Lobel´s of New York dry ages all of its fresh
USDA Prime meat to perfection by holding it in coolers
at a temperature of 34-38 degrees F. We age beef for
four to six weeks. Veal and lamb are young, delicate
and tender, and are hung in our coolers for no more
than a week.
Aging produces beef that is naturally tender and flavorful.
Nothing the cook does to add flavor in the kitchen is
a substitute for starting with properly aged meat.
There are two types of aging: Dry aging and wet aging.
Dry aging is the choice of the discriminating chef.
The wet aging process involves sealing meat in airtight
Cryovac bags. Wet aging does less to enhance flavor
and tenderness than dry aging.
Dry-aged meat is increasingly difficult to find because
the process is expensive and time-intensive. During
dry aging, the meat´s natural enzymes act as a
tenderizer, breaking down the connective tissue that
holds the muscles. At the same time, the evaporation
of moisture improves texture. Dry aging continues until
a thin coating develops on the meat surface. The coating
seals in flavor and juices during aging, and is then
trimmed off. Loss of weight results from the evaporation
of moisture and from trimming, and both of these processes
add to the cost of dry aging meat.
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Beef
Look for beef with a minimum of outer fat.
The fat should be creamy in color. The bones should
be soft looking with a reddish color. The meat should
be firm, fine-textured, and a light cherry- red color.
Lamb
Meat from high-quality young lambs is fine-textured,
firm and lean. It is pink in color and the cross sections
of bones are red, moist and porous. The external fat
should be firm and white and not too thick. In older
lambs the meat is light red, the fat is apt to be thicker
and creamy in color, and the bones may look drier, harder
and less red than those of younger lambs.
Veal
Prime-quality veal should be from almost white to a
very light pink. The flesh should have a firm, velvety
and moist look (but not watery). The bones should be
small in width and fairly soft to the touch. They should
be bright red, as though full of blood. The fat covering
the meat should be slight and whitish in color.
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Marbling is the network of fat that runs through a cut
of meat. Some people refer to marbling as "graining."
The best marbling is distributed through the meat with
the fineness of a cobweb. The marble acts as a lubricant,
dissolving into the meat as it is cooked. The silky, tiny
threads in the best Prime meat dissolve evenly and produce
juicy, tender results.
Beef
Prime meat has a delicate interlacing of fat, which
assures a high degree of tenderness.
Lamb
Lamb does have a degree of marbling. This is barely
perceptible in hothouse or baby lamb but becomes more
obvious in older varieties.
Veal
There is some marbling in veal, but you can hardly see
it, due to the whiteness of the meat. Marbling only
occurs in the rib or loin sections.
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Lobel´s recommends that you avoid buying meat with any
of these characteristics:
- Fat that is yellowish or gray
- Meat with absolutely no marbling
- Meat that has a deep red color
- Meat that has a two-tone coloration
- Meat with a coarse texture
- Meat with excessive moisture
- Meat that is too fresh because it has not been aged properly
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