Certified Executive Chef Brandon Harpster has taught at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Neb., for 16 years. He also owns a consultation business, Harpster Culinary, and is part owner of Single Barrel, a restaurant and bar in Lincoln, Neb.

As hunger for quality meat supersedes previous generations, Southeast Community College (SCC) in Lincoln, Nebraska, is ensuring that its culinary students can meet the demand for palatable protein. To achieve optimum flavor and texture, a dry-aging appliance was added to the SCC culinary kitchen last fall.

Culinary/hospitality program instructor Brandon Harpster considers the meat ager “my baby.”

“I take a lot of pride in it. I am obsessed with dry-aged meats,” Harpster said.

A Nebraska City native and SCC alumnus, Harpster has been in the restaurant business his entire life. For the past 16 years, he has been a full-time instructor at SCC, where he teaches the selections of protein products class, culinary fundamentals and banquet and buffet operations.

Dry aging meat intensifies the flavor and tenderness. Harpster has used the meat dry ager for beef, pork, veal, lamb, fish and poultry.

Part of the proteins class curriculum includes dry-aging a piece of meat in the Dry Ager, a controlled-environment refrigerator manufactured in Germany. Students put the cuts of meat in the Dry Ager at the beginning of the semester and “nurture” it over the course of the semester.

Boxed meat is typically purchased wholesale, although the students also get experience with an entire carcass. Main objectives of the proteins class include learning how to “properly cut basic butchery” and gain “an understanding of how meats work” so they can make informed decisions when purchasing meats in the industry.

Only certain meat cuts, such as steak or loin, are dry-aged as Harpster is particular about his selections.

True dry-aging controls the humidity, air flow and temperature of the environment. Harpster said his model uses UV lighting “to kill bad bacteria but allow good bacteria and mold” to grow, essential in the dry-aging process.

Each piece of meat is “nurtured” throughout the semester at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Neb. Students track weight, condition and yield losses as the meat undergoes the dry-aging process.

The commercial-grade Dry Ager at SCC has a 44-pound capacity. Because the pieces are smaller, the rate of dry-aging within the classroom is different compared to the time meat is aged in a meat locker.

Harpster said he dry-ages a minimum of 28 days, with 100 days producing flavor that is too intensive. Maximum flavor, texture and tenderness benefits are achieved right around 60 days.

“We bring in young, fresh beef and now they (the students) can see what it is before it goes into the dry-aging cabinet – what the condition is – and how it’s changed after 28 days in the cabinet,” said Harpster.

Students can then factor in yield loss and cost differences when purchasing meat cuts.

Harpster uses the Dry-Ager primarily for beef, pork, veal, lamb and sausage. He also dabbles in charcuterie items, such as bresaola (beef eye of round) and prosciutto (typically made from pork ham). Over the summer, Harpster plans to experiment dry-aging fish and duck.

Beyond SCC, Harpster is a partner with the Single Barrel restaurant. Located in the Graduate Lincoln hotel in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Single Barrel is a “Nebraska Butchery, Bourbon and BBQ.” Harpster also owns a consultation business, Harpster Culinary, where he develops and sells recipes and performs demos for equipment manufacturers.

All of this immersion in the restaurant industry enables Harpster to prepare his students for real-world kitchen scenarios. With the addition of the dry-meat ager, they now gain insight into a completely different aspect of food preparation.

“Utilizing equipment like the Dry-Ager, we are teaching our students to be technology-based and efficient using that equipment, which makes them more valuable as employers struggle to fill kitchen positions,” Harpster said.

Averaging 10 students, the small class sizes at SCC “gives us more time for one-on-one engagement to really help the students with their needs individually,” Harpster said. If a class size is more than 12 students, another instructor is added.

These students enter the workforce at restaurants, hospitals, hotels, country clubs and even retirement communities. Harpster said that people are used to having restaurant-quality food, so the demand for chefs within retirement communities is increasing.

Part of that quality boils down to how the main dish – the meat – is prepared. SCC students will be able to serve the desired delectable, dry-aged meat after learning through the careful guidance of Harpster.

Reporter Kristen Sindelar has loved agriculture her entire life, coming from a diversified farm with three generations working side-by-side in northeastern Nebraska. Reach her at Kristen.Sindelar@midwestmessenger.com.

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Reporter Kristen Sindelar has loved agriculture her entire life, coming from a diversified farm with three generations working side-by-side in northeastern Nebraska. Reach her at Kristen.Sindelar@midwestmessenger.com.

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Certified Executive Chef Brandon Harpster has taught at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Neb., for 16 years. He also owns a consultation business, Harpster Culinary, and is part owner of Single Barrel, a restaurant and bar in Lincoln, Neb.

Dry aging meat intensifies the flavor and tenderness. Harpster has used the meat dry ager for beef, pork, veal, lamb, fish and poultry.

Each piece of meat is “nurtured” throughout the semester at Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Neb. Students track weight, condition and yield losses as the meat undergoes the dry-aging process.

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