Here at Sloane’s we only purchase whole carcass beef from trusted farms and dry-age it ourselves.
After years of Thailand only getting cryovaced bags of Ribeye, Striploin and Filet from Australian feedlots, for far too long it was the only beef Thailand’s steak lovers had on offer… or seemed to want. But with the ever growing and improving beef industry in Thailand other cuts are becoming available and the better importers are now bringing in the more interesting cuts too.
Here at Sloane’s we only purchase whole carcass beef from trusted farms and dry-age it ourselves. Buying a whole carcass means a lot of work and also means certain popular cuts like Ribeye and Striploin are in short supply (sorry they’re so often not available!)
A carcass of beef is about 400kg and that only produces about 8kg of ribeye or 12 Tomahawks. We regularly get asked why don’t we just buy more? But to keep the quality we feel we need to buy whole carcass only and we leave the cryovac bags of wet aged meat to the importers.
So after those premium cuts, we have a lot more to sell. Luckily a carcass of beef has a huge range of much more interesting cuts than a boring Tomahawk so here’s a brief description of a few of the secondary cuts we love and are available from Sloane’s
From the Chuck
Dry-Aged Beef
What is dry aging? Beef needs aging, when fresh it’s tough and the full range of flavours haven’t developed yet, so it needs a few weeks to improve.
Nowadays most beef is wet aged as it’s an easy and cost effective way to age the beef. Wet aging is where the beef has been kept in plastic and aged from a few days to a few weeks in bags.
For some leaner cuts like a tenderloin it can actually be beneficial, but before the invention of cryovac bags beef was just hung up in a cool area. Modern butchers who dry-age beef now use aging rooms/ fridges with specific climate conditions to get the best results.
When dry-aging the moisture slowly evaporates and intensifies the flavour. While the enzymes in the beef go to work and break down the muscle fibres and produce a tender piece of meat. Depending on the cut of meat, this takes about 21-28 days, with the large steak areas like the rib needing the longest.
When dry-aging it’s important that the carcass is fresh, with the trend of small aging fridges in restaurants, it’s a common mistake by chefs to open a bag of wet-aged meat and then place it in a dry aging cabinet for a while and call it dry-aged.
With wet aging the beef has already soaked up some of the juices when sitting in a bag for a few weeks. This can give the beef an overly iron taint, or even hints of plastic.
More About The Dry-Aged Basics
Dry-Aged Beef
When done correctly it produces an excellent piece of beef, but it does come at a cost compared to wet aging. The weight loss and additional trim involved adds up, especially on an expensive cut and the cost of holding the beef for a month or more is high, so expect to pay a premium for beef that’s been aged correctly, but it’s certainly worth it.
Here at Sloane’s we dry age all our beef, starting with aging as half carcasses, then cut at different times to get the best from each area. Some parts are aged just 14 days, others 21 days then our steak areas a minimum of 28 days.
Dry-Aged Wagyu Denver Steak
The Denver steak is cut from a little used area of the chuck making it a moist and tender cut with great marbling.
Best cooked on a high heat and served medium-rare.
Dry-Aged Wagyu Burgers
Sloane’s Wagyu Burgers
Dry-aged Thai Wagyu Beef Burger made from a mix of Short Rib, Brisket and Shank for the best flavour and tenderness.
Just ground beef, so fully Gluten Free & Keto Friendly
