04/06/2026
Low relative humidity during dry-ageing? How low it is doesn't seem to make a substantial difference.
The relative humidity of the meat during the ageing process must be maintained within a certain level (usually below 80%) to prevent the proliferation of bacterial colonies on the surface. Scientific literature agrees on this.
But is there a "minimum limit"?
A team of researchers from the University of Nebraska ("Effects of relative humidity on dry-aged beef quality") compared the results of four batches of boneless sirloin steaks: one batch aged at 85% relative humidity, one at 70%, and finally one at 50% (a fourth batch wet-aged).
The temperature was set at 2°C; the process lasted 42 days.
The result is that "no such case hardening effect occurs when dry ageing beef, even when the RH was kept very low (50%), and the total weight loss was 23%. Instead, the lower RH led to more rapid moisture loss at the start of the ageing process, without significantly affecting the total moisture loss. Trim loss, yield, tenderness, and flavour were not affected by relative humidity during dry ageing."
Well, if the result is confirmed by further research, we can conclude that relative humidity must be controlled so that it does not exceed a certain threshold, but we can also rest assured that the recommended humidity range is so broad that we don't have to rack our brains with special calculations and actions to ensure a high humidity level even at a low temperature (which is the real challenge for a dry-ageing machine).
In any case... to age your meat, whatever relative humidity level you want (assuming it falls within the acceptable "range," of course!), you can trust Inox Bim equipment.
And in its display case... as our friends at Il Braciere in Finale Ligure (Italy) did!
