Dry Aging Beef...Wrapped vs Unwrapped??

[nrok2118]

Work was getting rid of a fridge because the ice maker broke so I picked up a nice free garage fridge! Time to go to Restaurant Depot!!

Ive been interested in trying to dry age some beef rib. Plan is to find a choice (maybe prime) whole bone in roast, and simply putting it in the fridge on a rack or maybe even hang it. After 3-4 weeks I wanna cut (and trim) some big ol' killer cowboy steaks!:mrgreen:

Two things Im not sure on is whether or not I should put some kind of fan in there, and whether or not I should wrap the beef in cheesecloth.

Im pretty sure I wont need to worry about the fan...but a lot of DIY dry aging processes use cheesecloth to wrap the meat. Is this necessary?? What is its advantage? I feel the cheesecloth aids in less "decay" when doing small hunks of meat over shorter periods of time, so Id like to do without it.

And while looking at aging...Im understanding that I should buy some briskets in cryo and leave them in the fridge for a while too (wet age)? Whats a good length for briskets?

 

[captndan]

I don't know about the brisket. With beef air circulation is essential. Hanging beef in the locker is just on hooks not wrapped.

 

[New Pal Frank]

I have heard on brisket from 30 to 45 days from kill date with wet ageing. Some times hard to get kill date unless you buy the whole case of briskets.

 

[expatpig]

For dry aging, air circulation and temperature control are critical. Trimming the exterior of the meat before using, as well.

 

[nrok2118]

I don't know about the brisket. With beef air circulation is essential. Hanging beef in the locker is just on hooks not wrapped.

Yeah that's why ill probably go unwrapped...I'm just wondering if the cloth may help it retain moisture/weight. But I guess if I'm concerned about that I should be dry aging

 

[skorpio]

When I home dry age rib roasts I wrap it in a tea towel and set it on a slab of Hymalayan sea salt. Every 2 days I rinse the tea towel in water and sea salt. This method has given me a fair amount of weight loss in even as little as 10 days, and the salt keeps discoloration to a minimum and I only slightly trim the jerky like pieces off the ends.

Most meat these days is under aged (don't even get me started on how we got to the point where 75% of the grocery store meat is select which 20 years ago was used for ground beef and dog food). Wet aging the cryo helps to tenderize the meat but doesn't do much to enhance flavor, some but not like dry aging does.