Somebody school me on Wet Aging....

[Parkin]

I need some advice, been searching and have only found bits here and there...I got a couple of 7lb whole strip loins from a local meat supplier, cryo-vac sealed and want to try wet aging it. One is in the freezer and one has been in the fridge for 5 days....what am I looking at, time wise...according to the supplier, they're meat is packed and brought from the processor within a day or 2...so theoretically, I'm looking at a week so far. Any advice on handling and time would be great....or is it even worth it?
Cheers!!

[Spinaker]

I wet age all of my briskets to about 30 days. As long as they are in the vac sealed bag, you are fine. Go 30-days from the pack date. I have gone longer but with no real benefits, that I could tell.

You will have a little bit of funkiness when you open the pack, but that is okay. Any rotten, nasty smells are a give away for the trash. However, you will be able to tell if it is going that route through the aging process. If the bag becomes bloated, there is something growing in there and it needs to be tossed. This has only happened to me once while doing wet-aging.

[Rfhd69]

I’ve never done wet aging but am open to it. How "funky" is the smell after 30 days from the packed on date?

[Spinaker]

It’s not bad. You will be able to tell if the meat has gone bad. Rfhd69

[Schwyy]

do you only do this when it's factory sealed? my butcher trims it up and then vacuum seals it but it's definitely not as tight as safe from the packer.

[mgaretz]

If you stand in the shower long enough you get all wrinkled and look more aged....

[Stuey1515]

I've never pushed the envelope with this technique. What effect does this have on the meat, is it a stronger flavour and more tender like dry ageing?

[Loren]

I'm not sure if it adds flavor (I haven't notice a change when I have done it) but it does give the meat more time to breakdown/loosen/relax/tendaaaaaaarize.

[fzxdoc]

The whole idea scares me. Always has. I remember asking about it several years back, thinking to give it a go, got some great answers here, but still said, "Nope. Not now. Not ever."

Kathryn

[Parkin]

That's the school I was raised in. My mom was religious about "use by" dates. So, the concept is foreign to me. I'm gathering that unlike a dry age, there is not much change in flavor, just tenderness. The big question now is, do I have the patience to wait, and is it worth it.

[FireMan]

Put de lime in de coconut and............

Personally, re-iterate personally, I gave up on wet brining over 24 hrs a long time ago, just about the time I joined AR. Why? When I have any other which way.
........and drink em boat up!

[Dewesq55]

Wet brining is not the same as wet aging. Just sayin'.

[FireMan]

Yeah, I know. But I am in the same camp as Kathryn, sorta scares me, just the idea.

[Oak Smoke]

I wet age all my briskets for 60 days. Granted I'm using choice angus not prime, but I've had great luck with this. I do the aging in a refrigerator in the garage. It stays at very close to 32 degrees F and is opened very seldom. The difference is most noticeable in how tender the meat is. There can be a funky odor when you first open the cryovac package. To me it is an odor with a heavy sulfur smell. As soon as the meat and sink are rinsed the smell is gone. If the smell persisted I'd chunk the meat, but so far it hasn't. I've done cryovaced ribeye rolls and NY strip with good results also. To be honest I use it as a tool to let me save a bit on price and still get a great brisket.