Nearly all wet aging uses the "Cryovac" process. It involves tightly wrapping and hermetically sealing the meat in polyethylene bags. Though this modern technique hardly tenderizes the meat, the mass-market meat industry favors it over the old-fashioned method because less shrinkage occurs and because the so-called aging can conveniently take place as the meat is shipped across the country from the slaughterhouse to your butcher's refrigerated walk-in storage locker.

Another wet-aging disadvantage is that moisture is trapped inside the wrapping. This can give the meat a relatively mushy texture compared to the firm texture of a traditionally dry-aged meat.

** Asian Recipes **