At Steak Locker we want everyone to experience the delicious taste, texture and tenderness that comes with dry aging. You might have heard of dry aging and found yourself wondering, ‘what is dry aging?’.
The dry age process involves placing beef (or other meats) in a temperature-controlled environment for anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months. After this it is then trimmed and cut into steaks. During the dry aging process naturally occurring chemical changes, including bacterial, enzymatic breakdown, and oxidation take place. This causes the meat to become more tender and flavorful. The dry age process allows the beef to develop three distinct enhancements that creates value and excellence.
What is dry aging tenderness?
The enzymes that are naturally present in the meat will break down the tougher muscle fibers and connective tissue resulting in a very tender piece of meat. A well-aged steak is known to be significantly more tender than a fresh steak because the concentration of myoglobin adds to the mouthfeel.
What is dry aging flavor?
The enhancement of dry aging creates numerous bacterial and enzymatic processes that make the meat more flavorful. Properly dry-aged meat will develop beefy, nutty, and almost cheese-like aromas. The moisture loss caused by dry aging also adds to this enhancement throughout this process. A dry-aged piece of beef can lose a third of its initial volume in water loss, which concentrates its flavor. Most of this moisture loss occurs in the outer layer of the meat called the pellicle. This is trimmed off after the drying process and prior cooking. Though it may weigh less after the drying process than wet-aged beef the result is a premium cut of meat that is rich in flavor and unmatched in tenderness.
Proper Conditions for Dry-Aging Beef
The conditions necessary for dry-aging sub-primal cuts of beef require the spacious Steak Locker refrigeration which is a specially designed dry age fridge. The temperature within the Steak Locker can be monitored and carefully controlled which prevents the risk of spoilage maximizing your results. Dry-aged beef is typically only found in specialty steak houses and butcher shops but is easily achievable with any of our dry age fridges. Our companion iOs Smart App allows for you to track your cuts over time, monitor current temperature and humidity in real time and get notifications to protect your investments.