Everyone knows that 28 day aged beef is good. At 35 or even 42 days of dry-ageing, the results are even more melt-in-the-mouth. However, at M restaurants, purveyors of steak royalty, they are now pushing beef boundaries much, much further. Forget 60 or even 90 days; customers here will soon be able to tuck into 175-day aged USDA Prime Rib Eye.
There are several reasons why most restaurants don’t include extreme aged meat on the menu; few can afford the fridge space to age beef for that long and such exclusivity naturally comes at a certain price.
The flavour and texture of the meat changes quite drastically during the course of this process with the beef losing about 40% of its original weight (60% if you include the wastage from the original cut).
When beef ages it loses moisture but never fat or bone so the marbling is a lot more prominent and defined. Dry-ageing for longer also breaks down the collagen, resulting in a texture that is a lot firmer yet incredibly soft, more akin to an air-dried Italian ham than a fresh cut of meat.
Along with this almost silky texture, the resulting flavour is equally unique – punchy, beefy and almost cheesy in taste. M’s 175-day aged USDA Prime Rib Eye will be available from September.