Anyone into dry aging beef (or other) at home? | FerrariChat

Anyone into dry aging beef (or other) at home?

Discussion in 'Drink, Smoke, and Fine Dining' started by David_S, Jan 14, 2020.

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  1. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    Over the weekend, I picked up some AWESOME looking NY Strip steaks at Sam's Club. Heck, they even had a label touting the incredible marbling. I didn't need the label, I would have graded them above Prime as far as I could see.

    When I got them home, I was going to just immediately vacuum seal them up & set them aside for near future use. However? I started thinking... would be nice to age them a bit.

    So... Wife is freaked out, because I have steaks on wire mesh in a humid drawer of the fridge.

    Sent her this link, but not sure it clarified things for her: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5689-dry-aging-steak-at-home

    Anybody do any dry aging? Think I'm gonna go with the 4 days described at that link, and see how it turns out. If positive? I might re-purpose an ancient dorm fridge for dedicated aging, and will also try my leg of lamb. ;)
     
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  2. Streetsurfer

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  3. GatorFL

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    I've done it. It's sort of gross but the meat comes out fantastic. It definitely concentrates the flavor. I would buy a whole rib roast and dry age then trim and cut steaks. I don't do it anymore cause the local Whole Paycheck does it with choice beef, and at $20/lb trimmed and cut it cannot be beaten. When I did it I was spending more than that.
     
  4. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

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  5. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
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  6. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    I use Umai bags and a dedicated fridge. It does smell.
    https://umaidry.com/

    One whole strip steak cut in half. The left is as-aged, the right has all nasty stuff removed. They are unbelievably fantastic New York strip steaks now. Vacuum bagged and frozen.

    Matt

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  7. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Details please! How long? Do you age a whole roast or cut first into steaks and then dry age? Full size fridge or mini fridge?

    Sorry, nosy, science foodie!

    T
     
  8. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    Age a striploin first for 30 days. Then trim off nasties and cut into strip steaks.

    Do not age individual steaks. You will have a lot of loss to nasty bark.

    Any fridge that self-defrosts will work.

    Matt
     
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  9. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

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    Thank you, Matt, much, much appreciated.
    T
     
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  10. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    Don't have pictures, but?

    For the love of GOD! Yep, the steaks turned out AMAZING.

    I had "dry aged" them for about 3 days, then put them in cold mesquite smoke for about an hour, followed up by another 2 days of "dry aging" in the fridge.

    Vacuum sealed, tossed in sous vide at 130 for 4 hours (would have done just 2 hours, but got distracted), then alternated 2 minutes per side on hot cast iron, into "low" grill (maybe 200 degrees?) while cast iron heated back up, then "rest" in cooling grill.

    TOO many variables - from the incredible marbling, to the "aging" to the smoke, but? Just shy of fork tender. Incredible texture and rich taste. Only cooked 2 of the 4 steaks I had, so the other two are still vacuum sealed & in the freezer.

    Was so happy with the results that I have a boneless leg of lamb (partial/small one - say... 5 lbs?) undergoing the same "treatment." :)
     
  11. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    Well, I was impatient & hungry.

    Did up the lamb yesterday, so it only "aged" a week and a few days...

    Had the same mesquite cold smoke as the prior steaks.

    Similar process (sous vide & sear on grill) as the steaks.

    Crazy tender, awesome flavor. Probably should have given it another couple weeks for max rich flavor.


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  12. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    If you don’t have to cut bark off the meat, it wasn’t properly aged.

    Matt
     
  13. David_S

    David_S F1 World Champ
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    I'd disagree. You just don't get any significant "bark" until close to 3 weeks. At 10 days? There are some aging effects going on, but not much deterioration on the outside. I WOULD agree that it would be nice to age longer, but? I was hungry.
     
  14. Smiles

    Smiles F1 World Champ
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    Right. It takes those 3 weeks to actually age meat.

    Check out my image on post #6. That's properly aged.

    Matt
     
  15. tomc

    tomc Two Time F1 World Champ

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    When Alton Brown did this on TV, I recall he said that you start to see the effects after 3 or 4 days (due to dehydration and intensification of flavor?), but the magic umami stuff takes a good bit longer.

    David...I'm impressed that you saw noticeable diff in flavor for a relatively short dry age for something like lamb, which is usually more intensely flavored than beef, for example...T
     

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