NWR: Dry aging beef at home

V

VLM

VLM
So I'm thinking of dry aging some beef in my second refrigerator.

Do I just put it in and let her rip? Anything I have to think/worry about?
 
originally posted by VLM:
NWR: Dry aging beef at homeSo I'm thinking of dry aging some beef in my second refrigerator.

Do I just put it in and let her rip? Anything I have to think/worry about?
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Best done on whole muscle cuts rather than cut steaks. Just remove from package and wrap in cheesecloth and keep in refrigerator a week or two or even three if you want. Effect is to concentrate flavor by allowing evaporation and promoting further flavor development. Surface may dry out in spots or turn brown but won't be a safety concern. As long as it stays cool enough, below 40 F, age it as long as you're comfortable with. You can always trim the surface if necessary prior to cooking. I do the prime tri tips from Costco this way and they're great done sous vide following extended aging.
 
originally posted by VLM:
NWR: Dry aging beef at homeSo I'm thinking of dry aging some beef in my second refrigerator.

Do I just put it in and let her rip? Anything I have to think/worry about?
Click to expand...

You may also want to ask Leo Frokic on the other board. He does this with the bulk cryo of NY strips (uncut) from Costco and they come out great. I remember him saying that one of the keys is to open the fridge as infrequently as possible.
 
I think your best bet is to but the biggest piece you can and use a dry bag. I wouldn't try it with anything smaller than a whole untrimmed short loin
 
The plan was a whole prime Rib-eye or NY strip without the bone from Costco.

I use my second fridge for beer, white wine, and bubbly water. So it does get opened with some frequency.

I've found this, which offered some good tips.
 
I've had good luck salting steak cuts and letting them sit in the fridge on a cooling rack for ~7 days. Not exactly dry aging, but the results are similar enough that I'll keep doing it.
 
You can do it in a normal fridge but it's a bit like making your own wine. The masturbatory satisfaction is pretty much the only plus.
 
I do rib roasts in a normal fridge all the time with excellent results. It may not be as good as the best "real" dry aging but it results in better flavor and texture. I just pat it dry and put it on a rack and let it sit for 3-7 days depending on how far in advance I planned it out.

First heard about it from Greg dal Piaz over a decade ago now.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Jay, do you wrap it in cheese cloth or something? Or do you leave it there nude, so to speak.
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Just nude. I originally used paper towels (changed daily) which would wick away some additional moisture but now I don't even bother with that. The initial drying does speed things up though.
 
if you were going to go to the considerable hassle of dry-aging beef, you might do that thing (with very large cuts) where you coat the meat in fat (dipping in rendered lard is probable easiest) and dry age it for many months, scraping and re-fatting whenever the layer of mould becomes intolerable. controlling the humidity is pretty important too; i think the thin coating of fat helps with this, though the ambient temperature has to be low enough that the coating remains solid.

what little is left of the meat at the end of the process is remarkable and worthwhile; no commercially available beef is dry aged for this long because there's too much loss for it to make any sense.

for meat dry-aged for a shorter time (the conventional couple of weeks or a little more), it's probably better, all things considered, to buy it from a butcher you like.
 
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