I thought that you might find this interesting. It's from the website of
the s/m I use most frequently.
Aging works magic
Aging improves two things we all love about beef – taste and tenderness.
Aging allows enzymes present in the beef to naturally improve texture
and flavour by breaking down the muscle tissue.
There are two kinds of natural aging we do at Co-op:
Wet aging – When the beef is vacuum packed in its own liquids, or “wet”.
This is the most common method.
Dry aging – Beef is stored at precise temperature and humidity levels in
a controlled environment. The combination of bacteria, enzyme breakdown
and oxidation boosts flavour and tenderness.
The difference between the two is key. Wet aging makes beef tenderer,
while dry aging improves both tenderness and taste.
While we use both wet and dry aging, there is one aging technique that
we will never use at Co-op. It’s called needling. Needles are poked into
the meat to break down the muscle tissue. The problem is you have to
cook needled meat to a higher temperature in order to kill any e-coli
bacteria that may have been pushed inside by the needles. Better to
stick to natural wet or dry aging.
What is the ideal age for beef?
Beef is aged to improve taste and tenderness, so let’s look at how aging
impacts them both.
Tenderness - Regardless of whether the beef is wet aged or dry aged, the
sweet spot for tenderness occurs between 14 and 28 days.
Taste – Remember, only dry aging impacts taste so we’ll focus on that.
The sweet spot for dry aging is between 21 and 40 days. Any longer and
you are into some pretty intense flavours and the experience becomes
very subjective. Kind of like how some people love really stinky cheese
and other people don’t.
Can you tell the difference?
Absolutely. When you have the right top-grade, well-aged beef in a dish
that is properly cooked, the experience is extraordinary. The taste, the
texture and the tenderness make every bite a delight. Cooking a meal is
a lot of work. Starting out with an excellent piece of beef is the
surest way to make that meal a hit.