Tried a new aging time on my brisket and the results were wild

I usually dry age my briskets for 28 days, but last month I pushed one to 45 days just to see. The flavor got so much deeper and nuttier, but I lost nearly 25% of the weight to trim. It was amazing for a special cut, but not great for my regular weekly yield. How do you all balance flavor development against product loss for your aged items?

3 comments

3 Comments

robinson.quinn1mo ago

That 25% trim loss is the eternal struggle with longer aging.

emerychen1mo ago

Robinson, I see that trim loss as the price for a better product, not a struggle.

torres.jason17d ago

Hear me out on this, because I think people are missing something big. @robinson.quinn is right about the loss being a struggle from a numbers standpoint, but I look at it like the trim is actually doing something else entirely. It's not just about better taste or texture, it's about forcing you to use the leftover trim in creative ways that end up making your whole operation smarter. You can turn that 25% into a killer stock or a sauce that sells on its own, so it's not really lost value, it's just value that moved to a different product. That shift makes you a better chef or butcher because you have to think ahead instead of just cutting and throwing away. So yeah, the loss stings, but it forces a discipline that the "efficient" methods never teach you.