Unpopular opinion: wet aging vs dry aging in a small shop

I visited that little butcher shop in Portland last month, the one on SE 12th, and they swear by wet aging everything in cryovac for 21 days minimum. Says it's more consistent and less waste. But I've always been a dry aging guy myself, even if I lose 20% trim on a primals. What do you all think works better for a small shop with limited cooler space?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wren14d ago

We run a small setup in my town and I had this same debate about a year ago. We went with wet aging for most of our primals just because we only have a single 4 foot tall reach-in cooler. Dry aging that ribeye primal woulda taken up a whole shelf for weeks and that just doesn't work when you're trying to keep ground chuck and chicken thighs in stock too. The loss on dry aging was brutal for us, like you said 20% trim plus the extra electricity from running a dedicated fridge. But we do keep one small dry aging chamber for special order stuff, like a whole strip loin for a regular customer who pays a premium. It's a pain to manage but it brings in a certain crowd that's willing to wait and pay for it.

parker_patel8414d ago

At least 20% trim plus the extra electricity" is exactly why I stopped trying to make dry aging work in my garage. I felt like a dang scientist monitoring humidity and airflow for weeks just to lose a fifth of it. But I get it @the_wren, sometimes you gotta do what works for the space you got. Honestly, wet aging feels like cheating but it keeps the customers happy and the fridge full. I guess it's like beer - sometimes you want the fancy stuff and sometimes you just want a cold can. Nothing wrong with keeping it simple when you're running a small operation.