Accidentally Aged Grassfed Hereford Thick Cut Ribeye Pr0n

[MisterChrister]

Well, I'm making room in the meat freezer lately. I took out 3 & 4 bone prime ribs a little while before Thanksgiving, I think two weeks before the more I think about it. The plan was to let them thaw in the spare fridge, then spin one on the rotisserie for Thanksgiving to go with the turkey, and thick cut the other for ridiculous steaks one night. Well, I got more time in the woods for deer season than anticipated, and Tammy requested venison for the red meat to go with the turkey, so I just got back around to the beef last night. In all fairness, I do keep the spare fridge pretty cold, but still, 3 weeks? These guys were butcher wrapped in plastic and butcher paper the whole time, and to be honest I didn't know what to expect. I figured best case scenario, I'd have to trim a little heavy, and worst case I'd have to hack off most of the exterior and chuck the rest into a brine bucket for corned beef or pastrami. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised when I unwrapped them. They only lost a touch of redness around the edges, and smelled like sweet, nutty, pungently beefy aged beef! Just to be a safety guinea pig for my family, I agreed to cut off a slab, along with some trim from here and there to grill last night to ensure all was OK before feeding my family the rest! Just a liberal kosher salt dusting, hour to rest on counter, then bathe in a mix of butter and olive oil, minced garlic, pepper, and herbs de Provence at every turn over a hot fire. Oh. My. Gawsh! I think this was the tastiest piece of beef I've ever consumed. Probably gonna do this accident again sometime!

 

[Porcine Perfection]

Looks great! Heading up for the Packer/Cowgirl game next week. Any scraps?

 

[blazinfire]

I have a question! This looks fantastic but thought dry aging was a little bit more complicated? If I would of let this sit thawing in the fridge for up to 3 weeks I would of threw it out.

I've heard you can dry age meat in your fridge. But I have always been scared to try it. But I've heard Dry age steaks are the best thing around steak wise! I'm a steak guy so I've considered trying it

 

[MisterChrister]

Looks great! Heading up for the Packer/Cowgirl game next week. Any scraps?

You bet, a whole steak and sides for a ticket to the game!

I have a question! This looks fantastic but thought dry aging was a little bit more complicated? If I would of let this sit thawing in the fridge for up to 3 weeks I would of threw it out.

I've heard you can dry age meat in your fridge. But I have always been scared to try it. But I've heard Dry age steaks are the best thing around steak wise! I'm a steak guy so I've considered trying it

You are correct this is definitely not the right way to do it. However, my spare fridge is so cold that the roast probably wasn't thawed for at least a week. In addition to that, I consider smell to be the most important factor for deciding about pitching meat that I'm eating myself. If it had been equivalent poundage of pork butt, I'd have tossed it without thinking twice. Based on the value of the meat and the other factors I considered it to be a calculated risk worth taking. Especially since I'm broke. And crazy. Doesn't that count for something? !?! :loco:

 

[buccaneer]

Oh YUM!

 

[blazinfire]

You are correct this is definitely not the right way to do it. However, my spare fridge is so cold that the roast probably wasn't thawed for at least a week. In addition to that, I consider smell to be the most important factor for deciding about pitching meat that I'm eating myself. If it had been equivalent poundage of pork butt, I'd have tossed it without thinking twice. Based on the value of the meat and the other factors I considered it to be a calculated risk worth taking. Especially since I'm broke. And crazy. Doesn't that count for something? !?! :loco:

The cost of the cut of beef would be well worth trying to salvage it. I think anybody would be crazy enough to try it at that point :thumb:

 

[RolandJT]

I do 4-7 days from raw beef from the store pretty routinely and I think it makes a great deal of difference. No problems with off smells so far.

Given yours started out deep frozen, it probably wasn't too much more than a 7 day from raw.

Anyone who hasn't tried it--try a 3-4 day. That's not long enough to scare anyone. No real aged flavors but it makes a huge difference to flavor intensity and tenderness in my mind.

 

[Enrico Brandizzi]

Wow. Those huge steaks are cooked perfectly
complimenti.

 

[Big M1ke]

Damn. Those look awesome!

 

[nsbbqguy]

Now that's some mighty fine looking steaks!

 

[4ever3]

Actually, you should NOT eat those ... Send them STRAIGHT here, I will dispose of them properly Sir!

 

[Smoke on Badger Mountain]

Looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

 

[daninnewjersey]

Way to take one for the team.....:biggrin1::biggrin1:

 

[Big George's BBQ]

YUM You nailed that

 

[fantomlord]

nice work!

 

[htrisna]

I also did that same happenstance a couple of months ago with vacuum sealed New York strips. Marvelous. Now I don't think twice about 3 week wet aged beef in vacuum seal in my garage fridge. Combined with confirmation from Ms. EggObsessed at the TX Bash, I now feel safe doing that.

 

[cowgirl]

Man that looks great. Love the fork shot!! Thanks for the post!

 

[cheez59]

I'm quite sure that is the best looking steak I ever saw. The fork pic was perfection.