Hello everyone I am Mark Farquhar and I am Head butcher here at Donald Russell. Sorry I have not posted on our blog before – it’s been really busy here lately, but we can’t complain about that can we?
I have been in the butchery trade since 1983 when my apprenticeship began in Aberdeen, Scotland, at a local, traditional butchers shop. In 1990 I joined Donald Russell and was promoted to Head Butcher in 2003 and as they say….the rest is history!
Beef maturing
Maturing and colour:
I get asked a lot of questions about the what makes our meat taste so good so I thought I’d share some of what I know with you.
You may well know that at Donald Russell we take the maturing process of our meat very seriously. It is the key to unlocking the great depth of flavour.
The maturing process causes the enzymes to weaken down the proteins found in meat. Evaporation then causes the remaining proteins to concentrate and intensify the flavour. It really gives our meat the ‘wow’ factor and that’s something we feel all meat should have. Before maturing, meat will be bright red in colour as it has not yet been exposed to oxygen, it will turn a much darker shade once it has been hung and the maturing process get’s underway.
Due to muscle density and location within the carcass this will also determine the length of time needed to mature. All muscles are different in colour and this difference is a natural occurring feature and something you should look out for when selecting great meat.
Marbling is also key to the great flavour in our meat. It is the term given to the small streaks fat which can be found throughout the muscle tissue. Good marbling in meat creates juiciness and flavour, this will melt during the cooking process and really add to the final flavour.
For example, our Ribeyes have excellent marbling through out and an eye of fat in the core of the steak giving this cut it’s rich flavour. They don’t call it the ‘butcher’s favourite’ steak for nothing you know!
My colleague Sandy cutting some Ribeye Steaks. You can see the marbling here
We understand that fat is something we should all enjoy in moderation and that’s why out butchers understand the importance of trimming our meat to such a high standard. For example our Sirloin steaks which are cut from the strip loin section are trimmed to remove the excess fat leaving you just the right amount to sear and give your steak a delicious taste.
I hope this helps to answer some of your questions about our meat but please feel free use our blog to ask me any questions. Remember the photos show meat at various stages during the maturing process and they were taken before any trimming had been done.
Talk soon, Mark
