The Ministry of Agriculture’s Taiwan Livestock Research Institute has advanced beef aging techniques, boosting aged beef yields to nearly 90 percent as well as improving its tenderness.
Dry-aged beef is so expensive that it could cost more than NT$1,000 for a steak, mainly due to the low yields of dry-aging methods, the institute said.
Beef aging refers to the process in which beef is held at a low temperature for a period of time, allowing enzymes in the meat to break proteins and fat down into free amino acids and volatile fatty acids, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Taiwan Livestock Research Institute
The aging process enriches the beef’s flavor by adding a touch of the fragrance of nuts or cream, while making the meat taste more fresh and tender, the institute said, adding that such techniques can be categorized into dry-aging and wet-aging.
Beef going through a dry-aging process would be placed bare in a low-temperature environment and end up with a layer of crust forming on the surface, it said.
As the crust must be removed for the meat to be edible, dry-aged beef’s yields are usually less than only 60 percent of the raw beef, the institute said.
The wet-aging method involves wrapping the beef in packaging at low temperatures, and its yields are higher than 90 percent, it said.
However, its flavors are considered less delicious and an odor could develop, as the wrappers can block the beef’s surface water from evaporating, it said.
Such problems could not be easily resolved simply by vacuum-packing the beef and wet-aging it in a fridge, it said, adding that the quality of aged beef depends highly on proper control of the aging room’s humidity and temperature.
The institute has been researching the incorporation of dry-aging techniques under different aging conditions to innovate the wet-aging method, it said.
Although the innovative wet-aging method has yet to meet the goal of 90 percent in yields, it has nearly doubled the number of free amino acids in aged beef, the institute said.
Umami-tasting amino acids, such as glutamic acid, and sweet-tasting amino acids were all found to be significantly higher in aged beef than in raw beef, it added.
The aged beef also had more poly and mono-unsaturated fatty acids, as well as increased volatile substances such as aldehydes and ketones that would add fruit, oil and herb-flavors, the institute said.
To advance beef-aging techniques is not only to optimize aging conditions, but also to establish higher hygiene standards at the slaughter and cutting stages, it said, adding that the quality of local beef could be further enhanced with improved meat processing approaches and technology.
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