Wet-Aging
When you purchase beef from a typical grocery store, you'll almost always get beef that has been wet-aged. If you don't see "dry-aged" on the label, the beef has been wet-aged. The process of wet-aging
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Dry-Aging
Dry-aged beef is the kind of beef you may find in high-end restaurants and now the kind you can serve at home, with Cober Natural Dry-Aged Beef. The process of dry-aging
b) The same enzymes enhance the taste of the beef as they break down (leaving a richer, almost nutty flavour). c) The new, rich, beefy flavour is concentrated as as a very controlled amount of moisture is allowed to escape during the dry-aging process (much as a raisin has a more concentrated flavour than a grape). 2. The butcher cuts the beef into the appropriate cuts, packages it, and said beef is ready for your table. 3. You don't have to account for shrinkage when you cook it, because the often referred to "water weight" has already evaporated during the dry-aging process (concentrating that new, beefy flavour from the enzyme breakdown that you just can't replicate when wet-aging beef). |
Thinking of buying a quarter or side?
An important note about the pricing of Dry-Aged Beef Our quarters and sides are priced by the hanging, or dressed weight, as per industry standard for selling beef in bulk. This rule does NOT apply to smaller products however, like summer sausage, or even our 30lb variety boxes (which are priced at a flat rate - again, as per industry standard). Why does that matter? Dry-aged beef weighs approximately 10-15% less than it's wet-aged counterpart. Essentially this means that when you purchase beef in bulk, the price-per-pound is calculated before any type of aging happens, whether you dry-age or wet-age. In the context of dry-aging, this means that the price-per-pound is calculated before the moisture has evaporated, so it seems like you're paying for more beef than you actually receive. It's basically the same as purchasing dried fruit; dried apricots weigh less than fresh ones, but you're still getting the total apricot. |
Disclaimer: Chef Michael Smith (pictured on the left) has never met us, and isn't endorsing our beef. In fact, in this episode of Food Country, he's promoting another Canadian beef producer in PEI. Still, we feel that his video is worth the watch, and we suspect that you will too. Enjoy!
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Still not sure if dry-aged beef is worthy of the hype?
Chef Michael Smith is one of Canada's best Chefs, and star of the cooking series "Food Country." In one episode Chef Micheal addresses the difference between wet-aged and dry-aged beef in a really great way. NOTE; The video to the left is cued to the aging section. For the full episode click here. |