Dry Aging Beef ** Split from Steak Cooking Thread **

I think I'll stick to how I've been doing it over the years... buy my beef by the half (carcass, that is), and have it dry aged before I get it.

bbqjoe said:

I don't believe I have ever specifically ordered anything that was touted as dry aged, although it may have been.
I did once complain about some very nasty tasting meat once in a restaurant.
The cook came out and told me it was dry aged on the premisis, and there was nothing wrong with it.
Well if I couldn't eat it there was something wrong.
No compensation.
Never went back.

Click to expand...

I had a similar issue at one of our local steak houses not too long ago. My wife and my son who's 2 years old, nearly three went to this place we've gone too many times before and gotten fair to average service. We ordered the special and got the steak cubes for our son. Our steaks were done exactly how we asked. My sons steak kobob was sent back twice to be recooked. The first time we got the food his was runny raw in the middle and cold. We sent it back. We got it back and this time, it was still nearly as red but this time I had to squeeze it to get the "juices" to come out. We asked for the manager and that SOB got cocky with me. I had to stand my ground at that point and got in his face and educated him on the proper cooking practices and handling of meat. Yes the steak would have been perfect if I were the one eating it but NOT for my 2 year old son. I told him that there was no guarantee that the meat even got hot enough internally to kill the bacteria. He asured me the mat was not raw. I squeezed a piece of the meat in from of him and the blood shot out onto his shirt. I asked him if that was a pecial suace they injected their meat with becuase it D@^n sure looked like "farking" blood to me. I then asked him if he even knew what the safe temperature for the cooking and handling of meat was and he couldn't give me an answer. Thanks to the food handling threads over the past months, I was able to give to him as soon as he hesitated. We were asked to leave and not be bothered with the bill. Needless to say, we won't be going back there.

Wow.... LOL.... LOL.....

That has to be one of the best stories I have heard in a long time... HAHAH I can just see you squeezing it and the blood flying everywhere, lecturing him on the safe temperatures of food!! Classic, for sure.... I have had a few tonight so I please disregard any odd writing...

The flavor of dry-aged beef is something amazing. Over time there is a 20% loss in weight due to water evaporation, which then concentrates that beefy flavor we all love. You also have lots of natural enzymes breaking down tissue slowly and allowing the meat to become incredibly tender. There is a noticeably less amount of juice in a dry aged steak, but each one I have had has been so damn tender and plenty juicy. Most all fine steak houses these days wet age their steaks, only a few use the lost art of dry aging. Although wet aged steaks do have the same great tenderness levels as a dry aged steak wet aged steaks can never match the concentration of beef flavor and intensity that a dry aged steak provides. Everyone that eats beef needs to try a Dry aged steak before casting opinions; it’s something truly amazing...

Ok interest is up. Checking the funds and hopefully a "lovely dinner date out" with the wife. Please don't tell her of my real motivation for the night out!:icon_shy

Never thought much about dry aging at home. We have 2 local butchers and a small abattoir who all dry age evrything they sell. I had to order in some extra beef a while back for a cater and was forced to use cryovac product...... no comparison!
The dry aged had real flavour; the cryovac tasted like cardboard.
A friend of mine locally, another caterer, dry ages everything he uses in his walk-in cooler, game included. Nothing like dry aged moose.
The size of a walk-in gives the air circulation needed to dry age properly without fans and such. The larger the cut you age; the lower the shrinkage loss. Hanging a side or a full beef gives you the best yield.

Great thread!

Just to add my two cents to this thread, I have ALWAYS dry aged our Christmas Prime Rib and have had very good results in doing so. What I have done is placed the prime in a baking pan with a V-rack to catch any drippings. I have let it sit in the fridge for seven to ten days, uncovered. I then take it out shave any dry pieces off and then put the rub on and place it on the smoker. Ive also done this with steaks with good results.

Also Bobby Flay did a deal on his boy meets grill on 8/17/06 on prime rib and went to a New York butcher and picked up some dry aged rib eye and the butcher talked about the dry age process using slabs of dry aged beef that were up on top of the counter, it was interesting. From my experience it has always been a positive one with dry aging.

Bossman
chuckmarting@bossmanbbq.com