Long and slow cooked beef loses flavour

well, here or elsewhere somebody mentioned "aged beef" vs "bloody juice running out"
that is, imho, a valid observation.
for this particular family dish, which is clearly stated as a "two day prep" - the essential bit is cooling/aka refrigerating the meat chunk overnight and 'reheating' aka 're-braising' the dish.
the cool & re-heat/braise is absolutely the key 'trick'

reheating the previously geletin-ized bits make it 'da bombe'
but, that's just us.

try it. if you don't like it do not do that again....
 
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epicuric said:
You can't really. Apart from colour - the darker the better, avoid anything that's bright red and leaking fluid, it's not been aged for long enough. That would include most supermarket beef. Buying direct from the farm gate is best, if you can. They can't blame suppliers for a bad batch like a butcher can. I've known quite reputable butchers take a bit of a flyer with a borderline product. A fair proportion of customers either wouldn't notice, or would assume responsibility for cooking it badly. The few that did complain would get a free replacement, thus maintaining customer loyalty anyway.
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How is basic aging done in the UK. Here, supermarket/retail beef is wet aged, so the color doesn't change a lot. It gets a bit darker. Prime steakhouses and higher end meat markets dry age beef, which really changes the color, and they lose a lot of water weight.

Either way, the beef is aged in large, often primal cuts, and then cut into steaks and roasts.

CD
 
caseydog said:
How is basic aging done in the UK. Here, supermarket/retail beef is wet aged, so the color doesn't change a lot. It gets a bit darker. Prime steakhouses and higher end meat markets dry age beef, which really changes the color, and they lose a lot of water weight.

Either way, the beef is aged in large, often primal cuts, and then cut into steaks and roasts.

CD
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Dry aged at the butchers I know of. They have temperature controlled cabinets with it hung in the window of this butchers in Saffron Walden:

48508


Here is the cabinet - Himalayan Salt blocks:

48509
 
Morning Glory said:
Dry aged at the butchers I know of. They have temperature controlled cabinets with it hung in the window of this butchers in Saffron Walden:
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That is a specialty shop. I am wondering about regular retail beef in the UK.

CD
 
... I may be wrong. I found this (from 2015):

"Much of the beef we eat in the UK is 'wet-aged'; packaged in vacuum-sealed bags for a few days or more with no contact with the air, only blood. In dry-ageing – until a few decades ago the dominant form – the meat is hung in a cold room for an extended period of time, which changes the flavour and texture dramatically."

Going behind the trend of long ageing in the world of high-end beef
 
Morning Glory said:
... I may be wrong. I found this (from 2015):

"Much of the beef we eat in the UK is 'wet-aged'; packaged in vacuum-sealed bags for a few days or more with no contact with the air, only blood. In dry-ageing – until a few decades ago the dominant form – the meat is hung in a cold room for an extended period of time, which changes the flavour and texture dramatically."

Going behind the trend of long ageing in the world of high-end beef
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That's what I expected, and what is done here. Dry aging takes a lot of time, and there is a lot of waste, since you have to cut off the outer "crust" of the meat to eat it.

CD
 
caseydog said:
That's what I expected, and what is done here. Dry aging takes a lot of time, and there is a lot of waste, since you have to cut off the outer "crust" of the meat to eat it.

CD
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Yep. But our supermarkets are now stocking the dry aged kind. Its bloody good...
 
caseydog said:
How is basic aging done in the UK. Here, supermarket/retail beef is wet aged, so the color doesn't change a lot. It gets a bit darker. Prime steakhouses and higher end meat markets dry age beef, which really changes the color, and they lose a lot of water weight.

Either way, the beef is aged in large, often primal cuts, and then cut into steaks and roasts.

CD
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Exactly the same here. Dry aged beef is fairly niche and good suppliers can take some finding. They often struggle, because most people don't appreciate the difference, and thus aren't willing to pay the price premium.
 
epicuric said:
Exactly the same here. Dry aged beef is fairly niche and good suppliers can take some finding. They often struggle, because most people don't appreciate the difference, and thus aren't willing to pay the price premium.
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Dry aged beef, before it is cut and trimmed for use, looks really nasty. If people see it in that stage, they may not want to try it.

CD
 
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