A guy at the market said he never hangs his beef past 21 days

I was picking up some short ribs at the farmer's market in Springfield and got talking to the guy at the next stall. He runs a small shop and said he never hangs his beef longer than 21 days, calls anything past that a waste and a risk for off flavors. My old mentor always pushed for 28 to 35 days for that deeper funk. This guy swears the sweet spot is 14 to 21 max, says the texture is perfect and the loss is way lower. It got me thinking about how much we all stick to what we were first taught. What's your shop's standard hanging time for a side of beef?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyp6126d ago

Yeah, that whole loss argument is weird... we found the flavor really opens up after 28 days. The texture gets so much better too, like butter.

jennifer_jones1726d ago

Wait, he said the LOSS is way lower? That's the part that gets me. The whole POINT of a longer hang is to lose that excess moisture and concentrate the flavor. If you're stopping at 21 days just to save weight, you're selling water weight, not better beef.

the_claire26d ago

You're totally right about the flavor... I guess I'm just cheap and hate seeing the scale drop. My wallet starts crying after week three. But you're right, it's not really beef at that point, it's just expensive water.