Ever heard of "dry aging" meat at home?

I always was curious to hear from someone that's tried this.

Storing raw, exposed meat for weeks in the fridge with everything else just unnerves me.

The best steaks are dry aged.

I have a friend who owns a butcher shop.

Cleaning out the back cooler he found a very old roast that was all green on the outside . Who knows how long it was there for.

He cut off the green and cut it into steaks and said it was the best steak he has ever had.

LOL if it was me that roast would have been chucked away as as soon as i found it .

They look good but I wonder about taking on flavors of other food.

The video makes it look easy.

It is a common technique in steakhouses.

It is done at low temps, for a very specific amount of time, I guess to tenderize the meat. If I recall correctly it is supposed to give more flavor than “wet aging” (in a pouch with juices)

I used to bartend at a place that did it. They wanted me to learn all about the process to be able to tell customers, but I don’t eat meat so on the fairly rare occasion that someone asked about it I either recommended one of the popular steaks or had another bartender give their opinion.

I’m sure there is a decent amount of info to be found online.

We typically age our beef by the side, for 4 to 6 months.

Wrap it in cheese cloth. Replace after the first day because it will be bloody. Then check it daily and replace as needed. You need to use a fridge that isn’t open often to keep it consistently cold.

I did mine for 10 days. About a 7 pound ribeye roast that was then cut down to the steaks. You also have to do a bit of trimming. Best steak I ever made

" Ever heard of "dry aging" meat at home? "

Yes ... it's called "being retired".

The cheesecloth tip is sensible, thanks.

That really doesn't seem too long for such a large cut, I'm surprised it made such a difference!

Did you essentially just trim the exposed bits from the outside?

Like Icey said, I'm used to hearing 30 days to months.

It's so damn good in the restaurant, I just don't want my butter to smell like beef.

I've considered a dorm-size fridge for this, actually.

Nothing new,,, when i slaughter the butcher, hangs and ages it for me, before packaging.

Do peoe really not know anything about their food?

This

The video makes it look like you dont need anything more than a frig.

Its called Marriage

just scrap of the carpet of green fuzzy stuff and you're good to go!

There is a easy way to do it,I tried it but I prefer my Steaks moist and Juicy.

Lay out about 4 paper towels, lay your steak on top of it, then put about 4 paper towels on top. Put this on a plate and put it in your fridge for 3 days then cook your steak like you normally do.

There is advantage to this if you like your steaks Rare, when you cut into it, its not running with blood.

Like I said I dont care for it.

there is a recipe for curing your own salmon lox just using a rub and keeping it in the fridge. With the cost of lox being astronomical, thought of trying it.

Vegetarians are always looking for ways to tell people that they're vegetarians.

How can someone not know about it?..

It made a big difference but I’m sure it’d been better if I waited longer. I was scared to death of that going bad. Lol.

You can tell what to trim. The brown hard stuff on the outside. We used a fridge we kept pop in so it wasn’t opened often. I think the dorm size fridge would be perfect.

Yes.

I first ice brine for 5 days -- place the meat in an appropriate sized insulated beverage cooler, add balsamic vinegar and sea salt. Place in a cold refrigerator and allow ice to slowly melt.

Then, I dry age for 5 days at 30 degrees on a raised rack. Most meat freezes at about 29 degrees. Cover the meat loosely in cheesecloth and turn over at least twice per day.

Some people dry age for much longer than this, but we seem to prefer it at about the 5 day point.

ETA: I usually do this with a full beef tenderloin.

Last Edited by LJS on 08/27/2019 04:48 PM

A rancher from Idaho told me his Family starts adding cheap red wine to a steers water a month before slaughter.. increasing ratio daily... says it’s the best meat ever!!!

Drunken Beef -- very good at Chinese restaurant.

know a guy who uses koji ..

You kept your dad in the fridge?

It's probably unnerving to understand this process, but it's a lot about the correct bacteria, under controlled conditions, that induces chemical changes in the meat.

Correct use of a comma here could save the life of your loca butcher

Couple of tips (I dry age steaks often).
1. You really need a large cut, single steaks don’t work. You can kind of dry ate a single steak for maybe 2-3 days only. I buy either full Ribeye loins or Strip Loins from Costco (also cheapest). Prime is best so I say splurge for the extra cost because it’s the fat that adds all that flavor. Sometimes you can find a well marbles choice cut but you need to look and use your eyes not just grab any choice cut you see.

2. Dedicated mini fridge gives best results - better if it’s a fridge where you can get temp down to ideal range for aging 0-4 C.

3. I use an elevated rack. Dry meat after taking out of wet aging bag from store. Then place on open rack with small fan and salt pan under it to help absorb moisture in air.

I’ve gone up to 60 days no problem - of course you need to trim the dried parts.

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This article nails many of these points.

Did not think about salt in the pan underneath. Thanks for that tip.