On another forum we were discussing aging beef, wet and dry. I wrote that my father, a butcher, would tightly wrap a side of beef in a wet cotton (I think cotton) shroud and push it into the cooler. It covered only the fat side leaving what was the animal's interior side exposed to the air.
I was asked what its intended function was. The only possible explanation my older sister can provide is that, since it was always pulled as tight as possible, it supported the still warm meat to keep it from sagging.
Do you know the function it performed, Rummm?
