17 replies to this topic

[Kerry Beal]

Some of you may recall my last attempt at dry aging a rib primal just before Easter and the difficulty I had deodorizing my stinky fridge thanks to the primal spending 4 days pretending to be in a body farm rather than at 4º C.

So today 30 days was finally up on an inexpensive primal that I picked up on Christmas eve. I tucked it in the fridge and ignored it until this morning when it was time to cut it up.



For a first cut I took of the 3 ribs from the flank end for a nice prime rib.



Then cut between the remaining ribs for a couple of little steaks.



Vacuum packed it all up for the freezer.



Here are the trimmings from the end and a tiny bit off the fat - I trimmed minimally.



Looking forward to my first taste of this. It smells wonderful and sweet - think it's going to be quite amazing.

[Chris Hennes]

"a couple of little steaks." Yeah. Little. How you going to cook it?

[Kerry Beal]

"a couple of little steaks." Yeah. Little. How you going to cook it?

Sous vide at 55º C for a few hours, followed by browning on the BGE at about 800º F.

[Paul Bacino]

I tend to cut a little more fat for the bone end ( towards the bottom end of your picture ), it makes it like a mini Tomahawk
( sledgehammer --I mean ) .

Nice>>

Edited by Paul Bacino, 24 January 2012 - 02:14 PM.

[Aloha Steve]

Kerry, why freeze uncooked? I usually cook and cut into potions before freezing.

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, why freeze uncooked? I usually cook and cut into potions before freezing.

I assume you mean sous vide before freezing? I often do that, but this time just wanted to get things in the freezer for now.

[Kerry Beal]

Finally got around to cooking one of my little steaks. My SV unit is in the shop (well - hubbies electronic shop) so I had to do it the old fashioned way on my Big Green Egg. I put the cast iron grate on the spider down close to the lump and the regular grate up on the raised grill.

A minute or so on each surface on the cast iron grate, then onto the raised grill for a total of about 25 minutes.






It was an excellent steak - best I've ever had? - wouldn't say so. I think next time I'll start with a better grade of beef, with a thicker fat cap - and I might even go 45 days.

[Ashen]

It looks really good :) One thing I wondered is , was it wet aged before you dry aged it? Or did you get a fresh butchered primal to dry age yourself? I would like to try this one of these days but don't want to screw up a large piece of meat if I can help it.

[Kerry Beal]

It looks really good :) One thing I wondered is , was it wet aged before you dry aged it? Or did you get a fresh butchered primal to dry age yourself? I would like to try this one of these days but don't want to screw up a large piece of meat if I can help it.

It was cryovaced - but I don't know how long. One of the guys on Green Eggers.com who has done a lot of dry aging thinks the best combo is 45 days wet aged followed by 45 dry aged.

[Broken English]

Those steaks look amazing.

On a related note, we've just tried dry aging a sirloin at work for 45 days, and it's been a bit of a failure. The fat has taken on a great flavour, but the meat inside has a somewhat tainted taste, what could have gone wrong?

[Paul Bacino]

I do my fare-share of home aging.. I'm a 30/30 guy, now. BUT, I do like the 45/45 idea (thanks )

Put in the bottom of a clean frig, on a wire cookie cooling rack, so you get air-circulation ( all around ) .

Never had a problem

English.. looks like this

Edited by Paul Bacino, 01 February 2012 - 05:35 AM.

[eternal]

This is a noob request but aren't you worried about contamination? or does the fridge temp prevent that from happening? Where's a good place to start on reading up on aging?

[Paul Bacino]

Eternal,

My frig runs @ about 34 degrees F, I imagine on the lower shelve . I cant check internal humidity. Am I worried about contamination, of the meat or the frig? Probably not. My locker frig is pretty clean, thou.

Why? It has to do with whole muscle proteins, as opposed to ground meats. In which bacteria will get ground/ impregnated into the meat.

I don't have a good source just google

Edited by Paul Bacino, 01 February 2012 - 04:04 PM.

[barolo]

Eternal, here's a link to an extensive eGullet thread on the topic of dry aging beef: dry aging beef at home

[Broken English]

I do my fare-share of home aging.. I'm a 30/30 guy, now. BUT, I do like the 45/45 idea (thanks )

Put in the bottom of a clean frig, on a wire cookie cooling rack, so you get air-circulation ( all around ) .

Never had a problem

English.. looks like this

That's pretty much exactly what the meat guy did (I work fish), but it took on an odd, almost tainted taste. I wondered if it had to do with the wet aging process that cryovacced meat undergoes.

My name is James, by the way :) I probably should put that in my signature haha.

[tim]

That's pretty much exactly what the meat guy did (I work fish), but it took on an odd, almost tainted taste. I wondered if it had to do with the wet aging process that cryovacced meat undergoes.

BINGO! Any meat that is wet aged benefits from a few hours of drying out to freshen the aromas. Also many internal muscles (hanging tenders, top blade) may exhibit a liver after-taste that may be eliminated by air-drying a few hours and bringing to room temp before cooking.

The most important factors in successful dry-aging are sanitation, higher humidity, lower temperature and air movement. Many refrigerators have crispers that use a fan to lower temps. High humidity is difficult but it helps to wrap your primal with cheese cloth to retard moisture loss.

Tim

[Paul Bacino]

Heres a couple articles:

http://www.goodcooki...aging/aging.htm

and

http://beefresearch....ing of Beef.pdf

Edited by Paul Bacino, 02 February 2012 - 09:20 AM.

[tim]

Paul,

That second link is wonderful. Thanks.

Tim