What is so GREAT about dry aged beef??

[El Gibbon]

To me the good ole 'break its leg' freshness has always been paramount. Yea, I know "what a rube" eh?

Last evening we went to Timba's for another B-day, getting to be a habit. In speaking about the specials of the day he mentioned he had some rib eye but it was only 18 days into the process. Profusely apologizing since it wasn't ready, (apparently it takes 24 days to be up to his standards) he did mention it was edible at this stage.

What the hell two us of tried out the guinea pig role and ordered the rib eyes, just to see what all the fuss was about.

The plate arrived and with some trepidation I lifted my knife and gently attacked the beast. Cooked to perfection it was, nice black pepper and coarse salt covering. It sure looked good. Could even have been a candidate for a food magazine photo shoot it was so purdy.

In drawing the knife down upon this beauty I noticed how smooth it cut, half way through it lay open as if I had cut it with a scalpel. Nice and redish pink inside it started giving up its nectar and small droplets of juice drizzled down the sides of the piece onto my plate. Making a wonderful red addendum to the beautifully arranged plate.

The texture and taste was wonderful. Literally damn near melted in your mouth. The guest across the table from me watched all of this introduction to the first bite and was drooling by the time he had cut into his. A wonderful piece of flesh it was and convinced me that the process is worth it.

When I get balls enough I might even try Chitown's recipe. Gotta get a small BBQ first though.

As usual an excellent dining experience at Timba's. We had two Thai teenagers with us, they were full to the max when leaving, even though they were somewhat leery of going to dinner with NO Thai food.

It was good to see Timba's maxed out pretty much. There were only two tops that were empty, nice to see. From speaking with Timba it is apparent he is going to be pretty much 'reservations only' in the not-too-distant future.

E. G.

[blackgang]

Good quality beef does not have to be aged to be good and tender and it will have a different flavor in not left to rot for 3 weeks in the fridge.
When I was young and at home with a family I used to pick one out of a herd or have my butcher/slaughter friend do it, kill it and hang for 4 days and cut and freeze it and we always had good meat.
Commercial slaughter beef is not that quality of beef tho.

Now to tell how this hang and age for 3 weeks came about..
Back when everything went overland to SWIFT ARMOUR& Co. and was killed in the big feed lots in Chicago and railroads were new and slower the Jews had to come up with a gimmick to sell long dead beef to folks in the west.
So they slaughtered and packed less than top quality beef in Ice Bunker cars to ship to the west coast and 3 weeks to get there.
So they came up with this idea that they were doing it because it was good for the meat and when you bought it you were getting some of the most flavorful, Tender beef ever produced in the USA.
And people went for the idea and some still say that meat has to be aged to be good, that idea is wrong if you start with good beef in good shape when it is killed. If you have lived for a time with good fresh meat and then go back to the states and go in a cafe, you can smell the rotten meat smells until you get used to it.
I was raised as a kid on a large beef ranch and the beef we ate was not the beef we shipped, if we were going to kill it, it was fed out and treated different than cows that were going to market feed lots, and we killed it one day, and started to eat it 2 days later and it was good flavored, tender beef.
I am not saying that the beef you buy does not need to be aged, I am saying that you are not buying top quality prime meat if it does need to be rotted before you can eat it.
And storing above freezing so bacteria can work on it for a week or so is damn sure rotting.

[BugginOut]

Well, what's Timba have to say about it?

[bkkandrew]

^I would guess he is still cooking, being only 10.30...

[bruceveld]

I end up buying my steaks at Makro. If I cook it normally its VERY tough. Dry aging makes it much, much more tender.

[dirtydog]

Thai beef is probably on par with motorcycle tyres if you cook it fresh

[blackgang]

Thai beef is probably on par with motorcycle tyres if you cook it fresh

Sure it is, But a Thai cow walks all day to get a mouthful of grass with very little nutritional value, Slaughter beef stand in one place and someone hauls high value grain to them so they stand and fill up on good food.
Also Brahman cattle have no fat marbling of the meat so have to be cross bred with Angus or some other breed that was bred for a meat animal.

[sabang]

Seperating texture and flavour, the Isaan style BBQ beef with e spicy piquant dipping sauce can actually be very tasty, although it indeed has the texture of a tanned hide. Otoh, some fillet cuts just don't work for me because they lack flavour.

If you can get the absolute prime beef, which is actually hard to come by, nothing beats a rump steak for flavour, except maybe beef cheek.

[JoGeAr]

the Isaan style BBQ beef with e spicy piquant dipping sauce

Neua daed dieow - aged for one day drying in the sun. Good stuff !!

[Nawty]

I agree with BG, having come from farms and cattle stations. Get a good piece and cook it straight away and it can be the most tender and flavourfull piece of meat ever.

I once shot a wild buffalo heifer, under 12 months old. We chased her for a bit in the chopper, shot it, then cut out the rumps and back straps. We bbq'd the back straps within 30 minutes of killing it and to this day it was the best and tastiest beef I haver had. This just shows it goes against all the rules of aging and being gentle before knocking it on the noggin.

In the 'what you had for dinner' thread I just posted what the missus cooked for dinner tonight. This was local thai beef and while not the most tender I have had from here, it certainly was not chewy......no rotting.

[Nawty]

So how does this steak look ??

[blackgang]

good marble, what is it? and has it been aged if it is Thai beef.
Looks about like that Kings Kitchen grain fed Thai beef I got awhile back and it was good.

[Nawty]

It just goes to show that some Thai beef is very very good. In fact beats some imported stuff and then when you compare the price....no comparison.

Yes Thai beef at 350b a kilo.....I have got it at various times as low as 290/300b

[Norton]

Thai beef at 350b a kilo.....I have got it at various times as low as 290/300b

Thai/French or some other supplier?

[Frankenstein]

Yep. Some of the local stuff is good, you need to know how to pick it though. I am still learning. BG's opinions were really helpful, I'd green him but it won't let me yet.

[Panda]

From the way I understand it, aging of meat allows the natural enzymes in the meat to break down the fibrous connective tissue that holds it together when alive. But at the same time, storing meat above freezing allows bacteria to multiply in the meat also. Certainly the bugs would be killed and rendered harmless with adequate cooking, but what about those who like their aged steak rare? Surely there has to be a health risk there?

Any fresh killed animal flesh is basically microbe free because of the animals own immune system. But the minute the meat hits the open air its going to be contaminated with lots of different bacteria. Just handling a piece of meat is going to introduce bacteria unless its by a surgeon in an operating theatre.

I am not sure about beef, but I know fish have to be kept at -18 degrees C or below for export to prevent bacterial proliferation. So I imagine a piece of aged beef would be crawling with bugs if you put it under a microscope.

I am not complaining mind you. So long as it tastes good and doesn't make me sick I don't care.

[blackgang]

Thai/French or some other supplier?

I just had a bunch of Thai grain fed ribeye cut into 2 cm steaks and packed 2 to a sealed pack, a striploin cut in 2 pieces that I am now corning and delivered and it cost me 270 baht a kg from ::SIAMFOOD SERVICES::, and TUK is my agent there and it is a fine wholesale house, but you can also get Kobi beef at about 3500 baht a kg.

[Nawty]

Thai beef at 350b a kilo.....I have got it at various times as low as 290/300b

Thai/French or some other supplier?

Yes TF

That picture is not aged, nice fresh beef.

Rotting beef is against my religion

[Norton]

I just had a bunch of Thai grain fed ribeye cut into 2 cm steaks and packed 2 to a sealed pack, a striploin cut in 2 pieces that I am now corning and delivered and it cost me 270 baht a kg from ::SIAMFOOD SERVICES::, and TUK is my agent there and it is a fine wholesale house, but you can also get Kobi beef at about 3500 baht a kg.

Siam Food Services is a good outfit. All sorts of stuff aside from beef. Prices are cheaper than Thai/French and quality as good or better. I understand you get them to deliver. How is this done?

[Norton]

Yes TF

TF is what I usually get right from the ranch in Sakhon Nakhon. Lately quality has been inconsistent so may be looking for another source. TF beef is from Belgain (Charolais) stock so although raised in Thailand are not the typical Bhraman breed which is pretty much yukky stuff.

[good2bhappy]

beef is against my religion

Here, here!

[Nawty]

You forgot the rotting bit.....rotting, decaying, bacterial beef.

[good2bhappy]

^ I dont eat any form of beef

[blackgang]

How is this done?

Get hold of this dude Lawrence Cordes (lc[at]siamfoodservices.com) or

tuk[at]siamfoodservices.com and have them send you a new price list, if you get no action it will surprise me, so if you do not get it let me know, I have dealt with Tuk for about 6 years.
And they have unbaked frozen breads, Mex stuff and Eyetal stuff, frozen veggies from Europe, meat and fish from around the world,
They pack your order in a styrofoam box with enough dry ice to keep it frozen and usually ship on a VIP blue bus the next day to your bus terminal

[Nawty]

^ I dont eat any form of beef

Why not ? .....had a pet cow when ya was a littlun huh...Daisy ?