Had to choose between wet aging and dry aging a prime rib for a customer

Guy wanted a 14-day aged rib roast for Easter dinner. I pushed him toward wet aging because dry aging costs more and shrinks the meat by 20%. He went with dry anyway. Called me two days after Easter saying it was the best beef he ever had. Has anyone else had customers ignore your advice and still end up happy?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinnm771d ago

...and my buddy had almost the exact same thing happen with a brisket last year. He warned the guy that dry aging would shrink it way more than wet aging, but the customer insisted. My friend said he handed it over thinking "well, I tried to tell you." Two weeks later the dude came back raving about how it was the best brisket he'd ever made. Guess sometimes the customer knows what they want even if the numbers say otherwise. Did you end up charging him extra for the shrinkage?

lily_cooper22h ago

Had a guy last year who insisted on dry aging a prime rib for 45 days even though I told him it'd lose like 30% of the weight. He just shrugged and said he'd pay for the original weight so I charged him for the whole thing. Turned out he was a retired chef and knew exactly what he was doing. Served it at a family reunion and everybody lost their minds over it. Guess @quinnm77 is right - sometimes the customer knows something the numbers don't show.

keith27418h ago

Huh. Well that explains why my attempts at dry aging just turned my fridge into a science experiment. I once tried dry aging a steak for a week and ended up with something that smelled like a wet sock and tasted like regret. Guess there's a reason I stick to selling the stuff instead of making it.