Aging meat consists of chemical reactions catalyzed by the meat's own
enzymes (self-digestion). Analogous to fruit ripening.

Rotting requires bacteria.

Raw meat can age and can rot, raw fruit can ripen and rot. Cooked meat
can rot but doesn't age, cooked fruit can rot but doesn't ripen. If
you dehydrate fruit, it doesn't rot; same if you dehydrate meat.

You have to know that commercial meat is not fresh, it has usually
been aged for at least 1 week, if not much more. (Even fish can stay on
boats for 2 weeks or more.) That's enough for people who eat it
cooked, but not always if you eat it raw because the flesh might be
too tough or tasteless. To obtain aged -and not rotten- meat: several
methods have been described in the archives. I personnally prefer meat
that is still relatively fresh, so I just let it sit in the fridge for
2 days (without the plastic) before I start to eat it.


--Jean-Louis Tu <[log in to unmask]>