Friday, September 01, 2006

Dry-Aged Right Here in Indy: Kincaid's


Now that I have this whole dry aging issue in my teeth, I'm going to worry it like a dog with a t-bone. This won't be the last you hear of it, but here's some of the marrow of the issue. (Don't stop me now -- I'm on a roll!) If you don't want to dry age at home (and who would) and you don't go to Chicago every weekend, what do you do?

Well, I called the always-helpful, professional butchers at Kincaid's Meat Market at 56th and Illinois. Yes, they carry dry-aged meats almost all the time. Prepared in house, they usually have dry aged t-bone, ribeye, porterhouse, and strip cuts. However, these won't be dry-aged prime. They do carry small amounts of USDA prime in stock, but if you have your heart set on dry-aged prime, you should give them about 10 days. They also can special order the meat and can dry age it for you.

The butchers I spoke to report that USDA Prime has become much more fatty and marbled over the years and now offers more in shrinkage and loss than it does in taste. Kincaid's recommends USDA Choice instead with the experts there convinced it's just a better tasting cut of meat. (Thanks for the chart to Askthemeatman.com. Can I say how much I love that there's a site called Ask the Meat Man?)

I feel a tasting party coming on. I think we may need to try a vertical tasting with cuts aged differently and a horizontal dry-aged tasting with both USDA prime and choice.

Kincaid's Meat Market
5605 N. Illinois
317-255-5497

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