anyone dry age steaks at home? (cheaters edition)
beerorkid | July 19, 2010
Phone pic was in low light and that part looks black, it was a dark red. Also this is after I had seasoned it and let it rest for 30 minutes. It is squished in the pic, it did not shrink that much. Still that pic looks awesome as hell.
I have started doing this and it is awesome. 1 day is enough, but the one above has 3 days in the air in the fridge. I use skewers jammed into a foam plate so it can age on both sides. Wrap the steak in a layer of paper towel and stick in the fridge. My first time looked like this.
Why would you do such a thing? Well basically you are just working some moisture out to concentrate flavor. Wikipedia can take it from here:
The process enhances beef by two means. First, moisture is evaporated from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of beef flavor and taste. Second, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef.
Dry aging of beef is rare in super-markets in the United States today due to the significant loss of weight in the aging process. It is found in steakhouses and certain restaurants.
At home 1-3 days is the range you want to be in. Even though I had the ribeye wrapped in paper towels, 3 days took its toll. The edges were really dry. one bite seemed like there were pieces of jerky in there. The flavor was insane though. This was a select grade steak from Russ’s and it tasted and melted like butter. I cooked it in 4 minutes over my rocket hot side of the grill after coming to room temp and coated with fancy ass salts and cracked pepper.
1 day is enough, two is awesome, and 3 days you tackled the cow in the wild and then laughed at it for 72 hours before eating. The paper towel protects the meat and you are going to sear the outsides anyway, so be not fearful of the nasties. That steak was ageing in the cotton carpeted plastic coffin before you picked it up.
