Dry or Wet Aged? What’s the difference?

Dry Aged Barbecue Tomahawk Steak

You may have seen our new range of steaks and noticed how they’ve been segmented. Its a fairly new concept here in the UK and one that we are keen to introduce you to, because it is so much fun experimenting!

In the USA for a number of years they have had steaks in particular but all meat in general graded, there is a very simple tier system from the cheaper less well reared version to the top of the range super sonic meat bred with love and fed with gold etc. But they are also very open about how the meat is aged and matured, something we do not do very well in the UK. There seems to be some sort of taboo about discussing meat, like it is somehow distasteful or ungracious. Perhaps it is just an uncomfortable topic, but after so many scandals where we as consumers are being grossly misinformed by huge corporations about produce we eat we think it is vitally important to increase awareness and knowledge of the food which goes in to your body. The difference that a good diet using quality produce makes is phenomenal.

To keep things simple, rest assured that at Hazeldines we only buy quality produce, we focus our products on value and not on price and again this sort of understanding is very important when it comes to what you put in your body. Aging is the process during which microbes and enzymes act upon the meat to help break down the connective tissue, for the sake of making the aforementioned meat object more tender. Whether it happens in a bag or out in the

Wet Aged Steaks

air as a big swinging side of beef, that element of the process is the same

In a nutshell….

Dry Aged Beef

For dry aging, whole sides of beef are hung exposed to air at a very low temperature and left for several weeks to mature and age. This allows the enzymes to work on the muscle tissues whilst the meat is also slowly dehydrating. This concentrates the meat and changes the texture. It also means there is very little “water weight” left so the weight you purchase is all meat, this creates a much more intense flavour.

Wet Aged Beef

Wet aging is still a relatively new concept that developed along with advances in plastics and refrigeration. Before plastic bags, the only way to age beef was the traditional Dry aged method, but the time taken and loss in meat meant wet aging has become the preferred (cheaper) method. Virtually all the steaks you will purchase in the UK from major retailers will be wet aged because of its convenience. Wet aging is leaving the muscle to rest in a plastic bag in a refrigerated room. All beef needs at least 3 weeks to start to tenderize

The enzymes still have time to tenderize the meat enough to make it acceptable, and the biggest plus is that there’s no weight-loss in the meat due to dehydration. Wet aging also costs less for the manufacturer since the meat doesn’t need to be stored or monitored, ultimately resulting in a lower consumer cost.

Now there is nothing wrong with wet aging. In fact, the reason most supermarket beef is tough is because it is not sufficiently aged, because it costs a lot of money to sit on stock for over a month.

During wet aging, the plastic doesn’t allow the meat to breathe, Dry aging, on the other hand, allows the meat to breathe, lose water (which increases its “beefiness”).

So we set you the challenge, try them both and let us know which you prefer!