Pop quiz: how well do you know your steak?

[WillTravelForFood]

on the Food Network show "Money Hungry", the contestants have to identify different food, usually by taste. Most items in this particular episode were fairly easy and straightforward for the casual observer to say "oh my, that is easy"

In this case, the contestant was given two identically prepared ribeyes and was asked to identify which if the two was dry aged.

I dont think I could tell by sight or touch, and the two steaks look cooked a little over (probably on purpose)

what would you use as guidance to make your own correct guess? What would be indicators to look for to confirm dry aged vs not?

[rodkeary]

Dry aging usually results in significant shrinkage so I’m guessing the smaller ribeye on the left is the one that has been dry aged.

[Mr. Bones]

My guess'd haveta be LH dry aged...could be several hunnert percent wrong.

Gots me a 50/50 shot, at least...

[shify]

Visually or by touch, I’d try to determine texture first. Dry aged should be firmer whereas the other should have a softer, mushier texture. I was thinking back to when I was in my 20s, when I went back home, my parents took me a few times to a local steakhouse that loved to advertise their wet aged steak and I could never get over how mushy and spongy it felt compared to the dry aged steaks I associated with steakhouses (business meals)

[barelfly]

Visually - based on what I’ve noticed with my own dry aging, dry aged steaks don’t have the same juice that non-dry aged steaks have. I can’t see if either have any juice remnants, but there is also a texture component, with some of that being the "bark" that is formed during the process. I don’t trim this off, and you can usually feel and see some of this even after cooked. And, from the pic, even that is hard to determine.

but….always fun to have these types of guess which one!

[smokin fool]

I'd just say keep em commin'....I'll figure this out soon enough....

[bbqLuv]

Just do long as got to eat them. That is the important part. Both look good eating.
But I would pick . . . not sure. Butter is not melting, the steaks are not hot.

[HawkerXP]

How do you go by taste when there is a half pound on butter sitting on it?

[WillTravelForFood]

On the show, the contestant scraped the butter off both steaks (as did a Well Known Celebrity Chef who was acting as the "Chef Lifeline" option if needed)

The contestant did comment on how dry aged should result in a smaller steak, but both steaks appeared to be of "similar" size on the actual platter.

The chef contestant was not a large red meat eater. Knew that dry aging would enhance the flavor, but "didn't know if that would result in a game-y flavor. They noted that the steak on the right of the camera shot had a more pronounced flavor vs the one on the left.

His guess was that since the one on the left of the screen shot had "a more undesirable texture", he surmised that the one on the right was dry aged.

He guessed correctly

[Spinaker]

I would like to think I could tell the difference., Dry Aged tends to be more tender and have a little bit of a funky taste to it. But in the moment....when money.......or death is on the line.....WHO KNOWS!

[ecowper]

One word of advice. Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line. It’s one of the classic mistakes.

[Spinaker]

LOL, so true............That and a land war in Asia. ecowper