Why does aged steak get more tender?
Steak's Patient Magic
Why does aged steak get more tender?
You bite into a steak that's been aged for weeks, and it practically melts. But wait — shouldn't meat get tougher as it sits around? What's happening in those cold, dark aging rooms that turns a tough slab into butter?
Inside every piece of meat, there's a hidden scaffold — a network of proteins called collagen and long fibers of muscle tissue, all woven together like ropes in a ship's rigging. Fresh off the butcher's block, these ropes are pulled tight. That's what makes a freshly-cut steak chewy.
