What meats are appropriate for dry-aging
We know that dry-aging can be used for beef to evaporate water, concentrate flavor and let some of the enzymes break down the connective tissue in the meat, resulting in a tender & juicier steak.
But why is the dry-aging method not applied to pork, chicken, lamb or fish?
What meets are appropriate for dry-aging and why/why not?
Best Answer
Dry aging creates a certain amount of inherent waste:
- The weight of the cut being aged goes down significantly
- The outer portions become dry, tough, leathery, may have mold, and are otherwise essentially spoiled and must be cut off
For this reason, it is only really practical to dry age fairly large cuts. So this would exclude chicken and most fish, and so on even if their meat would benefit.
Tender meats like chicken and fish don't really require dry aging, however, whose main affect is enzymatic tenderization of the meat. It applies more to red meats, more particularly, beef.
This article at Gizmodo says:
When we create [cool and humid] conditions, we allow enzymes to do their work. And we end up with a complexity of flavor—savoriness, sweetness, some bitterness-that just wasn't there before. There's no cooking method that can generate the depth of flavor of a dry-aged piece of meat.
What happens is that enzymes in the meat's muscle cells begin to break down the meat's proteins, fats, and glycogen—a carbohydrate—into amino acids, fatty acids, and sugars. One amino acid generated by dry-aging—the most important and flavorful one, in fact—is glutamate, which is part of MSG. other amino acids have flavors somewhat similar to MSG; others still are sweet.
So you want a meat whose flavor is strong enough to stand up to, and benefit from, these types of changes.
While not mainstream, one can actually locate dry aged pork, although I am not sure it needs the treatment. One can even find dry aged lamb!
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Quick Answer about "What meats are appropriate for dry-aging"
Most butchers typically age full or sub-primals for the best effect. Some of the commonly dry aged cuts include strip loin (New York Strip), boneless ribeye (ribeye) and top butt (sirloin). These are steak cuts that age well and improve significantly in flavor and texture with dry aging.Can you dry-age other meats?
Yes, it's possible and useful to dry age other meats. Beef stands to benefit the most from dry aging, though, since of all commercial proteins, it presents the most variability in tenderness. Lamb, veal, and pork are generally tender to begin with; it's cooking technique that's most likely to make or break these meats.How do you pick dry aging meat?
What You Need to Dry-Age Beef. If you want to dry-age beef at home, you'll need to start out with a large cut of top-grade, USDA Prime beef. Dry-aging needs to be done before a roast is cut into individual steaks, so go with something like a large rib roast, three ribs minimum.What steaks can you dry-age?
In direct comparison to an untouched version, dry-aged pork has a surprisingly intense and delicious flavor. Properly dry-aging pork ensures no rancid or musty flavors, but deliciously inviting nutty aromas and flavors. Aging pork also increases its tenderness, both on the palate and under the knife.What is dry aged beef? Since when is drier meat good?
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Answer 2
I just read this article on dry aging a number of meats, including pork, chicken and fish. You could probably dry age anything if you are careful on time and temperature. https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/well-aged-meat-will-not-kill-you
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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