For most foods, especially meat, the experts usually say you’re supposed to throw it out after about a week at most. So how can you ignore all that and stick a chunk of meat in your fridge for sometimes upwards of 60 days and it’s “fine dining?”
And how does eating meat that old not at least give you food poisoning?
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Proper dry-aging is done in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. Moisture is drawn out of the meat to concentrate flavor.
Simply leaving the meat out or in the fridge is different. According to Livestrong.com : “The USDA notes that there are two types of bacteria: pathogenic bacteria and spoilage bacteria. Spoilage bacteria causes the food to start smelling and tasting funny, but consuming it won’t harm you. Pathogenic bacteria, on the other hand, is harmful bacteria that doesn’t affect the taste or smell of the food in any way but can cause you to fall sick.”
Pathogenic bacteria, including E. Coli, salmonella, listeria, and others, thrive in warm, humid environments, which are prevented (along with spoilage bacteria) by the temperature and humidity controlled environment in which meat is dry-aged.
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