Wet aging brisket?

Jbomar

For you experienced brisketeers, do you let your brisket sit in vacuum wrap in the fridge for several days before smoking it?
I've been reading up on it some and would like to try it. Basically is it worth it and how do I not screw it up because that's a lot of time and money. 

Darby_Crenshaw

several weeks, not days. in cryo.

alton brown, who has to be careful what he says, admitted that he goes 6 to 8 weeks wet aging

SPRIGS

I don't know the science behind it so these are just my observations.  I have wet aged prime rib in the cryovac for up to a month.  I could not detect any type of taste difference as you get with dry aging but the prime rib I have wet aged always appear to be more tender.  I have left brisket in the cryovac in the fridge for up to 3 weeks before I got around to smoking it with no ill effects.  Not sure it made the brisket any more tender though.

EggObsessed

My husband and I took a class from a local BBQ guy, here in Austin.  He recommended keeping the brisket in the cryo for 6-8 weeks.  We've done this numerous times, and it yields a very tender product.  We once went to 8 weeks, and it seemed like too long.  We prefer right at 6 weeks.

Darby_Crenshaw

> I have wet aged prime rib in the cryovac for up to a month.  I could not detect any type of taste difference as you get with dry aging but the prime rib I have wet aged always appear to be more tender. 

so, this is sorta what's happening.

"wet aging" is aging, pure and simple.  you get ONLY the effects of aging from this process, which effects include tenderness and a certain 'aged' flavor.  the hard-to-describe 'aged' flavor is present in prosciutto quite a bit, but with beef none of us (few of us) have had occasion to really notice it because it's not common.  how often do we have aged beef aged as long as prosciutto is? and when we do, there's so much going on that we can't pluck out that one flavor and spot it.

what it is is, flavorless protein gets broken down into amino acids, which DO have flavors.  it's the enzymes in the meat that do this.  this occurs slowly in cold temps, but we need to refrigerate it or it will spoil.  so the flavor in beef is more mild and takes much longer to develop. in prosciutto though, hell, you can hang that at room temp and the proteins will break down much more quickly and strongly (to over-simplify)

secondarily, you get more perceived tenderness because the proteins are broken down.  muscle is protein.  break it down and it gets more tender.  it also means the proteins won't denature when you cook it and squeeze out all the juices as much as just slapping a fresh steak on the grill might cause.

so, that's what's happening when you age (and again, wet aging is merely aging).

so why dry age?

well, take all that new flavor from the ex-proteins (now flavorful amino acids), and take the flavor in fat, and wring out the water.  water has no flavor.  get rid of it.  if you have ever had plain beef jerky (not hyped up on extra flavors), it is really beefy.  it weighs less than half what it did as fresh beef, and the ONLY thing missing is flavorless water.  which means the flavor is condensed.

so, "Dry aging" is more properly thought of as "aging, plus drying/condensing

which accounts for your experience with different texture/flavor

juiciness in a steak is overrated.  juice on a plate or in a steak is nothing more than water carrying away flavor.  lose the water, and keep the flavor in the steak.  it will still be moist after losing 20-25% of its weight in water

Jbomar

EggObsessed said:

My husband and I took a class from a local BBQ guy, here in Austin.  He recommended keeping the brisket in the cryo for 6-8 weeks.  We've done this numerous times, and it yields a very tender product.  We once went to 8 weeks, and it seemed like too long.  We prefer right at 6 weeks.

Do you have to trim a lot after aging before you smoke? If so, how do you know how much, is the coloration different?

EggObsessed

@Jbomar:  The color of the brisket doesn't change at all, as it does with dry aging.  Even after six weeks, there is no difference in color or smell.  Just trim off the fat, as you would have even if not wet aged.

TexanOfTheNorth

EggObsessed said:

@Jbomar:  The color of the brisket doesn't change at all, as it does with dry aging.  Even after six weeks, there is no difference in color or smell.  Just trim off the fat, as you would have even if not wet aged.

You may notice a slight "off" odor when opening cyro-packaged meat. This is normal and should dissipate within a few minutes or less.