Found out that aged beef loses about 30% of its weight over 3 weeks

I was reading a dry aging guide from a shop up in Portland and it said a 100lb primal can shrink down to 70lbs after 21 days. Had no idea the moisture loss was that high... has anyone else factored that into their pricing?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettywilson1mo agoProlific Poster

Yeah but I gotta push back on that a little... I've been dry aging for a few years now and 30% seems like a worst case scenario if your humidity is way off. A good setup with proper airflow and temp control usually sees more like 15-20% loss over three weeks, maybe 25% if you're pushing it. The pellicle that gets trimmed off accounts for some of that weight too, not just moisture evaporating out. A lot of people get scared off by those big numbers but they're not always accurate for home or small shop aging.

coleman.seth1mo ago

My shop in Chicago runs at 80% humidity and 34 degrees and we still see right around 20% loss at three weeks, so I get where the original number comes from. But yeah, I think a lot of those guides online are written for restaurants that trim heavy and push the drying further than most home users would.