Shrinkage. Restaurant-sized steaks.

[Scott Mark]

There’s a restaurant I’ve visited in the great state of Oklahoma that advertises 30-day aged beef. Whoa! Come to think of it, I don’t know if that means “dry aged” or “wet aged” !

That’s the focus of my question – I’ve had some amazingly good steaks there, but they don’t seem smaller than a fresh steak.

I’ve done a few full-ribeyes so far, usually 21 days, and when I pull them out of the drybag, face it, they are smaller than they were. And after I shave the dried stuff off, they’re smaller still.

So I’m wondering how this restaurant that describes “custom-aged” beef (and, during a spontaneous tour of the kitchen, chef said that his ribeye is aged 30 days, but we didn’t discuss wet or dry) keeps its steaks so close to “fresh” size.

It’s probably wet-aging, isn’t it?

I’m starting to wonder if their 30 days is wet-aged. The steaks were absolutely great, but now I am thinking that 30 days dry-aging would not appeal to all customers. And so … wet-aging.

I’m sure there are wet-aging -vs- dry-aging articles out there. I’ll try to find some, but Google is only so precise. If anyone has pointers to wet-aging -vs- dry-aging I’d appreciate them. Without meaning to criticize, I find the drybagsteak “History of Aging” webpage to be brief.

[Steven Almas]

I may not be the best person to answer this, but I believe that the only real reason to go Dry over Wet-aging is for flavor. As the moisture escapes it concentrates the beefiness of the meat. Both wet and dry aging are perfectly acceptable forms of aging for tenderness.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

[Ron Pratt]

evil4blue wrote:

quote :

…but I believe that the only real reason to go Dry over Wet-aging is for flavor. As the moisture escapes it concentrates the beefiness of the meat. Both wet and dry aging are perfectly acceptable forms of aging for tenderness.

I agree 100% with you, Steven!
Ron

[Scott Mark]

OK – I don’t disagree with either of you — BUT:

Usually when I get beef (steak roast, etc. non-ground beef) from the store there’s a label that indicates I’ve got 2-3 days to use it.

We in this group tend to age beef for 2-3 WEEKS. So, is the 2-3 day labeling about safety, or about “freshlike” flavor?

Is it even valid? Or is it just another marketing shout?

Being patient is _difficult_. When I open my aging fridge, my nose tells me that I must be aging butter. It’s incorrect, but not inaccurate. I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait…

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