What is the difference between dry-aged and wet-aged steak?

How are dry-aged and wet-aged beef made?

Beef is aged cold, one of two ways: in a vacuum bag, or unpackaged in a controlled cold room. Wet aging, in the bag, is the main way beef is aged today. Dry aging holds whole carcasses or large cuts in rooms kept near freezing, commonly about 32 to 39°F (0 to 4°C), with controlled humidity and moving air.

How long is beef dry-aged?

Commercial dry aging lasts several weeks. Sources differ on the range: one to five weeks, 21 to 42 days, or 28 to 55 days.

Does dry-aged steak taste different?

It develops a more concentrated, beefy flavor. Dry aging raises free amino acids, sugars and short peptides in the meat, and tasters describe it as beefy, nutty, earthy or roasted. In blind tests, though, results are mixed: Texas A&M consumers could not tell dry-aged from wet-aged steaks, while a Purdue study of lean grass-fed beef found dry-aged steaks preferred for flavor.

Is dry-aged steak more tender?

Usually not. Dry-aged steak is no more tender than wet-aged steak, in most studies. In one Texas A&M test, wet-aged ribeyes even rated more tender, while one Purdue study of lean grass-fed beef found dry-aged steaks preferred for tenderness.

Does dry aging lose meat?

Yes. Dry-aged beef loses more weight to shrink and trim than wet-aged beef, so it yields less meat to sell.

Can you dry-age steak at home?

Whether you can dry-age single steaks at home is disputed. America's Test Kitchen ages steaks for 3 to 4 days on a rack in the coldest part of a home fridge, wrapped in cheesecloth, and found the short aging mostly improves the sear. ThermoWorks and AmazingRibs say a single steak cannot be properly dry aged.

For real dry aging at home, those two age a whole loin or rib roast, for about four weeks or more, in a clean fridge used only for that and kept around 30 to 39°F. Both say the flavor change becomes clear at about 28 days.

Dry-aging bags, which let moisture escape, gave about the same eating quality, with less loss than traditional dry aging in several studies. Those studies aged loin sections in controlled coolers, though, not in home fridges.