Meat maturation, or how to achieve the perfect taste. Meat aging for beef steak

Even a perfectly cooked steak at home, in terms of richness of taste and juiciness, loses to meat from steakhouses that has undergone the “dry ripening” procedure. So is it possible to reproduce this process at home?

dry aging technology

In dry aging technology, large cuts of meat are stored in an insulated, well-ventilated area for three weeks to four months. During this time, almost 30% of moisture evaporates from the meat. The upper layers dry out most of all, which are simply cut off, and a piece of meat can lose up to 50% of the mass. Under the influence of its own enzymes and bacteria, the meat fibers soften, it becomes more tender, the taste is rich, and the aroma is deep.

Experiment

But is “dry aging” the prerogative of only professionals, or can steaks be “aged” at home?

To answer this question, an experiment was conducted with six sliced and pre-frozen steaks from one batch. Following numerous recipes for home "ripening" of meat, steaks were ripened in a conventional refrigerator. They were taken out of the freezer in turn, thawed, wrapped in several layers of gauze (or paper towels) and sent to the refrigerator, where they spent 9, 7, 5, 2 and 1 days.

9 days after the start of the experiment, all the steaks were taken out of the refrigerator and compared. The difference in weight was negligible: the longest steak lost 7%, and the one-day steak lost 3%. At the same time, due to the evaporation of moisture, the more “aged” pieces have become thinner, their crust is denser, and the color is brighter.

Cooking

Not all steaks were allowed to the cooking stage: the piece that had lain in the refrigerator for 9 days simply deteriorated. One fresh steak was added to the remaining 4 steaks. All pieces of meat are fried in a pan. The difference in roasting seven-, five-, two-, one-day and freshly thawed steaks was reduced to the fact that the fresh steak browned worse than the others due to an excess of moisture. The final weighing after frying gave an even more interesting result: all the steaks began to weigh the same, that is, the excess moisture from the less aged steaks simply evaporated during the cooking process.

Tasting

The tasting of cooked steaks showed that there is also no significant difference between at least a little aged and fresh steak. The main difference was that the pieces that “ripened” for more than 5 days were tougher and acquired a specific (but not at all typical for “dry ripening”) musty aftertaste, having absorbed all the smells of the refrigerator at the same time. Such characteristics do not speak in favor of home "dry ripening".

Outcome

It is impossible to achieve the effect of properly ripened meat in your own refrigerator using the “dry ripening” technology. There is not enough ventilation in the refrigerator, the meat absorbs all foreign odors, including the smell of the refrigerator itself. But to give the meat a little "ripen" is still worth it. It is better to use larger pieces, given the future cutting of dried crusts. In a couple of days, the meat will not have time to deteriorate, but it will lose excess moisture and will be perfectly browned when roasted. However, as practice has shown, 8-12 hours may well be enough for this.

The recently brought up topic of trying to cook beef properly, as it should be on close examination, revealed additional nuances.

Many, like me, have probably heard something and somewhere about the ripening and aging of meat, but as it turned out, no one has a more or less complete understanding. On the Internet, by the way, there is also very little information, as it were.

Photo courtesy of turkeston

I don’t know why, but when it comes to aging or maturing meat, it usually means beef, especially since in English this is called the phrase “beef aging”, i.e. in translation - aging beef.

Meat autolysis
But it turns out, to be precise, from a scientific point of view, the processes occurring in the meat after the slaughter of an animal are called autolytic, and scientists study the autolysis of meat.

Autolysis - (from Auto... and Greek lýsis decomposition, decay), self-digestion of tissues of animals, plants and microorganisms.)

From what I was able to learn, one can unequivocally conclude that these processes are very complex and, apparently, have not yet been studied with absolute accuracy. Therefore, I did not focus on chemistry, but focused on more understandable, applied nuances. When you first look at autolysis, it becomes clear that it applies to absolutely any meat, even fish, and not just beef. Therefore, it is somewhat incorrect to speak only about the maturation of beef.

Autolysis of any meat is characterized by at least 3 main stages.

Steam meat. This meat is immediately after the slaughter of the animal. It is soft, elastic, characterized by good moisture content and moisture retention. True, as experts say, it has a less pronounced aroma and taste. Although mild when cooked. Shepherds told me that there is nothing better than steamed lamb skewers, no one marinates it, they only fry it with salt and pepper, stringing it on skewers while still warm. But fresh meat is not so long.

Depending on the type of animal, ambient temperature and other factors, after a while the meat enters the rigor mortis phase.
On average, it is believed that for rabbits and birds, rigor mortis at normal temperature occurs after 30 minutes, and at 0 0 C, it takes a little more time, about 4-6 hours. Cattle enter rigor mortis somewhat later, taking 10 to 24 hours to complete, depending on the temperature, size of the animals, nature of the food and living conditions, and even their mental state and other factors. It should be noted that stiffness of meat does not occur quite evenly in parts of the carcass.

Meat in a state of rigor mortis is the most uninteresting. It sharply increases rigidity and elasticity. Scientific evidence shows that shear stress and modulus of elasticity increase by as much as two times. For some reason, acidity, the so-called Ph, goes to the acid side, from 7 units to 5.5. Other changes are also observed. It is clear that the preparation of such meat will not give good results.
Analyzing current trends, we can conclude that very often we just eat meat in a state of rigor mortis or close to it. For example, a bull was slaughtered yesterday, and today they brought it to the market. And we just bought it today, in a day or even 12 hours, at the most "suitable" moment for rigor mortis, and ran to cook it.

But, thank God, after the onset of rigor mortis, the meat enters the next phase, the so-called resolution of rigor mortis or the maturation stage. This is where all the fun begins.

Meat maturation

Due to autolytic processes, meat undergoes metamorphoses, it becomes softer even than fresh meat, shear stress and modulus of elasticity from 100 units (fresh meat) decrease to almost 60, in addition, experts testify to positive changes in other organoleptic characteristics. In a word, the meat becomes simply magnificent.

But with the maturation of meat, everything is far from simple. Until now, there are no uniform criteria for assessing the degree of maturation. There is also no single recommended technology. Meanwhile, holding temperature and time are very important conditions. And also there are related problems, this is the development of microorganisms and the subsequent tendency of meat to spoilage, as well as the loss of moisture in the meat, the so-called shrinkage.

The higher the holding temperature, the faster the maturation occurs, but the higher the likelihood of meat spoilage, and accordingly the requirements for maintaining sterility increase. The lower the holding temperature, the longer it takes to mature, but the meat is less prone to spoilage.

It is worth noting that after a certain stage of maturation, the characteristics of the meat cease to change and further aging becomes meaningless, moreover, the meat enters the stage of deep autolysis, in simple terms, it begins to actively decompose with the release of certain odors, mucus, and so on.

In the old days, butchers were guided only by their sense of smell and tactile sensations. Apparently, they are guided by this even now, only by adding a little science.

There are several approaches to the maturation of meat.

Ancient methods prescribed keeping meat at temperatures close to 0 0 C, at a humidity of about 85% to reduce shrinkage, as well as with high ventilation of the premises to prevent the active development of microorganisms. It was recommended to constantly wipe the meat or wrap it in constantly changing shrouds of plain fabric. This is the so-called "dry" method, "dry aging".
Shrinkage up to 25% of the original weight was considered normal. Whole carcasses or rather large parts of the carcass were subjected to such aging. During maturation, they usually dried on the outside, covered with a film, which had to be removed when preparing the meat for cooking. At the same time, special incisions could be made on some carcasses to improve ventilation to prevent premature spoilage. It is clear that in this way it is extremely difficult to ripen individual steaks. Since the aging process required additional costs and threatened to lose the weight of the carcass by almost a quarter, only the most elite varieties of meat were subjected to such a procedure - well-fed carcasses of certain breeds, mainly Angus, specially fattened, with a lot of fat and marble veins. In this way, the meat could be aged for more than 25 days, up to a month.

Modern approaches are less conservative. So, it was found that at a temperature of 37 0 C, the ripening of meat occurs in just 4-5 hours. Therefore, now at industrial plants, meat can be subjected to electrical stimulation, as well as exposure to high-frequency currents with heating up to 39-40 0 C. In addition, it can be saturated with special solutions that accelerate aging. And to prevent the development of microorganisms, ultraviolet irradiation can be used, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the norm, for example, for hospital operating rooms and other places requiring sterility.

There are also other industrial approaches, the most common is called "wet" maturation, "wet aging". The meaning of the method is that the meat ripens already cut into portions and enclosed in vacuum packaging. In this form, it is little susceptible to spoilage, which allows it to withstand the time required for ripening.

Although there is an opinion that technologies that minimize the shrinkage of meat during its ripening do not allow to achieve a truly rich taste.

However, even conservative methods are subject to revision, for example, in one of the studies it was shown that increasing the temperature of meat ripening to + 4 0 C can reduce the maximum aging period to 16 days. That allows you to reduce the level of costs.

As an approximate reference value, it can be considered that the full maturation of beef is:
- at a temperature of 1-2 0 С 10-14 days
- at a temperature of 10-15 0 С 4-5 days
- At a temperature of 18 0 С 3 days

As for pork, I did not find exact data on the time required for ripening, some sources suggest that this time is comparable to the time indicated for beef, others, on the contrary, state that pork does not need long exposure and it needs no more than a day.
Regarding lamb, I, guided by my own experience, albeit not rich, still tend to believe that some exposure improves its quality.
At first, I made a reservation about fish, for most varieties of fish, aging is contraindicated due to the high probability of active bacterial growth, which, as it turns out, fish is very prone to.

Home maturing of meat.

As a rule, it is not recommended to engage in the maturation of meat at home. Since it is necessary to be sure of the sterility of not only your kitchen, but also the process of slaughtering and cutting the carcass into pieces. In addition, no one will guarantee that your nose and eyes will not fail. However, I came across the recommendations of one butcher about home ripening meat.
An uncut piece of beef meat, preferably a large one with outer films, must be thoroughly washed and dried. Then place on the coldest shelf of the refrigerator, wrapped in linen, a piece must be wiped several times a day and the wrapper changed to a new one. The old one must be carefully washed off the blood and dried, after which it will become suitable for subsequent use. This process continues for 16 days, after which you can cut into pieces and fry. If the meat is not eaten within 22 days, it is recommended to transfer it to the freezer and store it for no more than two months.

From myself, I’ll note, it’s probably permissible to ripen meat in the refrigerator, wrapping it in cling film, after thoroughly washing and drying it, some kind of vacuuming. By the way, I think that in two weeks even a fairly large piece can be eaten, and, as it were, the issue of freezing meat becomes less relevant.

It seems that everything, additions and clarifications from connoisseurs are not only desirable, but also probably mandatory.

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time. But this is not written quickly. My hands are still shaking because the topic is a bit "slippery". I will make a reservation right away. I will tell you the theory, my experience, and the experience of people who helped me a lot in writing this post. Further, each of you is responsible for your own health, and applies your common sense and intuition.
Because we will talk about the maturation of meat in general and the maturation of meat at home.

The formal part of the post

Let's start with theory, so let's turn to Mr. McGee and Peter (pachom), who kindly helped me write this post.
Like cheese and wine, meat becomes better when it is left for a certain period of time, during which there will be a gradual change in its chemical composition. Thanks to this, it becomes more tasty, fragrant and tender. In the 19th century, beef and lamb carcasses were stored for days or even weeks at room temperature until the outside rotted. The French called this "mortification", and the great chef of the time, Antonin Karem, said that this process should take as long as possible.

Today we prefer to eat less mortified flesh. In the USA (note of the author of the post: I think in Russia even more so), for the most part, meat ages insignificantly, only for a few days, during which the meat is delivered from the packing plant to the store. This period is sufficient for chicken, which lasts 1-2 days of aging, and for pork and lamb, which lasts a week (unsaturated fats in pork and poultry become rancid quickly enough). But in beef, the taste and texture can improve within a month. Especially when the whole unwrapped parts of the carcass are kept at a temperature of 1-3 ºС and air humidity of 70-80%.

Enzymes in action

Meat aging is due to muscle enzymes. After slaughter, the animal's body ceases to function. At this time, the enzymes present in the meat activate chemical processes that destroy muscle fibers, making the meat more tender and finally forming its flavor "bouquet". During the aging process (aging) of meat, which can last from 2 to 28 days, proteolytic enzymes (calpain, cathepsin, etc.) contained in meat slowly break down large molecules and turn proteins into amino acids, glycogen into glucose, and fats into aromatic fatty acids. All this contributes to the softening of the meat and the enrichment of its flavors, while the temperature and humidity inhibit the development of bacteria and mold, without interfering with the work of enzymes. Only very large pieces can be aged: whole carcasses, half carcasses, or, in extreme cases, quarters.

Aging has been the subject of lively debate in recent years. First, butchers and steak lovers discuss the type: dry or wet. Supporters of the dry method emphasize that wet aging only softens the meat, but does not affect its aroma, while dry aging makes the smell more expressive, accentuating shades similar to the smell of game.
Dry - the most ancient, takes place in a special refrigeration room, where special conditions are created in terms of temperature and ventilation humidity.

During aging, the meat is placed on shelves or hung.

The temperature is maintained at 2-4 degrees, humidity is maintained at 50-75%. Also a key success factor for aging meat is good air circulation, for which the room where the meat is aged must be equipped with good ventilation. During the aging process, excess moisture evaporates from the cut of meat, the fibers soften and fermentation begins. Thus, the meat becomes softer, and the taste is much more intense.
As the meat loses moisture during the aging process, it also shrinks in size. Let's calculate the time it takes to age the meat, all the overhead costs, which gives us a higher price for the final product.
The dry aging process is economically justified only with meat of the highest quality and marbling - this is if we are talking from the point of view of the restaurant business.

Wet aging is a more recent invention that involves wrapping meat in film, or vacuum packaging. During wet aging, the meat loses much less weight, since 70% of the meat is water, which, of course, evaporates during dry aging (weight loss during aging under film is about 5% versus almost 20% during normal hanging). In addition, during dry aging, a rather hard crust forms on the surface of the meat, which must be cut off before cutting, which further increases the loss. An additional inconvenience is that wet aging can take place in stages, first at the slaughterhouse, then at the butcher's, while dry aging must take place all the time in one place. Therefore, about 90% of the meat in the world is now kept wet.

Most of the meat that is served in steakhouses in Russia (eg Goodman) is wet aged. The meat is purchased in Australia, transported in a special vacuum package, practically in its own juice. This method, of course, is cheaper and more economical, since the exposure takes place during the transportation itself.

A similar, but at times accelerated process occurs when cooking meat. If the meat is quickly seared in a pan or blanched in boiling water to kill the germs on the surface, and then cooked slowly at low temperatures, such as in an oven, the enzymes in the meat will be very active for the first few hours until they break down. A piece of beef carcass weighing 23 kg, which is gradually brought to a temperature of 50-55 º C over 10 hours, turns out to be more tender than the same meat, cut into small portions and cooked in a "quick" way.

Main question - can we age steak meat at home? The answer is yes, if we stick to a few rules.

These rules were formulated by Peter. I will now voice them, with my additions.

1. Only the highest quality marbled meat should be aged. It is in such cuts of meat (I note that we are not talking about chopped steaks) that the fat on the outside prevents meat from spoiling during the aging process.

2. Buy a cut of striploin or ribeye - sold, for example, at the Metro Cash and Carry store. Already cut steaks usually do not undergo the aging process. Remove a piece of meat from the package, rinse, pat dry with paper towels.

3. Wrap the meat in the cleanest large cotton towel or cheesecloth and place on the lowest temperature shelf in the refrigerator. Preferably 0-3 º C. And it would be nice not just on the shelf, but on the grate. It is better not to put other products on this shelf during the entire aging process.

4. Change your towel every day, replacing wet towels with dry ones. Used towels can be washed and reused. At first, the meat must be carefully observed, perhaps even changing towels several times a day.

5. After reaching the desired aging time, cut off your steaks from the cut of meat, and continue to store the remaining piece in the refrigerator

6. After 21 days, uneaten meat is still desirable to eat or freeze.

The informal part of the post

So my experience:

Let's start with steaks. Yes, I certainly read that the steaks do not stand. But I'm a stubborn girl, so I decided to try anyway. I bought 2 ribeye steaks in the Metro, and kept them for a week.

Result: 1 steak was very dry, the other was dry on top. There was no mold. In general, it was possible to eat, but the juiciness of the dried steak was clearly not enough. The taste has improved markedly.
But, nevertheless, it is not worth aging steaks for more than 2 days.

All this is great, you say. Rib-eyes, striploins and other Australian bourgeois habits are yours. It is expensive, expensive for us to buy a piece of Australian cow for 3000-5000 rubles. Isn't it possible to make our native beef old?
You can age. I personally tried.

I bought a piece of a thick edge weighing 2 kg on the market. The total cost is 500 rubles.
I came home and the epic with gauze began. Even when I left for a week, specially trained relatives went to change the gauze. They even say that my usually calm and tenderly loving father-in-law threw a scandal on his wife. In short, he said that I was crazy, determined to poison the whole family. Oh well, I was away.

Yes, the meat did look suspicious. I understand him.

What bothered me the most was that on the cut it continued to be wet. So slightly (faint of heart do not read further) slimy. It smelled not to say appetizing, but not rotten either.

Here comes the 21st day. I courageously took the meat out of the refrigerator, armed myself with a sharp Japanese chef, and began to cut. Under the spoiled layer, I found absolutely ordinary, bright red, normal-smelling meat. Fresh, that is to say, meat. As if just from the store (from the market).

Having hung a piece, I found out that from two kilograms I had 700 grams left. Also consider the costal bones. They had to be cut off, because I don’t have that ax and strength, and besides, picking out spoiled pieces of meat from them would be too dreary.
It tasted like regular Russian beef. This is not Australia, not England, not Spain and the list goes on. But the meat was very tender. It's true. For the purity of the experience, I should have tasted this meat before ripening. But…….good thought comes after.

First, I cut off two small pieces and fried them. Sorry, the degree of roasting was absolute. I don’t know why, I didn’t have the courage to eat this meat with blood, or even medium roast. Here is the Australian meat that has already set you on edge, eat it, but our native could not.

The remaining piece I marinated in olive oil, soy sauce with chili flakes, ibmir and coriander. Again, with a good ribeye, I would not do this, so as not to clog its amazing taste, which no longer requires any words or actions. And there was nothing to score here, rather, there was something to embellish. When the unsuspecting husband came home, I “burned” the meat heated to room temperature in a grill pan from all sides, and in it I sent it to the oven preheated to 160 º C. Bake until completely cooked through. Why, read above.

What do you say? We had a good dinner with this very meat, a salad of juicy and sweet tomatoes with red onions, pickles with pimples, cilantro and goat feta. Washed down with dry red wine. But, this is not the same Australian meat from which you want to live up to 100 years and eat only it.

So don't expect miracles. I was also warned about this by a wonderful girl Rita, who has a stunningly interesting magazine. So Rita often ages meat.

Yesterday I sent her a personal email. I think our letters to each other will help you further clarify the picture. Rita does not consider herself a specialist, but she has much more experience than I do. And therefore I advise you to listen to it.

The most informal part of the post

Me: Rita, hi!
It's me again with my cows))
I finally got to the meat and its aging.
She did, and then reread our correspondence. I realized that I made several mistakes. I didn't put the meat on the grill. Changed gauze once a day.
I bought a thick edge weighing 2 kg.
And everything would be fine, but the meat on top all the time remained moist, a little slimy, it smelled normal. Today cut off, inside everything is beautiful. Fine. Even ate two pieces, still alive.
What do you think about this topic?
I have already ordered an Australian entrecote, I will try again, this time with a grill.
Can I send you a couple of pictures, tell me if I will live?
Now I will bake the remaining piece in the oven.

Rita: hello :)
Olya, you ask me like that, as if I were a major specialist. And I've never written anything like that about myself. So, sometimes I stand meat. We also have meat that is completely unsuitable for such manipulations with it. And personally, if I had the opportunity, I would buy seasoned and not bathe.
If the meat is from an animal of a special breed and fattening, then at 0-(+4) Celsius it will remain dry. And if standard fattening, then yes, it will be wet. And in such cases, I not only change the gauze once a day, but for the first 3-5 days I constantly watch the meat, wipe it dry and change the gauze 4.5 times a day. At first, the meat can be left without gauze for a while, so that it dries up and forms a crust. But don't overuse it. And when a crust has already formed on the meat, then you can change the gauze less often, after about a week you can even once a day.
Judging by your photos, you figured everything out well without help :)
And with Australian beef, I think it will be even easier.

Me: Rita, thanks for the reply! I would buy it too if it was on sale.
This was clearly my mistake (about gauze 5 times a day), and I forgot about the grate.
Mine was wet, you can't see it in the photo. And it scared me. Although the gauze itself, when I took it off, was almost dry. But we ate until everything is OK)) The taste was not impressive. But it was soft, yes.
And about breeds and fattening - these are your observations, or did you read where?
And another question: can a piece of 2 kg be dried, or should a piece be larger?
You may not be an expert, but I no longer found people in our livejournal doing this on a regular basis. So your help is invaluable to me!

Rita:
You just need to keep an eye on the meat, not to let it get wet at all, and it is desirable that the room is ventilated, and the temperature is appropriate, and in the refrigerator it is not only difficult, but troublesome to follow this. So I say that you need to rush with him like a fool with a mortar. This is the whole secret. Therefore, it is better to engage in aging in the fall, when it is possible to take the meat into the barn or onto the balcony. Well, as a result, ripe meat, which is not suitable for steaks a priori, by its nature. And the taste, of course, is not the same.
And my observations. But this is also intuitive. Meat of special fattening has a specific structure, it contains numerous fatty inclusions. And fat, it kind of "melts", and not "gets wet". As a result, a piece of meat with such a structure does not become wet, but floats with fat. It will quickly form a crust. And for such meat, compliance with the temperature regime and sufficient air circulation are more important than humidity parameters. This is if on the fingers :)
A piece, of course, would be nice if there was more. Then you will lose less when trimming.
You can just count. How much steaks do you want and how much do you want them to weigh, plus 15-20 percent for shrinkage and trimming.

Results

This concludes my saga, but temporarily. Because I will continue my experiments. You understand that you can age Russian meat, imported meat, different pieces of it, different number of days. Only experience can lead to perfection. And so that you do not get bored, I will tell you about my experiences. The next to go is meat from……..yes, yes, Australia!
But the story of this is not earlier than in a month.

Yes, I'm leaving now. Let me just summarize:

Domestic meat can and should be ripened. Initially, it does not have a special aroma and brightness of taste, it is often hard. After aging, the meat will definitely become soft. But hardly fragrant. That's the kind of beef we have. Alas and ah, it is not suitable for steaks. But just a very good fried or baked meat is guaranteed to you. But this is of course, if initially it is of digestible quality. Better yet, go to the market, to the butcher, who can be at least somewhat trusted.

P.S. By the way, I have experience in purchasing Russian aged meat. Kind of like a farmer's. Allegedly, even Angus grown in domestic open spaces. The sheepskin was not worth the candle. The meat was absolutely normal. Albeit soft.

P.S. Thank you very much for your help.

What meat to choose

For the preparation of steaks, the meat of gobies of certain breeds that ate grass and grain is suitable - it evenly contains fatty layers. They not only affect the structure and taste of meat, but also protect it from harmful microorganisms. Regular beef is not suitable for aging.

For dry aging, it is important to choose the right cut - from the loins or ribs of the carcass - and on the bone, as it also imparts shades of its aroma to the meat. On the surface of such a cut should be a fatty layer.

The weight of a cut for steaks is at least 8 kg, otherwise it will dry out too much.

What happens to meat

While aging is underway, under the influence of the meat's own enzymes, the process of autolysis begins, in which the physical and chemical properties of muscle tissue change. As a result of the destruction of connective tissues, the structure of the meat softens, and due to the loss of moisture, its taste becomes saturated. This is especially evident in the meat of grass-fed animals - its pronounced "beef" taste becomes characteristically sweet.

A dry crust is formed on the surface of the cut, on which colonies of fungi develop - it forms a kind of "packaging" of the cut, protecting it from the effects of pathogenic microflora, and also adds flavor to the meat. It is removed before cutting into steaks.

What does the process look like

After slaughtering the animal, fresh meat is placed in special ventilated cabinets, which maintain an optimal microclimate for aging: temperature 1–3 ° C, humidity 75–85% and slow air circulation. Under such conditions, the risk of reproduction of pathogenic bacteria in the meat is minimized.

The meat is hung on hooks or placed on grates and kept for 15-30 days, obtaining high-quality raw materials for steaks. After a week, it begins to soften, but it becomes really tasty and tender after another week. The most popular aging period is 21 days. During this time, the meat loses up to 30 percent of its weight, literally concentrating the taste and aroma in itself. It makes the perfect steak.

Economic aspect

Taking into account all the losses and costs - cut weight reduction, aging time, overhead costs - the price of the final product is high. Therefore, it makes sense to use dry aging only for high-quality marbled meat.

Equipment

Dry aging cabinet provides an optimal microclimate in which the meat is aged. The cabinet is equipped with a refrigeration unit, a humidifier, a controller, grid shelves, thermostats, the walls of some models are made of glass so that both chefs and guests can see the state of the cuts.

Automatic control: all the main parameters and stages of technology are included in the program.

Dry aging chambers are similarly constructed, but cuts can be stored either on shelves or on hooks. The level of humidity in the chambers is regulated with the help of special salt cassettes: when it is too high, the cassettes are placed in the chamber and the salt absorbs excess moisture.

What can be cooked

Basically, the technology is intended for aging beef steaks and ribs, but recently it has also been used for dry aging of meat from other animals and poultry.

Where dry aging is needed

Thanks to aging, the menu steakhouses and others restaurants specializing in meat, there will always be dishes of the highest quality with a unique taste.

I have often heard that meat must be aged before becoming a steak. Why, I thought. After all, if the meat is of high quality, from a good bull of the Angus or Hereford breed, with the right degree of marbling, what else is needed for a tasty and proper steak. I did not understand why there is a piece of meat that has been lying somewhere for a whole month, and sometimes even longer. Correctness - again approached the topic of correctness. Until I tried aged steak, I did not understand what the process was and why aged steaks really taste better.

So, an aged steak has a richer flavor and a tender, soft texture. It makes no sense to compare fresh meat and aged steak. Of course, there is no need to talk about fresh meat for steaks in Russia, since there are almost no farms that grow Angus in Russia. However, for information, I will tell you about this process.

Exposure can last from several days to a month. In some cases, the meat is aged for several months.

Most of the meat that is served in steakhouses in Russia (eg Goodman) is wet aged. What is wet aging? Imagine that the meat is purchased in Australia, transported in special vacuum packaging, practically in its own juice. This method, of course, is cheaper and more economical, since the exposure takes place during the transportation itself. With this method of exposure, the meat does not lose moisture and, accordingly, does not lose weight.

Dry aging, on the contrary, takes place in a special refrigeration room, where special conditions are created in terms of temperature and ventilation humidity. This process is economically justified only with meat of the highest quality and marbling - this is if we are talking from the point of view of the restaurant business. During aging, the meat is placed on shelves or hung. The temperature is maintained at 2-4 degrees, humidity is maintained at 50-75%. Also a key success factor for aging meat is good air circulation, for which the room where the meat is aged must be equipped with good ventilation. During the aging process, excess moisture evaporates from the cut of meat, the fibers soften and fermentation begins. Thus, the meat becomes softer, and the taste is much more intense.

As the meat loses moisture during the aging process, it also shrinks in size. Let's calculate the time it takes to age the meat, all the overhead costs, which gives us a higher price for the final product.

The big question is, can we age steak meat at home? The answer is yes, if we follow a few rules.

2. Buy a cut of striploin or ribeye - sold at Metro Cash and Carry. Already cut steaks usually do not undergo the aging process. Remove a piece of meat from the package, rinse, pat dry with paper towels.

3. Wrap the meat in the cleanest large cotton (I call them waffle) towels and place on the shelf of the refrigerator with the lowest temperature.

4. Change your towel every day, replacing wet towels with dry ones. Used towels can be washed and reused.