Dry aging beef?
 

I've been kicking around the idea of trying to dry age a prime rib roast at home.
Any body ever attempted this?
Any tips? Any horror stories?
I've read up on it, but i'm still hesitant about starting what amounts to a $300+ experiment that if it goes wrong could poison my family.
If it fails and I can find a way to only feed it to my in-laws, it might not be that bad ;)
Hoping to make it for Easter dinner.
Thanks in advance

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

You can use your own fridge from what I have seen. Lowest level, on a metal rack with a pan underneath to catch the drippings. Paper towel on top of the meat, constantly changing the towels. I will be trying this next week when I get back.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Thats about what i read too, only difference was to use cheese cloth instead of paper towels. However if paper towels work it would help keep costs down over the 3 months I plan on doing this.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I am sure paper towels work just as well. The first day or two youll probably have to change out the paper every few hours as it soaks the blood.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I think the first thing I would try would be a couple thick steaks for a few days, then again maybe for 20 days or so. Then I would try the prime rib. From most of the research I have done most recommend around 25-30 days. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I have never heard of anyone dry aging cuts of meats. Obviously it is done if you guys know a method. We used to dry age all the whole carcasses of beef that we killed. There is a BIG difference in the taste.

For our BBQ competition briskets we wet age them. We leave them in the cryovac for 45 days or until we start seeing the air bubbles develop. I don't think it makes that much difference in the taste, but they do seem more tender.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I have seen dry aging of individual steaks but I would really only do a whole ribeye or loin. Also make sure its USDA Prime or USDA Choice! The good stuff!

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Check this thread out. Dry aging individual steaks seems to defeat the purpose though, because you would have to trim the ends.... ?????

http://www.botl.org/community/forums...ad.php?t=47831

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I have seen cuts of meat dry aged in steakhouses around the city. Most have views of the aging room inside and a few have views from the street.
I agree about the individual steaks, I expect to lose +30% over the process. If done on individual steaks I don't know if anything would be left to eat.
Brent could you enlighten me on wet aging?

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Check this slick arrangement out: Steamykitchen tests the Drybag aging system


I think Alton Brown did something on dry aging steaks too at some point, but I might be mistaken and I don't remember where I saw it - online or in one of his books. I'll look for it in a bit and go check my books that he authored.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Dom, I like the way you think!:r

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

*drooooool* God I love aged beef.... mmmmmmmm

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Here's a thread from ICC I found useful last year:

http://www.internationalcigarclub.co...read.php?20750

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Perhaps this is what my prescription drug addict/hoarder aunt is doing with the 3 month old hamburger my uncle attempted to throw in the trash last week, only to have her put it back in the fridge?

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I have dry aged my Elk meat before. Typically I hang in in the cold garage for a week or two quartered and wrapped in cheese cloth, let it drip on a tarp.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Might give this a try on a Costco cut of meat first before I attempt it with a prime cut.
The butchers I talked to recommended aging for 60 to 90 days, so the 21 days with this system is tempting.
Most of what I found online recommends 21 days as well.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Hey, that's me...

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

A lot of good info here!

Moses, do you leave the meat unwrapped or are you covering with paper towels or cheesecloth?

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I only cover it if the paper towels keep getting "bloody". If there is no dripping or juice on the surface, I leave it "as is". You can paper towel it the first night or two, just keep changing the towels.

I would be cautious using cotton towels as you don't want laundry detergent residue to touch the meat. You can paper towels against the meat then the cotton towel wrapped so it does not touch the meat direct.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Actually, my local Costco sells prime as well as choice. They are both.... quite good.
Usually I buy my ribeye loins and wet age them for an additional week or so, before steaking it out. While this isn't as long as some folks, it hasn't ever sucked, even with the Choice grades. I go through about 3-4 of them a year.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Thanks Pete, I never noticed Prime cuts in costco, though I never looked for them.
An inquiry will be made with the butcher there.
It was suggested on the other forum not to spend the extra coin on a prime graded cut.
I'm starting to suffer from a bit of info overload, not a bad thing, it just means I have some decisions to make.
I think I will go with Moses method on a costco choice cut.
Until someone else posts something that changes my mind ;)
All the info has been great! Thanks fellas :tu

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I've had decent results with smaller rib roasts, dry aging for about 12-14 days. Haven't tried anything beyond that time frame. Like others have said, lowest rack in the fridge, on a drip tray. I didn't use any sort of paper towel/cheese cloth, but it makes sense.

Good luck Dom!

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

If you go prime to eat at Costco, get the shell sirloins. It gives you the prime taste and quality, but at a just choice strip price.

It's either better cut at choice or lesser cut at prime. For the money, I think the end product is equal for the money. Prime is nice to eat now and then.

The prime strips from Costco are just awesome but pricey.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I found it...

Alton Brown did the dry aged sage rubbed Au Jus standing rib roast in Season 5 Episode 4 Part 1 "Celebrity Roast"

Here's the segment on ytube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmfaeWEjGpM


And here are the accompanying pages from Good Eats: The Early Years cookbook:

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5...agedroast1.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/945...agedroast2.jpg
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3232/abdryagedroast3.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1...agedroast4.jpg

note:
The book is way too heavy and thick to lay properly on my scanner and I don't have access to a book scanner, so I photographed the pages, but, since I don't have a copy stand and book brace anymore, they aren't quite evenly focused, so I left them at their large resolution - you'd be best to probably save them to your computer and view them in an image viewer where you can just view the sections you want. (IrFranview for example)

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

thanks tg
thats some good info and worth the read through

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Scans look great.

Thanks Adam :tu

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

After 2 days the Thermometer I put in the fridge has remained at a solid 36 degrees.
After Adam's posted scans recommended a RH of 50% to 60% I grabbed a hydro from one of my desktops and tossed it in for chits and giggles.
RH of the fridge is 32%.
Not concerned at all about it, did the hydro thing more for fun.
Since my temp seems to be holding, it looks like I'll be starting this tomorrow.
The plan is to attempt to age 28 days, and then break down into individual steaks.
If all goes according to plan, I'll begin the process of aging a rib roast for 60 days for Easter dinner.

Pics to follow.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

At 32% RH for 60 days, I think you might have a lot of shrinkage, and in a home refrigerator, which are known for temperature cycling, you run a possibility of spoilage.

Take a read of these docs:
http://www.beefresearch.org/CMDocs/B...0of%20Beef.pdf
http://www.beefusa.org/uDocs/dryagin...yofbeef164.pdf

A max of 14-21 days should be sufficient. I can't tell you if 14-21 is even safe in a home refrigerator though. You might not even need that much for a simple standing rib roast.

Something to keep in mind, the restaurants and high end butchers that age beef for the seemingly insanely long periods are 1) using a commercial walk in that does not cycle in temperature or waver in humidity, 2) sometimes have huge blocks of salt in the corners of the cold rooms 3) are aging entire half carcases that still have the natural membrane &/or hide on them which reduces moisture transfer.

Remember, Alton Brown really does tend to run things through the science before offering them up as cooking advice. If he says 4 days, you probably don't need 60. Maybe 7-14, if you feel that he is erring on the side of safety. In a refrigerator that gets opened a lot, I'd even be worried about 14 and spoilage.

Be careful bro.

:2

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Sorry - forgot to explain why the "huge blocks of salt" are worth mention. Besides working as a desiccant to some extent, they have a sterilizing effect on the air (the air in salt mines is nearly sterile). This will play a major factor when leaving a slab of raw meat exposed to the air (typically laden with mold spores and bacteria) for an extended period of time.

I don't know if you could duplicate this in a home refrigerator. Maybe a few 4lb boxes of ice cream (rock) salt in open trays. Maybe. One of which would be in the aging container with the roast. Big problem here is that virtually the entire airspace of the refrigerator changes out when you open the door, it takes awhile for the salt to do it's stuff. It might never get a chance if you open the fridge a lot.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Adam, I agree with your concerns, but I've resigned myself to trial and error at this point.
I might be better served by adding only another week or 2 on my next attempt, assuming I haven't poisoned myself with the first.
The boxes of salt will be added as I have plenty of room since I'm using a spare fridge usually reserved for extra beer storage.
The door will only be opened to change out the pans and dry up any excess juices.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

How long it can age is dependent on how big the cut is and which cut. I have seen people age beef and end up with dog scraps as it dried all the way through. 5-7 lbs. roasts, 20 days or less is fine.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I haven't picked it up yet but it will be in the 16 - 20 lb range.
I plan on getting the largest cut they have.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

:banger :dr

That is some roast!

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

This got derailed a bit by a busted furnace and emergency surgery for my dog.
This morning I braved the cold and snow and returned home with 18.39 lbs of choice cut beefy goodness.
The delay will force me to age only 25 days instead of my intended 28.
I still feel this is long enough to get a feel for the process and to use as a barometer for longer aging periods.

Here's what we're starting with

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294502024

I plan on updating every 3-5 days with pics if any one is interested
Thanks for everyones help and input!

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

That looks awesome. I assume that is a strip?

What you can do is cut a steak on the left side each week, put Ceranwrap on the fresh cut edge of the strip and try a few over the drying process. You'll taste how it changes over each week and the Ceranwrap is good for preserving cut edge. If you don't put it on the cut edge, the edge will dry up and you'll lose a lot of meat with the constant trimming.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Please do post updates, I'm very curious to hear how this works out.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

:tpd:

Nobhill has Choice New York Strip slabs for $3.97 lb. right now. I picked up a 15 lb slab for under $60 last night. I thought about this thread, but I got it cut into 9 THICK steaks and about 1 1/2 lb.s of ground steak for last night's burgers. $3.97 for New York steaks and burgers? "I was like. "SH!T!, why not?" I was gonna have htem ground some chuck for me anyway, and it only cost $0.28 lb. less. I'm thinking of going back and grabbing the other one they have for this dry aging thread which haunts my day dreams. I might have them cut in half or thirds so I can try this two or three separate times.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

If you think you could eat the whole slab in a month or so, you don't have to break it up, just cut eat steak from one end as you want them while the rest continues to dry age.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I like it Dom and will be following this one!....When's the test dinner?!?

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

:hm I may have to try this...

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1294841188

OK, at 96 hrs in.
So far I haven't had to change the drip pan as there is not even a drop of blood or juice of any sort on it.
Same thing for the paper towels I put in the bottom since the meat was a bit larger than the drip pan.
As I said earlier, I wasn't concerned about the RH being so low.
Since then, The RH has been in the 55 to 57 range.
I didn't notice this increase until after the meat was placed in the fridge,
but it may have been my first reading was before the hydro had a enough time in the fridge for an accurate reading.
Or it may be that the piece of meat had an effect on RH?
I really don't Know :confused:
The temp has remained in the 34 to 37 range.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I see shrinkage in the fat, and I think some shrinkage in the meat, along with color changes, so things are definitely happening.

The humidity spike could be due to the moisture coming out of the meat. You might not get any blood drippings, and this isn't necessarily an indicator of anything bad or done wrong. A fresh kill would drip quite a bit, something bought from a supermarket might not. This does not mean it's old, just that it was handled and processed differently. Besides age and moisture content, it seems logical that depending on the condition of the natural membrane found on the meat would have an effect on the amount of seepage.

:2

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I think your spot on about the RH rise coming from the moisture venting from the meat.
I just wasn't paying enough attention to the hydro to confirm this.
I also agree that the lack of juices in the pan doesn't equate to anything being wrong.
I just posted this in hopes that some one with experience might chime in and say "thats odd" or "thats normal".


Things are definitely happening :banger

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

its already looking better

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

As long as it's cold and your fridge is working, no worries. RH should come down, but did you know the RH before you started?

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

I threw a hydro in after Adam's posted scans said RH should be between 50 and 60%
after about 18 hrs give or take it was reading 32%
I put this on the pay no mind list and decided to go ahead and start this
Sat night I checked to see if I needed to change the pan and noticed th RH was in the 55 to 57% range.
It's held there since but I don't know when this RH was achieved.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Looking good there Dom. The times I've dry aged rib roasts they've looked like that after a few days, so I'd say you're on the right track. What time's dinner?

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Looking good brother....I'm surprised by lack of blood/juice, not from experience, just expectation....

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

Something is definitely happening.

Re: Dry aging beef?
 

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295106692

Ok so one week in.
The meat is a lot darker than it appears in the pic.
I had a temp dip down to 31 and the RH slipped to 46 one day.
I went and grabbed a pair of gloves and the meat wasn't frozen.
I think this is just part of the ebb and flow of using a home fridge.
Today we are back to 35 degrees and a RH of 56.
There is still not a drop of blood on the pans but it has been a week so I decided to change them.
I also placed the meat on a scale while I changed the pans.
16.4 lbs, two pounds of loss in one week is more than I was expecting.
I am kicking myself for not weighing before I started.
The 18.39lbs was the # posted on the Vacuum bag when I purchased it, and I am sure all the juice and blood in the bag was included in that #.
Just wished I had of thought of it before.

Here's a view of the other side

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1295106692