{"id":36627,"date":"2021-09-17T07:03:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T11:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=36627"},"modified":"2021-09-17T07:03:02","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T11:03:02","slug":"saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Aaron Schultz, left, and Ken Wheeler are the owners of Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts in Ballston Lake. The shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11.
\u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Christine Graf<\/p>\n

What began as a hobby for former Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods managers Aaron Schultz and Ken Wheeler has turned into a full-time profession.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Saratoga County residents opened Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts on Aug. 6. Their 2,000-square-foot butcher shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11 in Ballston Lake.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, Schultz, Wheeler, and two of their friends began dry aging beef as a hobby. Dry aging is a process by which large cuts of beef are aged over a long period of time, typically between 25 to 100 days. During this time, the meat hangs in a humidity-controlled environment that exposes all sides to proper airflow. The process is intended to allow the meat to develop a better flavor and make it more tender.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe loved to cook and make food ourselves, and it was something we wanted to try because we had heard it brings a different level of taste to beef,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cIt was a lot of personal research and a lot of trial and error.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span>It took them more than two years to perfect their technique. As they became more involved in the process, they converted a portion of Wheeler\u2019s basement into a full kitchen and added refrigeration space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when we really went full steam with our hobby because more and more people heard about what we were doing and we started selling the beef to friends of ours and friends of theirs,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the summer of 2019, Prime at Saratoga National became the first commercial customer. Schultz\u00a0 <\/span>said the restaurant\u2019s chef was so impressed with the beef that he began placing weekly orders. It was at that point that Schultz and Wheeler began seriously considering opening a retail store.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe started looking for a location and then COVID happened,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cWe put the brakes on everything because there were so many uncertainties. We waited another 14 months before we started looking again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wheeler and Shultz have been working 70-80 hour weeks to get the shop up and running and have a staff of four part-time employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wheeler does most of the meat cutting and is the dry aging expert, while Shultz focuses heavily on the food prep aspect of the business. He has an extensive background in the restaurant industry and prepares the various deli and pasta salads that are available for sale at the store.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He also makes all of the dry rubs and marinades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to dry aged beef and deli salads, Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts offers a wide variety of regular beef, pork, chicken, and Boar\u2019s Head deli meats and cheeses. They also sell a selection of spices, sauces, and imported pastas. They are able to procure specialty items and recently ordered octopus legs for a customer.<\/p>\n

The shop has relied on word of mouth and heavy use of social media to attract customers. According to Shultz, sales during their first month in business have been strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is a little bit better, and every week is a little bit better than the last one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One of their best sellers has been their dry aged prime ribeye.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Dry aged beef is more expensive than regular beef because of the significant amount of overhead that goes into the process. Much of the meat\u2019s weight is also lost due to the moisture loss that occurs during dry aging.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur dry aged is selling well,\u201d said Schultz. \u201cWe thought it would be a little bit of a struggle because of the price, but that hasn\u2019t been an issue and people have been very receptive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the shop is fully up and running, they hope to begin supplying their dry aged beef to local restaurants. Schultz and Wheeler are also considering leasing an adjoining vacant space.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to combine the two and do a full kitchen next door where we could offer hot meals to go and do catering at the same time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The long-term business plan includes opening a second retail location closer to Saratoga Springs. They would also like to open a warehouse that would allow them to ship the meat throughout the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure we are 100 percent with what we are doing at this location before we start on our next one. We don\u2019t want to bite off too much at once,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we are always moving forward. For us this has gone from a hobby to a passion to our dream of having an operation like we have here.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit www.saratogadryagedcuts.com or follow them on Facebook.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christine Graf What began as a hobby for former Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods managers Aaron Schultz and Ken Wheeler has turned into a full-time profession.\u00a0 The Saratoga County residents opened Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts on Aug. 6. Their 2,000-square-foot butcher shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11 in Ballston Lake. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":36628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-new-businesses"],"yoast_head":"\r\nSaratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Christine Graf What began as a hobby for former Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods managers Aaron Schultz and Ken Wheeler has turned into a full-time profession.\u00a0 The Saratoga County residents opened Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts on Aug. 6. Their 2,000-square-foot butcher shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11 in Ballston Lake. […]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-17T11:03:02+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1518\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1088\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jake Van Ness\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products - Saratoga Business Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-17T11:03:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg\",\"width\":1518,\"height\":1088,\"caption\":\"Aaron Schultz, left, and Ken Wheeler are the owners of Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts in Ballston Lake. The shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11. \u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/\",\"name\":\"Saratoga Business Journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86\",\"name\":\"Jake Van Ness\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d74f7533bd2ebb3908a187893d5eafbf1ee7752b11715c976372134cbea918d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d74f7533bd2ebb3908a187893d5eafbf1ee7752b11715c976372134cbea918d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jake Van Ness\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/jakev\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products - Saratoga Business Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products - Saratoga Business Journal","og_description":"By Christine Graf What began as a hobby for former Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods managers Aaron Schultz and Ken Wheeler has turned into a full-time profession.\u00a0 The Saratoga County residents opened Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts on Aug. 6. Their 2,000-square-foot butcher shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11 in Ballston Lake. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/","og_site_name":"Saratoga Business Journal","article_published_time":"2021-09-17T11:03:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1518,"height":1088,"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jake Van Ness","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jake Van Ness","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/","name":"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products - Saratoga Business Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-17T11:03:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/09\/dry-aged-cuts-hc.jpg","width":1518,"height":1088,"caption":"Aaron Schultz, left, and Ken Wheeler are the owners of Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts in Ballston Lake. The shop is located in the Stewart\u2019s plaza just off Northway Exit 11. \u00a92021 SaratogaPhotographer.com"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2021\/09\/saratoga-dry-aged-cuts-store-in-ballston-lake-offers-aged-beef-and-other-meat-products\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saratoga Dry Aged Cuts Store In Ballston Lake Offers Aged Beef And Other Meat Products"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/","name":"Saratoga Business Journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/a11ec438b5f0e57f1156754ba3931b86","name":"Jake Van Ness","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d74f7533bd2ebb3908a187893d5eafbf1ee7752b11715c976372134cbea918d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d74f7533bd2ebb3908a187893d5eafbf1ee7752b11715c976372134cbea918d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jake Van Ness"},"url":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/author\/jakev\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36629,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36627\/revisions\/36629"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}