"Ask Mick The Mechanic," Aged Meat and Piezo Electrical Materials

This week, I think that it's entirely appropriate for me to blow my own horn to announce the addition of a new Vlog to the cyber-pages of BoomerBikerOnline.

Its called "Ask Mick the Mechanic" and I've proudly posted our first episode on the front of the Public Access Page of our site. http://www.boomerbikeronline.com/

So, please, everyone -- stop and take a moment to put your hands together to give a rousing round of applause to welcome our show's host and namesake, Mr. Mick Cipolla. (Mick,s bio can be found here: http://www.boomerbikeronline.com/members/184.cfm )

I'm sure viewers will find Mick to be knowledgeable, quick-witted, funny and likeable. He's also outgoing, hard working and an all-around honest American "blue-collar" kinda guy with whom we can all relate.

Entertain and Inform

As its title suggests, "Ask Mick the Mechanic" is interactive. Our goal is to provide a Vlog for our viewers that's as much fun to produce as it is to watch. And to accomplish this, we need your active participation.

Viewers can direct their automotive and motorcycle mechanical questions, comments and suggestions to Mr. Cipolla via askmick@BoomerBikerOnline.com We'll use the feedback to constantly improve our Vlog. Your questions and comments may even appear as content for future episodes of our show.

So, please stay tuned - Mick and I have some exciting plans in the works for future Episodes of "Ask Mick the Mechanic."

And, finally, if you are a business owner who realizes the potential of advertising on our Vlog, please contact webmaster@BoomerBikerOnline for a rate quote.

Aged Beef:

That's how I'm feeling today. You see, just yesterday I turned 60. Yea, I've been told that age is just a number, but this birthday really made me feel like that slab of aged beef.

So, with tongue in cheek, I've decided to shake off personal feelings about my age by providing you readers with some information about the vanishing art of aging beef . I've also included a Tip of the Week about aging meat in your home refrigerator.

In my opinion, there's nothing better than getting up early on a Sunday morning to hit the open road for a leisurely ride on my motorcycle then return home at the end of the day to enjoy a cold beer and throw a couple of properly aged steaks on the BBQ.

Why Aged?

When properly aged, beef is much more tender and flavorful than what you typically buy in the store. The reason for this is that aging allows natural enzymes to breakdown the hard connective tissue in meats and for water to evaporate away concentrating the flavor.

Two ways to age meat

Dry Aging

This method of aging is done by hanging meat in a controlled, closely watched, refrigerated environment. Dry aging is more suitable for the large-scale commercial enterprise where large slabs of meat are hung in refrigerated rooms with controlled humidity and airflow and aged under the watchful eye of an experienced butcher

Wet Aging

This is a less expensive and more common alternative to dry aging. Meat is shipped from packing plants to butchers in vacuum packaging. Butchers can set this packed meat aside in their refrigerators and allow them to age. Since the meat is packed in it's own juices the enzymes will breakdown the connective tissues and make it more tender. However, because there will be no fluid loss the concentration of flavor that you get from dry aging won't happen.

So why not save yourself some money, and age your own beef?

Why can't you just take that vacuum packed primal cut (from which market cuts are taken) from the butcher home, unwrap it and put it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and presto….just like that you'll have a really tender piece of meat, right?

No!. …..

……..like Dry Aging, Wet Aging also needs to be done at precise temperatures and humidity under controlled circumstances. The average family refrigerator just doesn't have what it takes to properly age beef. It is very easy to get a good colony of bacteria going in that meat during the couple of weeks it takes to age a piece of beef.

Worse still…..

…….is this recipe for a trip to the hospital that's been floating around the Internet. Take your prime or choice steaks, unwrap them, rinse with cold water, wrap in a clean kitchen towel and place on the coldest shelf of your refrigerator. Every day for 2 weeks take the steaks out and change the towel. At this point you are promised a fantastic steak, provided you live though the digestive process after eating it.

What you really need…..

…….is the common sense "not" to try this at home It takes lots of experience and knowledge to know when spoilage first starts. There is a definite change in smell and color of the meat so very close inspection is required during the aging process to insure that it doesn't go bad.

The biggest risk to any piece of meat that you buy from the store and attempt to age doesn't necessarily come from your refrigerator. In fact, its prior exposure to bacteria during butchering, packing or shipping that can make that meat unsafe to age.

Tip: Don't try this at home. Leave the aging process to the experts.

The next time you have a hankering for a really good aged steak, make a reservation at your favorite steakhouse.

More information about meat aging can be found here:

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ5968.html

And Finally….

……there was an article in the paper recently that again caught my attention as well as my imagination. This article was about exciting developments in the field of piezo electrical materials, which combines the precision of ultra small Nan technology with the elegance of the piezoelectric effect, in which electricity is generated when pressure is applied to certain materials.

What in the hell is that?…. you say … and anyway, why should I be interested?

Well, someday in the not-so-distant future, the shirt you're wearing might be able to power your iPod - just by doing the normal stuff expected of a shirt. POWER walking may never be the same again.

While the piezoelectric effect has been understood at least as far back as the 19th century, it is getting creative new looks now, as concerns about energy supplies are inspiring quests for alternative power sources.

And one of those who is looking really hard is Professor Zhong Lin Wang. Professor Wang and his colleagues at Georgia Tech University have recently succeeded in developing a micro fiber nanogenerator composed of a pair of entangled fibers. Both fibers are coated with zinc oxide nanowires; one fiber is additionally coated with gold.

When rubbed together, they generate electrical current. And that's a really big deal.

Meanwhile, Australian researchers are also trying to develop clothing that would directly power mobile telephones, portable music players and other small electrical appliances. Their goal is to create fabrick woven with strands of piezo electric material. Garments made from this material would produce renewable electricity for the wearer. Power from the fabric would be fed into flexable batteries (also woven into the shirt)

The allure of the idea is that it doesn't take unusual movement to generate usable electricity. Pretty much anything someone does while wearing a piezoelectric shirt would be productive. Such smart clothing may someday power "back-to-base" medical monitoring equipment used by the elderly and the ill.

Why this technology is still several years away:

Researchers need to scale this up to sizable pieces of fabric, improve the efficiency of the design and make the threads waterproof. And, as this technology matures, these garments will possess the power (pun intended) to change the way people shop.

Just imagine this. Instead of shopping for a mobile phone, somewhere down the line, you might be able to buy a funky shirt that does the same thing. The cell phone of the future residing in the collar of a jacket -- with flexible circuit boards and speakers galore.

A whole new meaning to "ring around the collar."

Make sure to check out "Ask Mick the Mechanic" and let me know what you think. I'll be sure to report back next week.

See Ya!