The wet aging trick I dismissed for 10 years finally proved me wrong

I always thought wet aging beef in cryovac was just a marketing gimmick. But after 3 months of testing ribeyes from the same supplier at my shop in Portland, I had to admit I was wrong. The difference in tenderness was clear after 21 days, and by 35 days the flavor was noticeably deeper. What finally convinced me was blind tasting with 4 other butchers, and 3 out of 4 picked the wet aged over fresh. Has anyone else here tried aging subprimals beyond the standard 14 days?

3 comments

3 Comments

milesbarnes2d ago

My buddy runs a small meat shop in Austin and he was dead set against wet aging for years too. He finally caved when a customer who buys whole strip loins asked him to hold one for 28 days. He did it mostly to shut the guy up, not expecting much. A few weeks later he called me up almost mad about it, said the 28 day wet aged strip was so much more tender that he felt like he'd been wasting money on dry aging all that time. He still prefers dry aged for the nutty flavor but now he wet ages everything for at least 21 days as his house standard.

davidshah2d ago

Yeah, that 'almost mad about it' part hits close to home, had the exact same thing happen to me.

casey2682d ago

Wet aging 21 days doesn't touch the depth you get from dry aging.