DRY AGED BEEF

 

Dry aged beef is a term you might have heard more and more of in recent years. Put simply, it's a piece of meat hung in a strictly controlled environment and left to age for anything up to 80 days. Why would you do this? Well... it's all about the flavour. During the aging process, the meat's natural enzymes go to work breaking down certain structural muscle proteins and fat strands. Once this has happened, the beef then starts to dehydrate and this is what really intensifies the overall flavour of the beef. This dehydration element also effects the texture making it rich and dense.

The image above is a 36 day dry aged, 150 day grain fed, Angus Rib on the Bone. Billy took this home to try the first day we got some in and was just amazed by the intensity of flavour. Dry aged beef is something that Meat at Billy's is hoping to be able to offer more of in the future. Stay tuned!

Neil Perry, who is an expert on the subject (there are 15 tonnes of beef ageing in his three Bar & Grills at any one time) says, "the most important thing with good dry-aged beef is not to overcook it. The meat shouldn’t be cooked at more than medium-rare, and don’t rest it too long: there is little juice in the steak and it will dry out. So there you have it: a steak with amazing flavour and intensity and all it took was 80 days of patience. Oh, and did I say you need to start with amazing beef? So don’t try this at home, but go to butchers who age it for you".

Read more on the subect from Neil Perry here:
http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/neil_perry_and_dry-aged_beef.htm