Page 82 - Summer2008

INFLUENCE OF AGING cooked and will be especially tender. This span
Very rapid chilling immediately after of time lasts perhaps two and a half hours, after
slaughter causes the muscle bers to shorten. which the carcass is hung and rigor mortis (the

These tightly contracted muscle bundles resist contracting of muscle  bers) sets in, the effects
stretching in the hanging carcass and produce of which will be exacerbated by excess chilling
tough meat. In Everything I Want to Do Is Illegal, just mentioned. However, going through normal
Joel Salatin explains why U.S. government regu- rigor improves meat quality in several ways. The
lations on post-slaughter carcass temperatures meat texture is  rmed up, and the water-holding
are ruining artisan beef production: “When a ability of the meat proteins is enhanced, produc-
steer is slaughtered, the muscle tissue releases an ing juicier meat.
enzyme called calpain. This enzyme keeps the The flavor and texture of meat benefit

bers from shrinking, or tightening, and instead greatly from aging after rigor. The proper aging
makes them relax. Activated by calcium and only of meat is the work of the endogenous enzymes in
viable in ambient room temperature, this enzyme the muscles as they break down large molecules
works for only a couple of hours after an animal into smaller,  avorful fragments. The enzymes

dies. But if the bers get cold, it shuts down. One need time (two to six weeks, depending on the

of the biggest problems in the grass-nished beef age of the animal) and temperatures between 34
business is tough tissue, which many experts and 40°F. Nineteenth century meat was aged at
have blamed on insufcient intramuscular fat, room temperature for a period of days to weeks

or marbling. until the outer portion was indeed rotten, in a
“Yet hunters know that very lean venison process the French called morti cation.
and elk is tender, with virtually no intramus- Meat aging that exposes the carcass to the
cular fat. What’s the difference? The difference air (these days temperature- and humidity-con-
is that wild game usually stays out at ambient trolled) is called dry aging, and in spite of the
temperature for hours before being chilled. By tremendous contribution that the process confers
the time the hunter. . . gets it to refrigeration, the upon meat quality, the modern meat industry
meat has been out for hours, allowing calpain its generally avoids it as not cost effective, of course.
maximum tenderizing function. Trained butchers must monitor the dry-aging
“Under government inspection, however, process; the meat will lose moisture and weight
the regulations require [that] the carcasses must as it ages and must be carefully trimmed of dried,
be in the chill room blasted by frigid air within sometimes moldy or rancid surfaces. The result
one hour of slaughter. An animal that doesn’t of proper dry aging, however, is an intensely
comply is automatically discarded. . . When meaty, buttery or nutty  avor and tender tissue,
The proper one of my grass-nished animals is shoved into even from older animals. Farmers who sell grass-

aging of meat a chill room next to one of these [feedlot] fat  nished beef and who are able to fully control
is the work carcasses, the internal temperature will drop the processing of their beef can provide meat that
much faster than the next door neighbor with a has been properly aged and therefore tender and
of the 200-pound coat of fat. As a result. . . the regula- avorful.

endogenous tions inherently chill the leaner pasture-nished When meat is aged at all in the commercial

enzymes in carcasses down. . . too fast. The faster cooling industry, a process called wet aging is used, in
deactivates the calpain, which stops the tissue which the meat is sealed in Cryovac (plastic), and
the muscles relaxation, which creates tough meat.” protected from oxygen. It loses no moisture or
as they break weight, does not require the skill of a knowledge-
down large PROPER AGING TECHNIQUES able butcher to monitor the process, and while

enzymes create some tenderness, the avor does
In Kitchen Mysteries, Hervé This’s sum-
molecules mary of the meat tenderizing process is brief not develop as in slow, dry aging techniques.
into smaller, but accurate: “Very fresh meat is tender, but
flavorful fresh meat is tough; gradually it becomes tender AGING MEAT IN YOUR KITCHEN
You can continue the aging process of meat
again, then it rots.” For a short period after beef is
fragments. slaughtered, the meat can immediately be cut and at home in order to enhance its tenderness and
80 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2008