Dry Aged Beef

The best beef steaks are dry aged... Aging, or conditioning, is a completely natural process. It is how beef was originally aged the old fashioned way. If beef is allowed to age, the natural enzymes in it will break down the tougher components of the meat fibres. The longer it is aged, the more tender the beef becomes. As well, the flavour of the beef develops more in 30 day, 60 day, 90 day and 120 day increments. The longer the dry aging, the more intense the flavour becomes. When aged 90 to 120 days, the meat can take on interesting characteristic - mushroomy flavours or even blue cheese flavour notes.

In dry-aging beef, the cuts are hung, without packaging, in a cooler where the right conditions of temperature, humidity and air movement are accurately kept. During the aging process, the beef is protected by an outer layer of fat. On the sub primal cuts such as strip loin or ribeye a crust or bark forms. This dry hard surface bark is mostly trimmed off by the butcher, but a thin layer is left on to add extra flavour and a nice characteristic.

There is another method used to age beef called wet aging. This is popular with larger-scale beef operations where many don’t age their beef at all. Wet aging places individual cuts in vacuum bags so that they can be shipped without hangtime. The vacuum sealing is intended to replace the protection that the fat layer provides in the dry-aging process. The disadvantage of wet-aging is that the beef can’t breathe, and it stays at a higher moisture content. It does become more tender, but it tends to take on a metallic taste that doesn’t even come close to the rich flavour of traditional method dry-aged beef. Long and slow dryaging gives the best flavour, so I think you’ll agree it’s worth the time to do it the old-fashioned way.

At Cure we offer cuts of dry aged beef for your grilling pleasure. Whether it is a strip loin or rib eye,

All you need is salt and pepper no oil and a medium high bbq. Once steaks are done top the dry aged beef with a blue cheese as well as a drizzle of Demi glace. If you prefer a sauce here is a great recipe for you.

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PEPPERCORN SAUCE Courtesy Brad Boisvert, Cure Artisan Meat & Cheese

Ingredients

1/4 cup red wine 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 3 tablespoons beef Demi glacé 1 tablespoon butter 2 tablespoon Brie cheese

Method

In a medium sized sauce pot, bring wine to a boil, turn down heat to a simmer to reduce. Reduce red wine by half about 6-8 minutes. Add Demi glace until melted. Whisk in butter Whisk in cracked peppercorn and Brie cheese.