Dry-Aged vs Wet-Aged Meat

What’s the difference?

One way to get a tender beef is by buying high-quality meat. Another way is by aging the beef meat to get a get more delicate, more flavorful, and juicy meat. The meat aging process has two types, the dry-aged and wet-aged process.

Process

The dry-aged or meat hanging process is an old technique of aging process which existed for centuries. Butchers, chefs, and gourmet all around the world are favoring the dry-aged beef because of the meat tenderness and juiciness. While the wet-aged process is the newly invented method and usually this type of meat aging process is the one that sold to the mass consumers.

The difference between the two aging process was mainly on the process of refrigeration, cost, and the time frame to age the meat. The freezing for the dry-aged process was done by hanging or placing the meat carcass on the rack for several weeks, usually 4 to 6 weeks. This process is to allow the meat to breathe, lose water, and begin to breakdown by other microbes beside those in the muscle itself.

The wet-aged process consists of meat being stored in the refrigerator using sealed airtight bags at a temperature of 0°C to 7.2°C for three weeks. This process is to retain meat moisture.

Both processes are required a different way of maintaining quality as well. For dry-aged meat, the meat must be freeze in the specialize fridge at the near-freezing temperatures. As for the wet-aged meat, Modified-atmosphere packaging (MAP) usually employed for the vacuum packaging of meat; typically between 60 and 80 percent oxygen to retain its appealing color.

The result from both aging method will result in different flavor and style. For wet-aging, the results in traditional beef flavor and is the most common aging method — dry-aging results in distinctive brown-roasted beefy flavor.
In conclusion, both of the methods were used and catered to different consumers. Which is dry-age usually serve in the high-end restaurants, and wet-aged for the mass consumer, which sold at the supermarket.

However, many are preferring the dry-aged meat because of the taste and texture. Some people out there are willing to spend a lot of money to get a piece of it. That is why finding the best beef supplier Singapore is one of the ways to get high-quality meat.