Fresh or aged? A butcher's honest breakdown of what hanging time does to flavour, texture, and price.
Fresh beef is bright, mild, and wonderfully versatile. Aged beef — hung in a humidity-controlled room for weeks — loses moisture, concentrates flavour, and develops that unmistakable nutty depth.
Neither is better; they are different tools. Cook fresh cuts hot and fast for clean beef flavour. Save dry-aged steaks for occasions when the meat itself is the event.
One rule covers both: buy from a counter that grinds, trims, and ages in-house. The shorter the chain between farm and case, the better the steak.
