Why Would Anybody Want to Eat Old Meat?
What’s up with beef that’s aged 28 days? Why are they bragging about that? It sounds so gross! There are two reasons—flavor and tenderness. In the 6 to 12 hours after a steer is slaughtered, rigor mortis causes its muscles to seize up. During the aging process, enzymes already present in the muscle cells start to break down the connective tissue between them, making the meat tender. Most supermarket cuts are aged 5 to 7 days, though many upscale steakhouses and specialty grocery stores offer beef aged longer. Meat stops getting tender after 10 to 16 days, but after that it continues to get more flavorful. Beef is about 70 percent water. Immediately after slaughter, a carcass will lose 2 to 3 percent of its weight due to evaporation, and then another 1 to 1.5 percent each week after that. As it ages and water continues to evaporate, flavors get concentrated. This is the reason why aged beef is more expensive—the same animal produces fewer pounds of meat. There are two ways to age beef.
