THE DRY AGING CABINET

Dry Aged beef is the best and there is only one way oto achieve this

Use our DRY AGER meat-aging cabinet. Purchase this unit once and it will be yours forever!

The region of Lampertsweiler in Southern Germany, is the centre of the universe – did you not know this?! If not, then you are probably not a game hunter. Hunters from Latvia to Andalusia, who want the best cooling system, probably have one of our game fridges from here. In Lampersweiler, a quiet area of Bad Saulgau, 30 kilometres north of Ravensburg, resides the Landig family. They run their Business producing game cooling units (game fridges), Vacuum Packing Machines and Sous Vide equipment to around the world. Father Manfred (57) and his sons, Christian (34) and Aaron (30) are at the top of their game and they don’t want this to change any time soon. So, this is why they have developed a new item in their range; the “DRY AGER” – it’s the only easy to use cabinet that even the beginner can use to dry-age their own meat.

Before we talk about the sons, here’s what the father had to say. In 2013, there was a lot being said about where was the best place for a good steak. This led to top chefs and suppliers re-discovering meat maturing from beef strip loins to pork and lamb and hung for up to 60 days to achieve a fantastic result, like no other. Before the invention of the vacuum packing machine in the 1960’s, the only way to dry age beef was to hang it freely without any control over temperature, humidity or air quality. This led to a hard layer forming, which had to be cut away. By the time this was done the meat could have lost up to 30% in weight and, as such, 30% fewer sales. Thereafter, “wet” aging in a vacuum sealed bag reduced the weight loss and resulted in a tender piece of meat. Now, most meat has been matured this way, but it leaves a sharp metallic note that most consumers have become use to. Recently, however, a growing popularity in high end steakhouses has seen a need for a perfectly flavoured dry aged steak by people. But where could you obtain this?

Vision: A dry-aging fridge that fits perfectly in terms of hygiene, handling and appearance into the restaurant, in the clubhouse and even in the home. The ready to plug in – 220 volt unit without external water supply – that costs less than R 70.000. For butchers and steakhouses, a unit that will pay for itself, after sales from filling the Dry Ager with meat only three times. A realistic calculation, because a high quality, raw side of beef and with a good marble content, for example from a young Hereford (a female heifer before first calving), costs R 80 to R 90 per kilo directly from the slaughter house. After four to six weeks of dry aging, the cuts have doubled in market value – a Dry Aged steak, from a local cattle breed, rarely costs in store less than R 120 per kilo, your favourite steak from an exotic cattle breed such as Black Angus or Wagyu are even more expensive. The time and the market were right, so it only needed the product. But its development continued, and with Southern-German characteristics such as accuracy, ingenuity, efficiency and ambition in the business, one could expect results. While Christian with some clients from large corporate database wondered whether any would be interested in a mature refrigerator for the home, Aaron devoted art. And concluded: A project is even for an experienced refrigeration engineer like him who has designed artificial ice rinks and large cold storage rooms, no small task. “First of all, we played about for months with the unit, making sure it kept temperature humidity and air circulation perfectly at a set value. Then we bought some meat and for weeks observed what happened in the dry-aging process and how we could improve on the unit,” he says, whilst he checked the readings on the data tracker, which were still in the experimental “Ager ” in the office.