What sets dry aged beef apart

On visiting an online butcher, or any other meat seller that offers a wide range of products, it can be common to be somewhat blown away by the sheer number of different varieties of the same type of meat.

Nowhere is this more the case than with beef, where making a choice between such varieties as grass fed beef and dry aged beef might not be easy within some knowledge of what the difference between the two is. The main thing to remember with dry aged beef is that it has been allowed to age, tenderise and strengthen its flavour.

When a cow is slaughtered for its meat, the beef taken from it is as fresh as it will ever be. This beef is considered ‘green’, which sounds positive, but the very early freshness is actually a bad thing. Green beef, on its own, is usually dry, low in flavour, and very tough to chew.

It is for this reason that dry aged beef exists, because important chemical reactions happen that make the beef tender and give it lots more flavour. What is actually happening is the natural enzymes cause the muscle fibres to break down, creating a more tender beef. As well as this process, the water in the beef evaporates and the beef gains a stronger, richer flavour.

Aging is crucial for beef, and especially in the case of dry aged beef. Most people believe the longer it ages the better, but the best dry aged beef is left from about 10 to 28 days.