Dry aging beef?

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

In the end we really enjoyed the meal.
The steak was great.
I am kicking myself now for not holding out.
I was able to get a dozen steaks out of the remaining piece.
7 smaller ones for my wife and 5 thicker for me.

I will say now that I cut this one up letting the next one go longer will be a lot easier.
Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice
And thanks to all who followed along

Thanks for the updates and pics. I have thought many times of doing this, but haven't. Did it really make the steak taste any better?

[BigAsh]

Looked mighty tasty Dom...Did you NOTICE a taste DIFFERENCE by dry aging?....I mean it was a nice slab to begin with that would've no doubt been tasty as is...next time maybe cut a steak and vac seal before you begin for side-by-side comparison....all in all I gotta say a learned a bunch from this thread

[jonumberone]

Originally Posted by wayner123

Thanks for the updates and pics. I have thought many times of doing this, but haven't. Did it really make the steak taste any better?

Originally Posted by BigAsh

Looked mighty tasty Dom...Did you NOTICE a taste DIFFERENCE by dry aging?....I mean it was a nice slab to begin with that would've no doubt been tasty as is...next time maybe cut a steak and vac seal before you begin for side-by-side comparison....all in all I gotta say a learned a bunch from this thread

Thanks guys

I did notice a taste difference.
I didn't achieve the Gamey undertones that I have tasted in some high end steakhouses, however I felt the steak flavor was much more pronounced.
The biggest difference I noticed was in texture.
The meat seemed more dense, that is the best way I can describe it.
It wasn't tough, just firmer or tighter.
I am looking forward to doing this again.
Now that my anxiety has been quelled, i would like to see what happens over longer periods.

Keith, if august happens, I will add this to the menu

[BigAsh]

I guess the denseness comes from losing about 2 lbs. in pre-trim weight from where you started....Get practicing, August ain't that far!!

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Smokin Gator

I know you did your research and all... but heck you can find anything on the net!!!!!!

This is classic Brent right here, I laughed so hard my boss came in to check on me.

[replicant_argent]

Originally Posted by wayner123

Thanks for the updates and pics. I have thought many times of doing this, but haven't. Did it really make the steak taste any better?

Many hundreds of steak houses count on it, train people for it, utilize expensive space for it, and have been doing it for many decades. Do you think they are wasting their time, money, manpower, experience, and efforts? Or do you just doubt his palate is refined enough to tell?

[wayner123]

Originally Posted by replicant_argent

Many hundreds of steak houses count on it, train people for it, utilize expensive space for it, and have been doing it for many decades. Do you think they are wasting their time, money, manpower, experience, and efforts? Or do you just doubt his palate is refined enough to tell?

I have eaten some of those mail order steaks and eaten at those steakhouses. IMO, I can't tell THAT big of a difference. The big difference is Dom was doing this in his home fridge. The hundreds of steakhouses aren't. They also usually start with Prime.

[rizzle]

I'm glad you haven't died yet, Dom.

[mosesbotbol]

Yesterday I just bought a 11 lb NY Strip at Costco for $4.99 an lb. I plan to dry age. I washed the meat off and pat dry it. Covered and rubbed in kosher salt, let it sit about 10 minutes, washed the meat off again, pat dry and put on rack to dry age in fridge.

An hour ago today, I cut one end off to square the meat up, cooked the cut off meat and place cling wrap on the cut end to keep it fresh. Next week will be the first real meal from the strip.

I plan to cut from the steak once or twice a week until the meat is ready. At that point I will vacuum seal the steaks and store in the fridge until all are gone. I figure about 12 steaks from the strips in total. If a bunch of friends come by, the strip could be gone a lot sooner.

Anyone around who wants a NY Strip lunch & cigars in a couple of weeks, give me ring!

[Chainsaw13]

I didn't think you wanted to cover the meat with anything, to allow it to release it's moisture and basically dehydrate (amongst other changes it'll go through). Wouldn't the cling wrap hold moisture in and allow bacteria to grow?

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw13

I didn't think you wanted to cover the meat with anything, to allow it to release it's moisture and basically dehydrate (amongst other changes it'll go through). Wouldn't the cling wrap hold moisture in and allow bacteria to grow?

It's only on the cut end. Leaving the wrap the cut end keep the meat fresh, saving needless trimming each time I want a steak. The other 5 sides are bare.

[jmsremax]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Yesterday I just bought a 11 lb NY Strip at Costco for $4.99 an lb. I plan to dry age. I washed the meat off and pat dry it. Covered and rubbed in kosher salt, let it sit about 10 minutes, washed the meat off again, pat dry and put on rack to dry age in fridge.

An hour ago today, I cut one end off to square the meat up, cooked the cut off meat and place cling wrap on the cut end to keep it fresh. Next week will be the first real meal from the strip.

I plan to cut from the steak once or twice a week until the meat is ready. At that point I will vacuum seal the steaks and store in the fridge until all are gone. I figure about 12 steaks from the strips in total. If a bunch of friends come by, the strip could be gone a lot sooner.

Anyone around who wants a NY Strip lunch & cigars in a couple of weeks, give me ring!

This sounds awesome.

[yachties23]

Picked up a 3" thick porterhouse on sale yesterday. I know the idea is to age full roasts but I thought I'd give it a shot. Not really afraid to lose to much of it, figured this would be a good experiment.

[amsgpwarrior]

Nice, never attempted this nor will I ever try but pure kudos to you! Looks great, except for the onions part (like my meat plain with sea salt and cracked pepper), but to each his own, I ain't hatin!

I picked up 2 aged whole backstraps (tenderloins), Prime Grade, out of a cow from HEB in Temple last summer and cut it up and packaged it myself for $6 a pound! The pricing guy must have had a seizure or something when he was labeling the meat, cause I got away with murder. The steak was so tender I hardly had to use a knife, could almost cut it with a fork. I seared them on my iron skillet and finish them in the oven,......absolutely fasntastic! I never grill tenderloins, lose all the moisture out of them.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by yachties23

Picked up a 3" thick porterhouse on sale yesterday. I know the idea is to age full roasts but I thought I'd give it a shot. Not really afraid to lose to much of it, figured this would be a good experiment.

Just wrap in a papertowel and change the towels until they stay clean daily. As soon as your steak has hint of dryness on the outside, cut it off and cook it. I'd imagine 4 days would be perfect. You'll end up with the best dog chew toy if you try to age a steak like a whole untrimmed roast.

[yachties23]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Just wrap in a papertowel and change the towels until they stay clean daily. As soon as your steak has hint of dryness on the outside, cut it off and cook it. I'd imagine 4 days would be perfect. You'll end up with the best dog chew toy if you try to age a steak like a whole untrimmed roast.

Did 5 days... Trimmed off some of the outer edge and pan seared it, finished it in the oven. Absolutely friggin perfect. I cooked it to 130 degrees, took it out and covered it, let it stand for 10 mins and trimmed it up. There are subtle flavor differences between aged and non aged, but there are noticeable differences in texture. I'm normally not a fillet guy, usually save that part of the P-house for my girlfriend, but i wanted to try it out, and wow I must say that it was awesome. Its as if the connective tissues begin to break down even further giving you a steak you can cut with a butter knife.
I took a bunch of pictures but I'm too full and lazy to bother posting now, I'll put them up over the weekend.
I seriously suggest giving it a shot.

[jonumberone]

I decided to do this again. This time I used a special bag that gets vacuum sealed and forms a bond with the meat.
The Roast was a choice cut boneless ribeye from Costco and the starting weight was a touch over 17 lbs. 17.23 if I remember correct, but again, I forgot to write it down.
My initial plan was to age this for 35 days.
Unlike the first attempt posted in this thread, I made it the full 35 days, however on day 35 I wasn't feeling well so I added another 6 days and wound up cutting it up on day 41.

Day 1



Day 10



Day 17 - I decided the meat needed a friend so I added a 15.75lb bone in roast to the fridge.



Day 29 for the boneless day 12 for the bone in.



Day 35

[jonumberone]

Day 40 and day 23



Time to trim this baby up. The weight before trimming was 15.8 lbs.



BigAsh lending a hand

[jonumberone]

The finished product with a trimmed up weight of 10 lbs even.



After I trimmed it up I went ahead and cut it into steaks.

[jonumberone]

Cooked Sous vide @132° for 1.5 hours and finished off with the serzall.







Mike eating some steak!



The steaks were out of this world. One of the guys said that the steaks were better than what we get at high end NYC steakhouses that we go to for our Christmas herf.
I was able to get 7 real nice sized steaks. 4 of them in the 20 - 22oz range and 3 in the 26 - 28 oz range.
Again, I wasn't able to detect any hint of game or funk kind of flavors that I was expecting.
Because of that, I'm thinking of taking the bone in roast to day 75.
When I told my wife that she gave me a look, so we'll have to see if I can get her on board.
Keith had one of the steaks, so maybe he will share his thoughts?