Going to Butcher soon: How long to age?

[RSC]

Locker I am taking a steer to usually only ages 10 days to 2 weeks!  He said there is no advantage over two weeks but would go to 3 weeks!  I've heard others say 3 weeks is the best, thoughts please?

Tony

 

[knabe]

the benefit definately tapers off after two weeks, but i would do three.  you can look up tenderness post mortem decay graphs and judge for yourself, calculate the percent benefit.  easier than a feed ration.

make sure you only half the carcass and don't quarter it.

 

[RSC]

the benefit definately tapers off after two weeks, but i would do three.  you can look up tenderness post mortem decay graphs and judge for yourself, calculate the percent benefit.  easier than a feed ration.

make sure you only half the carcass and don't quarter it.

Thanks Knabe!

Tony

 

[farwest]

From experience Tony I would say three weeks.  The benefit outweighs a little extra trim. It is hard to say because of the variances in animals though. 

 

[knabe]

there is at least one test that states otherwise.  it also is a test with vitamin D to aid tenderness.  the other thing you will get with that extra week is a little more dense flavor.  be sure to ask who is going to eat the hamburger, they may not like it so gamey.

if you are going to locker the whole thing, why don't you just age one half two weeks, the other 3 weeks, label the packaging with different color pens and do a taste test yourself.  thats what i did.

http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/Pages/ansci/beefreports/asl-1549.pdf
http://jas.fass.org/cgi/reprint/78/10/2615.pdf

most studies i've read when selecting for tenderness have shown otherwise.  these early studies were not done with selection.

here's the more typical study i've seen.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/ansci/beefreports/asl1765.pdf

notice the difference between round and strip.

i'm more prone to cook strip and round and chuck differently so i "think" i want the strip more tender.

could be all BS.

 

[TMJ Show Cattle]

If you have some good fat cover and want a steak to taste as good or better as some of the high dollar steakhouses,let it hang for 28 days.Marvelous.

 

[SWMO]

We age ours a minimum of 14 days and preferably about 20 days.  I will say that we used to use a locker that had to quarter their beeves because their cooler rooms were not tall enough to hang a full side.  We have since switched to a different processor that can hang the 20 days and can hang the full half.  We have definitely noticed a difference in the quality of the meat.

The problem with hanging the 28 days that has been explained to me is that the hamburger will not taste as fresh.  Does anyone know if this is true.

 

[knabe]

The problem with hanging the 28 days that has been explained to me is that the hamburger will not taste as fresh.  Does anyone know if this is true.

tastes tests bear this out. might have something to do with the variability in trimming, where you would tend to throw away less the longer it hangs than you should.  for one's done "correctly" some people just don't like the nuttiness of dry aged steaks and like the bland taste.

fat cover seems to be desirable to retaining moisture in the carcass and not reducing yield compared to other carcasses.  especially important in grass fed beef.

 

[TMJ Show Cattle]

Give me the good steak anyday. I've ate hamburger from holsteins that tasted as good as beef. I want fat and marbling on my steak and I want it cooked RARE,aged 28 days. Old School? yessireee!! ain't got no time for panty waist.

 

[Steered]

I've ate hamburger from holsteins that tasted as good as beef.

Silly me... I thought that hamburger (and everything else) from a holstein was beef? ???