Date of Graduation

7-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Animal Science (MS)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Animal Science

Advisor/Mentor

Setyabrata, Derico

Committee Member

Denzer, Morgan

Second Committee Member

Johnston, Nick

Keywords

dry aging, waste products, producer perspectives, cost, sourcing, processing parameters, demand, safety

Abstract

Despite the projected increase in the dry aging market, producers may be hesitant to incorporate dry aging practices. This thesis aims to identify primary concerns faced by producers in implementing a dry aging program. Semi-structured interview surveys were conducted via Qualtrics (N = 100). Results indicated that an “advanced” level of dry aging knowledge correlated with a higher importance in the use/sale of dry aged products (P = 0.02). Cost, demand, and sourcing were the top three concerns of producers practicing dry aging. Those considering implementation were concerned with cost, processing parameters, safety, demand, and sourcing. No significant differences were found between concern rankings within groups, implying that primary concerns are shared among participants (P > 0.05). One way to address cost concerns is to revalorize the crust formed during dry aging. Survey results indicated that 46% of the respondents utilize crust and trim waste to generate profit. This lack of recapturing value may be due to microbial concerns. Therefore, this thesis also aimed to evaluate the impact of differently treated crust inclusions on final ground beef quality. Ground beef (80 lean:20 fat) was divided into five treatments: CON (beef only), NTC (non-treated crust), WW (warm-water washed crust), DH (dehydrated crust), and SV (sous-vide crust). Treated crusts were chopped, mixed with ground beef (10% inclusion), reground, formed into patties, and subjected to quality and microbial analyses. Significant differences were found between day 1 (d1) and day 7 (d7) pH (P < 0.05). Rapid color decline for NTC and WW was observed, with interaction effects observed for most color traits (P < 0.05). CON displayed increased lipid oxidation (P < 0.05). CON, DH, and SV had lower initial microbial concentrations (P < 0.05). SV showed elevated hardness values with DH as an intermediate to other treatments (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found for proximate analysis, cook loss, or display loss (P > 0.05). DH and SV minimally impacted quality while reducing initial microorganism presence. Combined, the application of interventions such as dehydration and sous vide to dry-aged crust prior to further use may reduce waste generated by these operations while addressing a variety of producer concerns, primarily related to cost and profitability of the dry-aging production.

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