What's the Difference Between Aging Beef and Spoiled Beef?

[DaveC426913]

Well-aged beef is hung for as much as 30 days until it goes green. The green is scraped off and you have a very expensive, tasty piece of meat.

Beef in my fridge goes off after a week or two and if I eat it I will get sick.

What is the difference?

I'm sure the first responses will talk about specific types of mold. Are the ones in aging not harmful? If I eat that green piece of meat, I'll still get sick, right? And no amount of scraping will get enough off that I won't still ingest large quantities. So what gives?

 

[NateTG]

Properly aging meat does not allow any mold or bacterial colonies to grow on it. If you're removing parts from the roast after aging, it should only be because they're dessicated, not because they've rotted.

 

[Bystander]

"Aging" is a result of activities of enzymes within the beef, not the result of a "friendly" mold growth like a cheese --- the molds that get going in your fridge ain't "friendly."

 

[DaveC426913]

Oh.

"Beef is aged for 7 to 21 days. During this process a crust forms on the outside of the loin, very similar to the texture of beef jerky. This layer is trimmed away, leaving steaks that are superior in tenderness and flavor. During the dry aging process, the juices are absorbed into the meat, enhancing the flavor and tenderizing the steaks."

http://www.askthemeatman.com/dry_aging_beef_info.htm

So, no green coating.