View Full Version : Dry Aging Beef ** Split from Steak Cooking Thread **
Sledneck
08-17-2006, 07:27 AM
ADMIN EDIT: Split from Steak thread.. Another excellent roadmap topic. !!!
One thing that we have missed is the fact that the best places use DRY AGED meat. This is so much better (and differant) then wet aged you would not belive it. The price of dry aged is a lot more also.
I have never tried it. Does anybody have info on how to do it correctly?
Bill-Chicago
08-17-2006, 08:22 AM
I have never tried it. Does anybody have info on how to do it correctly?
Here you go:
http://www.maximonline.com/articles/index.aspx?a_id=6535
cmcadams
08-17-2006, 08:26 AM
I can't get to that from work... any way someone can cut and paste it somewhere?
SmokeInDaEye
08-17-2006, 08:47 AM
I can't get to that from work... any way someone can cut and paste it somewhere?
How To: Age Steak
To catch beef in its prime, you’ve gotta give it time.
Maxim, Jul 2005
1. Start Large
Get a big cut, like an eight- to 12-pound roast or a whole rib eye, because it’ll lose 20 percent of its weight in moisture while aging. What’s left is “both firm and tender, with exponentially beefier flavor,” notes Mark Motta, a founding father of the Arizona BBQ Association. (Cautionary note: The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association won’t endorse home aging, citing food-safety concerns. Wimps.)
2. Cool It
Unwrap the big bastard, place it on a pan with a rack to catch all that delicious blood, and stick it in the bottom of the fridge, where it’s coldest. Then loosely drape the roast with cloth—not paper—towels. (They allow for better air circulation, yet keep the meat clear of airborne germs.) And like a well-trained Tri-Delt, they’ll suck moisture from the meat so that it shrinks as time passes.
3. Stay Fresh
To keep the meat’s surface dry enough to hinder bacterial growth, change the towels daily, soaking them in cold water to remove the blood. At the same time, drain and rinse the pan. “Aging meat is kind of like licking a hallucinogenic frog,” Motta attempts to explain. “It’s dangerous enough. You don’t want it pissing in your mouth as well.” Wait—you know we’re trying to make steak, right?
4. Cut and Run
After about a week and a half of this routine, your little science project should have a dark maroon color, and the outside should feel tacky and a bit crusty. But before you slice it into steaks, “Trim off anything that looks like it might kill you,” Motta advises. This includes a full quarter-inch layer all the way around the outside of the roast, plus anything that’s moldy or green. “Then pray…and enjoy!”
Q_Egg
08-17-2006, 08:54 AM
..... very interesting, but I would feel restricted to something along the lines of 2.5 to 3 lbs, 2.5 to 3 in thick, .... maybe xlightly larger to support the losses mentioned. Does this sound doable ... removing the 1/4 in outer covering and doing a very high temp sear on each side, then inserting a heat barrier and roasting to desired doneness .... for me, rare ?
I hope some of the Brethren have solid experience with this aging approach since I hate to 'trash' a $30. steak in the name of education.
Regards, ?????
BBQchef33
08-17-2006, 09:16 AM
What they forget to mention is that proper (and safe)dry aging requires a more controlled environment than we have at home. First off it takes 10-28 days. Temps must be between 32 and 36 degrees and humidity at about 85% to control the abount of water losss and inhibit bacterial growth. Temp variations are a bad thing, so it cant be done in the kitchen fridge, and even in your beer fridge, openeing and closing it will effect the process. Good airflow around the entire hunk is also helpful, which means it should be hung or stood up. Unless its really thick, Single steaks are difficult to dry age becase they get that "off" flavor through the face of the meat. On a larger primal, that nasty stuff is only on edges and cut off before cooking. Due to the evaporation(and drainage) of the juices, dry aging concentrates the beef flavor(like reducing a sauce or glaze) and the natural enzymens in the beef begin to break down connective tissue(read decay :wink: ) to make things more tender. The tenderizing part happens at the tail end of the first 2 weeks, so if you try it, 10-14 days is the minimum. I have done it at home to some extent, with mixed results, nothing to write home about.. I been meaning to try it in a friends restaurant walk in box which may behave better than the beer fridge. But.. that hasnt happened yet. May be better left to the experts.
timzcardz
08-17-2006, 09:16 AM
There are a few sites out there that recommend against dry aging beef at home for safety reasons, one of the most reputable being Purdue University's:
http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/meat_quality/aging_meat.html
They have a great deal of information about meat quality and safety:
http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/meat_quality/index.html
smokeonthewater
08-17-2006, 09:19 AM
I've done this several times with a shell. Keeping the pan and towels clean is extremly important. I cleaned both twice a day. Left it in the fridge for 11 days with a 13 lb shell. When its ready to eat it looks kinda nasty, but once you trim it ...That's good eats !!
Q_Egg
08-17-2006, 09:22 AM
..... I will bow to respected experience and expertise (in the above posts) and continue to use the best my local (and capable) butcher can offer. Perhaps he can do some extra aging for me (with some budget constraints in advance)
... this great Forum sure keeps me out of serious trouble !! :-D
bbqjoe
08-17-2006, 11:02 AM
The whole dry aging thing sounds tempting. I also think I'll leave it alone.
Trout_man22
08-17-2006, 11:18 AM
We have a farm nere here that will dry age a Beeve and custom butcher for you. They base the price off the weight on the hoof and then storage for the month of hanging. It's about 1/2 the price of buying dry aged beef from Northen VA. (the olny place that has it around here.) Problem is that Dry aged beef is not known for storing well in the freezer for more then a couple months.
RichardF
08-17-2006, 11:22 AM
I've dry-aged a bunch of 5 rib minimum standing rib roasts. Came out great, but took some work. Wife never liked the idea, and didn't like the way they looked before trimming, so I haven't done it in a while. I did it in a bar fridge that I could dedicate to the process. If you mess it up, it probably wouldn't kill ya...
Ron_L
08-17-2006, 11:25 AM
Check your local butchers, too. Some of them may have dry aged beef. Also, if you have a Fresh Market (http://www.thefreshmarket.com/)store in your area, they carry dry aged beef. They aren't cheap, but they have some nice steaks.
bbqjoe
08-17-2006, 11:38 AM
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.
Jorge
08-17-2006, 11:47 AM
Cabela's sells a walk in freezer. Talking to some folks about putting one on a deer lease and doing our own butchering and aging.
Sawdustguy
08-17-2006, 12:09 PM
Fark this! It sounds a little too skeevy for me to try. I think I will settle for plain old unaged beef. Yuk.
seth711
08-17-2006, 12:40 PM
I have been waiting for a thread like this so that I can share some info on Dry-Aging beef at home. The method I use will cost about 150 dollars in specialized equipment and access to an extra freezer. I brew beer as another hobby and had most of this stuff lying around. This will produce commercial quality dry-aged beef that is sooooooo damn delicious. Here is a parts list of what is needed.
Deep Freeze or upright freezer, a refrigerator WILL NOT work. (Cleaned spotless with bleach)
Analog or Digital Temperature controller.http://morebeer.com/product.html?product_id=16666
Humidity controller http://www.greenair.com/humidistat.htm
One or Two small oscillating fans.
Humitidy/Temprature gauge
Small room Humidifier from Walgreens
Clean out the entire freezer with bleach and sanitize everything. Hook up temperature controller and adjust the temp for 36 degrees. Hook humidifier, filled with distilled water to the humidity controller and set your humidity for 83%. Set an oscillating fan at each end for good airflow around where you will be placing the meat. Figure out what you will be placing your meat on as far as a rack. There needs to be even airflow around the cut of beef so a thin wire rack works best. Allow the system to run for a few days to monitor all settings and make proper adjustments. When ready, place your primal cut of meat on the wire shelves and allow to dry-age for 3-6 weeks. You will start to see some discoloration on the fat cap, this is normal and can be butchered off before cutting the primal into steaks. ONLY DRY AGE PRIMAL CUTS, CHOICE OR ABOVE WITH THICK FAT CAPS. This must always be your number one indicator of meat to dry-age. The thick fat cap allows the meat to age without being exposed to air thus spoiling the meat. My favorite cut to age is the short loin as it provides strips and the tenderloin. After removing from your home made locker be sure and butcher off the hard layer on the outside until you get to the nice colored meat inside. If you see red meat that has turned brown in small spots this can be butchered off if close to the fat cap. Dry-Aging isn’t for everyone but if you have tried a properly dry aged steak, the experience is next to orgasmic….. I will be glad to answer any questions you might have.
ciret
08-17-2006, 01:03 PM
ya got any pics of your set-up? sounds kind of interesting, but would take some space to setup.
seth711
08-17-2006, 01:08 PM
Ya, I can take some pics next week as we are comepting in IA this weekend.
ciret
08-17-2006, 01:11 PM
OK, cool, I've heard good thing about dry aged beef. Seems like there was an article about some fancy restaurant that had a huge room in the basement where they aged 100's of lbs at a time.
cmcadams
08-17-2006, 02:45 PM
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. :)
JohnMcD348
08-17-2006, 09:30 PM
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.
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.
seth711
08-17-2006, 10:52 PM
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...
Norcoredneck
08-18-2006, 02:57 AM
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
NorthernQ
08-18-2006, 06:42 AM
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!
Bossmanbbq
08-18-2006, 11:13 AM
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
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