QandAs: Food

What is Aged Beef?

Answer:
Aged Beef is just that; beef which has been

aged over a period of time. Aged beef is said to have a more gamey flavor than that of non-aged beef, and is also more tender, due to enzymatic changes which take place during the process. The aging process also releases moisture content, thus the beef becomes drier and lighter in weight, once aged.

Most consumer beef is aged from five to seven days as standard procedure. Restaurants typically serve beef which has been aged from 14 to 21 days, for a richer, more pronounced aged-beef flavor.

The methods by which beef is aged is of paramount importance to the quality and flavor that the beef-aging process brings about. The process of aging beef must be carried out in sanitary and atmospherically controlled surroundings, for purity and safety.

Today, because producers prefer not to have to spend the time and money associated with the natural aging process, aged beef may be aged using the wet aging method, which involves the beef producers vacuum-packing fresh beef carcasses and shipping them to butchers, who store them still vacuum packed in proscribed temperature-controlled storage until they are needed.

The time in the vacuum packing induces a measure of aging as the beef sits in its own juices and undergoes minor enzymatic changes. This beef-aging method is less costly, less time consuming and less complicated than the natural method.