Aging meat for several days/weeks at refrigerated temperatures, allows enzymes naturally present in the meat to break down the muscle tissue, resulting in improved texture and flavor.
A less common method and the same method Seven Sons utilizes, is called dry aging. With this method, the whole carcass is held fresh and is exposed to the air so that dehydration can further concentrate the meat’s flavor. This process is more expensive because the meat loses weight from dehydration the longer it is aged, but ultimately results in a more tender product. We choose to dry-age our meat for 5-10 days.
The most commonly used aging method is called wet-aging. With this method, the meat is immediately cut and packaged, then held fresh for the desired aging period before finally being frozen. We do have a few wet aged products, and those include all of our beef and bison steaks, beef fajita meat, and beef and bison filet mignon kabobs. The product is dry aged first, then wet aged the remaining number of days to total 30 days in whole.