- Today we're going to answer your top five questions
about dry-aged beef.
(plucky acoustic guitar)
So I've got our dry-aging expert
here at Certified Angus Beef, Diana Clark,
to help me answer some questions you have
about dry-aged beef.
So Diana, the first question is,
what is dry aging?
- Dry aging is really simple.
You're just taking the piece of meat,
and you're setting it in a cooler,
at refrigerated temperatures,
and letting it age in that cooler,
so sit there at those refrigerated temperatures
for an extended period of time.
You're essentially drying out the product.
That's dry aging.
You're just losing all of that moisture that's within there,
because muscle itself is made up of 70 to 75% water.
So you're evaporating some of that water
and condensing that overall beefy flavor.
- So I think we should take a look
at a couple different pieces,
so people can really get the feel for what dry aging is.
- Yeah, let's show 'em.
Come on.
So we're going to get this guy up here,
has the most days on there.
- Yeah, looks a little aged, huh?
- Oh, just a tad.
And then we're going to go for this one down here.
This is the newbie.
Just welcoming to the gang.
See these two side by side.
So what we have here is a dry aged strip
that's over 100 days.
And then this one just has about 15 days on it.
So you can see there's some drastic differences
between the two.
This one definitely has shrunken in
and lost a lot of that moisture.
You can feel that surface,
and it's about as hard as a rock,
while this one still has a lot of give and play to it,
and that's usually how you can tell
whether it's getting to that savory spot,
I like to say,
'cause, you know, we're working with beef here.
So you've got to look at these
and just see if you're hitting home in the right area.
And this guy definitely has that great age on it.
You can also tell that we have left the bones
in both of these pieces,
and that bone is just going to help protect
the meat as it's aging,
'cause eventually we're just going to trim all of this off,
to give us the meat itself.
- So I think that's a very important point to make,
is that what you see on the exterior of this,
we cut off before we cook it.
- Oh yeah.
We want, from a food safety standpoint,
we want to make sure that we don't have any of that
excess material that's been sitting on the outside,
there's some mold growth, even, on there.
We don't want to have that on our product.
Even though you're going to hit a high heat grill
and potentially kill everything that's on there,
we just like to be safe.
So this will all be removed.
And from an eating experience standpoint alone,
you don't want to be biting into the steak and taste jerky.
You want that to be gone.
You just want a meaty substance.
So that's why we will remove all of that bone on there,
and trim off the fat as well.
- The next question that people out there have,
is does dry-aged beef taste better?
- That's a very personal question, to be honest.
'Cause there are days where I want dry-aged beef.
I crave it.
But then there are other days where
I'd rather have a wet-aged steak.
They both bring so much flavor to the game.
You can go great either way.
However, dry-aged beef is a unique flavor
that you really cannot get from any other piece,
because it's got that nutty, that beefy aroma to it,
and it's something that just lingers in your mouth
like nothing else.
- Yeah, I'm the same way.
Obviously, I eat a lot of beef.
But I don't think I could eat the same amount
of dry-aged beef as I do as a traditional beef.
It's just, it kind of takes away
from some of that specialness
that when you do have a dry-aged steak as well.
- Exactly, and I honestly, personally feel
that it's because you've condensed all that beefy flavor,
because you've lost all that moisture,
that now one bite is simply satisfying.
You don't need to eat a giant steak.
It's just eating little pieces of it,
which makes it a great eating experience.
- Yeah, I think it's got that little bit of funkiness,
which I like,
but not everybody could eat all the time,
and it's very rich,
and there's just something about it that I love
as such a great treat.
- Oh yeah. - And it's a great experience,
especially if you're going out to a steakhouse
or something like that.
We're lucky enough to have a piece that's 100 days old.
That's something you won't really see all the time,
but when you do have a chance,
it's a pretty special eating experience.
- Yeah. It's worth it, definitely worth it.
- So Di, I know this piece here is pretty special,
being 100 days old,
what do you normally see at steakhouses?
- So, usually you see about 30 to 40 days
at most restaurants.
Now we have seen the extreme of 365 days,
but that flavor development is pretty perfect
at that 40 days, so you don't need to go more than that.
- Di, one of the other big questions out there,
is dry-aged beef safe?
- Yes.
I mean, you've heard it from us.
We've got these controls in place.
There's parameters that we make sure that we follow.
On top of that, we're trimming all that exterior crust off,
and then we usually finish it off in a 400-degree oven.
We're going to make sure that it's a safe product
before we give it to anyone.
- Our last question we're going to field today is,
what is the difference between wet- and dry-aged beef?
- So, wet- and dry-aging.
The major difference is, one is in a bag,
and one is outside in open air.
That wet-aging is still going to have those enzymes in it
that help break down the meat to make it more tender.
Those are called calpains.
Regardless if it's wet-age or dry-age,
that aging process is essential for tenderness.
The dry-aging aspect is going to
relieve some of that moisture,
or make it lose that moisture,
to condense that overall beef flavor.
So the dry-aging just makes it a more dense piece,
but the wet-aging still has that added aid in tenderness.
So regardless if you're going to have
a wet-age or dry-age experience,
they're both going to be great tender products.
But if you have the opportunity to try a dry-aged steak,
you should give it a try.
It's totally worth it, and you may grow to love it.
- So, now we're going to take a piece of this
100-day dry-aged strip back to the test kitchen,
and cook it up.
Test it side by side
to a traditionally wet-aged New York strip.
- This is going to be good.
- Now you've seen what dry-aging looks like,
and hopefully we've answered some questions.
Now I'll season these up and get them on the grill,
and we'll compare, side by side,
our 100-day dry-aged beef
with our traditionally wet-aged beef.
They're all seasoned, ready for the grill.
Now that the steaks have a nice sear on the outside,
I want to finish them in the oven,
because they're pretty thick.
Now, I do know that dry-aged cooks a little faster
than a traditionally wet-aged steak,
so I want to keep a close eye on those dry-aged steaks.
I closely monitored the temperature of these steaks,
and pulled them at approximately the same temp,
right around 120 degrees, and let them rest,
and come up to like 125 to 128.
So it's right what I'm looking for,
kind of at the low end of medium rare,
'cause that's where I like my steak.
So now I'll cut into them,
and you can see the difference when I do that.
So you could see,
it's a really nicely cooked steak.
Pretty normal to what you expect from a steak.
Now here's one of the dry-aged.
Now you can see the color's even a little different.
It's a little more maroon.
And I can even feel, when I slice it with a knife,
it's slightly more dense.
I wouldn't say tough or firm,
but it's like it feels more dense
when I'm cutting through it with a knife.
I'll cut a small slice of each
so that I can taste them side by side.
I'm going to start with the traditional wet-aged beef.
It's delicious, tender, good steak flavor.
Well seasoned.
You know, basically everything I want
from a traditional New York strip.
All right.
Now let's try a slice of the dry-aged.
That one's very different.
It's really, it's very tender.
It's really rich.
Almost has like a blue cheese kind of flavor to it.
Blue cheese, Parmesan,
those cheeses, the way they're aged,
and again, the mold that tends to grow on them,
it changes the structure.
It gives it this real depth of flavor
that a steak like a dry-aged steak has.
Whoa.
It's so good, but it's very different.
The way I like to explain it to people,
if you like a mild cheddar, that's still a good cheese,
then maybe a traditional wet-aged steak is for you.
But if you like an aged Camembert or blue cheese,
or a really, like a five-year-old Parmesan,
then you might want to try a dry-aged steak.
It develops a totally different flavor profile
than just a traditionally wet-aged steak.
So if you like a little bit of funk to your cheeses,
then you'd probably like a little bit of funk in your steak.
So we've answered the top five questions
about dry-aged beef that we've had.
Now we want to hear from you.
What has your experience with dry-aged steaks been?
Thanks for watching, and join us again next time
here in the test kitchen.
(plucky acoustic guitar)