less aged the meat was, the more moisture it expelled. Why
is this? One of the side effects of aging is the breakdown of
meat proteins and connective tissue. This makes the meat
more tender, as well as causing it to contract less as it cooks.
Less contraction = less moisture loss.
When all was said and done, in many cases, the meat that
was 100 percent fresh ended up losing more liquid than dry-
aged meat.
Finally, a simple taste test was the nail in the coffin: meat
dry-aged for 21 days (the period during which the largest
change in density of the interior meat occurs) was
indistinguishable from fresh meat in terms of flavor. The
improvements were only in texture. It wasn’t until between
the 30- and 60-day marks that noticeable changes in flavor
occurred, and during that time period, there was essentially
no change in internal density. Thus, moisture loss is not tied
to flavor change.
Q: Why does meat being aged stop losing moisture after
the first few weeks?
It’s a matter of permeability. As meat loses moisture, its
muscle fibers get more and more closely packed, making it
more and more difficult for moisture under the surface to
escape. After the first few weeks, the outer layer of meat is
so tight and tough that it is virtually impermeable to
moisture loss.
Q: If it’s not moisture loss, what factors do affect the
flavor of aged beef?
A couple of things: The first is enzymatic breakdown of