Just like me, I am sure you have heard the term … and possibly enjoyed … “dry-aged” beef.
I turned to Chadwick Norman, Executive Chef Partner of The Capital Grille, for an explanation of the dry-aging process. On an average day in this dry-age room at his East Memphis restaurant, there are between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds of meat being dry-aged.
“The benefit of dry aging our steaks is that we essentially remove the wasted water, thereby making the steaks more flavorful and more tender.”
Magic … or in actuality, a complex highly regulated process, occurs as the beef ages openly in a cooler. A chef must manage an intricate and delicate balance of time, temperature, air circulation, and humidity.
“We dry age our beef for 18 to 24 days in a humidity and temperature controlled room. The humidity is anywhere between 75 to 80 percent and the temperature ranges from 34 degrees to 38 degrees.”
What cuts are best for dry-aging? “Our cuts that we dry age in house are our short loins and our strip loins.”
“You can only dry age a primal loin. You do not want to dry age cuts.” The reason for this is the loss that occurs during the aging process.
And what cut is that the ends up on our plates from these primal loins? “From our short loins, we get our porterhouse cuts and from our strip loins, we get our New York strips and our bone-in New York strips.”
“Through the dry-aging process the flavor of the steak actually changes.” If you have never tried dry-aged beef before, I highly recommend that you give it a try the next time you are at a steak house.
This is Jennifer Chandler with The Weekly Dish. Bon Appetit!