Why Dry Age
Ever wondered why the steaks at upscale steakhouses and Michelin starred restaurants taste so much better than the steaks you cook at home? Or why they are more expensive?
Yes - Dry Aging
Dry Aging significantly improves beef quality similar to how fine wines and spirits mature beautifully over time (e.g. 1945 Romanée-Conti, 30 Years Old Hibiki), .
The beef becomes more tender, has a more intense beef taste, as well as develop a richer, complex umami flavor.
As proclaimed by renowned food scientist Harold McGee 'There’s no cooking method that can generate the depth of flavour of a dry-aged piece of meat'
So does this mean that the longer the beef is aged the better it is? Unfortunately, not necessarily. Similar to cheese, when beef age, flavours get more intense with time.
Only after day 25 of dry aging will beef start to undergo changes, becoming more tender and developing flavor.
From day 30 onwards, a nutty funky parmesan cheese-like flavor starts to develop, intensifying over time.
From day 45, the flavors intensify, manifesting to something akin to blue cheese, palatable only to aficionados.
This is why at DAMN, we only age our beef from 35 - 65 days. If you wish to age your beef longer than 65 days, feel free to send a bespoke order for us to age your beef further.
References:
https://gizmodo.com/the-science-of-taste-or-why-dry-aged-meat-is-so-damned-5866754