Hot take: wet aging beats dry aging for most home butchers

I know everyone loves dry aging, but after trying both on 3 different cuts from my local shop in Austin, wet aging gives me way more consistent results. The dry aged stuff always loses too much weight and I end up trimming more than I'd like. I get a better yield and the flavor is still great for my home cooking. Anyone else find wet aging more practical for small batches?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan9523d ago

Oh man, you totally just changed my mind on this. I was 100% in the dry aging camp for years (thought it was the only way to get that "beefy" taste). But your point about yield really hits home for me now that I'm doing smaller batches. I tried wet aging a strip loin last month and the texture was way more forgiving, plus I didn't feel like I was throwing away half the meat in the end. The flavor difference is way smaller than people make it out to be, especially when you're cooking for yourself and not a fancy steakhouse. I still think dry aging has its place for special occasions, but for weekly cooking? Wet aging is the practical winner no question.

ryanhayes3d ago

I mean, I tried dry aging once in my garage fridge and my wife made me move it to the shed.