my processor to let it hang as long as he likes, that I'm in no hurry. I know folks who immediately wrap hind quarters in plastic and freeze them, then cut them up when ready to cook...the aged is DEFINITELY more tender.
 
I would hang my Moose and Caribou for 2-3 weeks at around 35 degrees. Usually a black fuzzy rind would develop. The meat was so tender. The little deer I get here, I will hang for 7-10 days. You lose a bit of meat due to trimming of the rind, but it is well worth it.
 
I just about grew up eating venison .Those Colorado muleys were probabley hanging at least a week before we cut them up .The meat was tender but sage brush and pine needle fed mule deer bucks are a tad "gamey " .

I've had of course plenty of venison,antelope and elk ,buffalo .Never had moose but they claim it's quite tasty .
 
Moose is very good. I've had moose, elk, mulie, whitetail, pronghorn, caribou, black bear, bison, and most small game birds and animals. I would say that elk is my favorite by far. I wonder how it would taste aged. Probably incredible.
 
We practically live off deer (venison), but I've tried elk and antelope, and while both were good, the elk was by far better, as the antelope had a rather strong flavor.
 
I recall Elk sausages being very tasty, the meat mixed with pork. Excellent with eggs for breakfast. Wish I had some now.
 
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