...for up to 3 weeks

Aging, or conditioning, is a completely natural process.  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.

There are two methods used to age beef: dry-aging and wet-aging.

Dry aging

At Whispering Meadows, we use the old-fashioned dry-aging method.  To dry-age beef, the sides 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.  After approximately three weeks, when the beef has become incredibly tender, we trim off the outer fat and butcher the beef into your individual cuts.

Wet aging

Most large-scale beef operations, like the ones that supply supermarkets, don’t age their beef at all.  The ones that do, use a process called wet aging.

Wet aging places individual cuts in vacuum bags so that they can be shipped without hang-time.  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 dry-aged beef.

Dry-aging gives the best flavour...

If you see beef in vacuum bags, it has been wet-aged.

We always dry-age your beef, so you get it wrapped in plain butcher paper.  We think you’ll agree...

...it’s worth the time to do it the old-fashioned way!

 

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