How Does Aging Work?

[captndan]

WOW! Some great information here. Alton Brown says something about a perforated or permeable container. Looks like ordinary Tupperware to me. Anybody know what he is talking about? Also would a college size refrigerator work because it is a cold plate and has no fan?

 

[FlavorSavor]

The only way I've found to obtain the package date is to buy briskets by the case. I typically get 4 briskets to a case, but only cook two at a time. So if I plan to age my briskets 45-days for a comp, and my next comp is 2 or 4 weeks out, what should I do with the other 2 briskets? Freeze them after 45-days? Freeze immediately? Or should we never freeze brisket that's going to be used in comp?

 

[hnd]

All I know is that I had some aged steaks at Charlie's Steak House in Orlando, Fl. one time and they were fabulous.

they also only cook their steaks over citrus and hardwoods. they are only wetaged but charlies is one of my favorite steak places in the nation.

 

[SmokinOkie]

So, if you have meat in a cryovac package, you could put it in the fridge for a month, and it wouldn't go bad?

Correct. Because it's in the original cryovac and not exposed to air, that item (usually the large/whole meats like brisket, standing rib) would work.

Key is duration. There IS an absolute date. And many competition cooks tend to go out 30 to 50 days. Most of what I've seen written say 21 to 28 is optimum.

That date is measured from the kill date and when you walk in the store, if the package is in the display case, you won't know the kill date.

Usually (not always) the "sell by" date is an arbitrary date that butcher fixes to selling the beef. Usually two weeks or less. If you go with that as a basis, then take that into account.

I've safely wet age stuff out of the case, but I never push it out past 21 to 28 days.

For the long aging, I won't go there if I don't know the kill date.

Now, that being said.

The temp inside the fridge is important. If it's constantly fluctuating (like your home fridge) that actually reduces the total duration. As explained to me, every time the meat is above 40, it affects the TOTAL duration.

Control the environment if you can.

If you can't, maybe only wet age for a week or two max.

 

[tish]

WOW! Some great information here. Alton Brown says something about a perforated or permeable container. Looks like ordinary Tupperware to me. Anybody know what he is talking about? Also would a college size refrigerator work because it is a cold plate and has no fan?

In that video, it looked to me as if holes had been punched in the Tupperware. Go back and look at it again. I think there are just a few holes about half way up the container, if I remember correctly.

 

[Wampus]

FANTASTIC article all about dry aging that someone posted in a recent thread of mine:
http://www.beefresearch.org/CMDocs/BeefResearch/Dry Aging of Beef.pdf


LOTS of great info on the whole process.

 

[deguerre]

We don't age our beef but for steaks, we will do a two to three day surface evaporative "age" in the fridge with a salty rub. We leave the steak exposed to the air on a paper plate, flipping a few times and changing the paper plate as needed. This also helps concentrate the "beefiness" and has no waste.

 

[tish]

Correct. Because it's in the original cryovac and not exposed to air, that item (usually the large/whole meats like brisket, standing rib) would work.

Key is duration. There IS an absolute date. And many competition cooks tend to go out 30 to 50 days. Most of what I've seen written say 21 to 28 is optimum.

That date is measured from the kill date and when you walk in the store, if the package is in the display case, you won't know the kill date.

Usually (not always) the "sell by" date is an arbitrary date that butcher fixes to selling the beef. Usually two weeks or less. If you go with that as a basis, then take that into account.

I've safely wet age stuff out of the case, but I never push it out past 21 to 28 days.

For the long aging, I won't go there if I don't know the kill date.

Now, that being said.

The temp inside the fridge is important. If it's constantly fluctuating (like your home fridge) that actually reduces the total duration. As explained to me, every time the meat is above 40, it affects the TOTAL duration.

Control the environment if you can.

If you can't, maybe only wet age for a week or two max.

I am fascinated with this entire process. I would like to try this, but I'm going to see if I can get hold of a small, dedicated fridge to use for this. Every once in a while, I'll see one on Freecycle. I'll have to keep my eyes open. Don't have the money right now to buy something outright. I'd be worried about doing it in my regular fridge, especially since my options would be limited to doing it with a single cryovac steak. Again, financial issues. I appreciate your taking the time to educate me on this whole thing. Thanks to you, and all the Brethren for your help. The information on this site is unbeatable. I feel so blessed to be here! :-D