Dry/Wet Agers

fat is flavor...

if the marbling was sub par for prime, and the meat not condensed (5 days dry-aging won't do much to condense it), then you are pretty much hanging your hat solely on the quality of the beef.

wet aging will break down the meat a little, and introduce some flavors as byproducts, but in the end, it is more important to have the best beef you can.

maybe your expectations were too high? as much as i love dry aged beef, you still can have more 'flavor' from a ham, or bacon, or something where you actually add significant additional flavorants.

i don't know if you saw my christmas roast post, but i was almost embarrassed that it was 'only' about 35 days dry aged. it was damn flavorful, but even the best dry-aged is merely still just wet aged in the center of the roast. i eat the outer inch and a half with gusto. but the middle is 'just' regular old prime rib

and if i want regular old beef, i prefer the slightly beefier (i think, anyway) strip.

give the dry-age a longer term, and you might see a bump in flavor.

too bad about the lack of marbling. my choice beef was nicely marbled, but lacking a fat cap. if you find nicely marbled, nice fat cap, well, you won't have anything to worry about except for whether the aging (wet or dry) flavor is up your alley

There's a Jeffrey Dahmer joke in there somewhere, I'm just too lazy to coax it out.

My guess is your whole problem was not enough salt.

There is 2 parts to aging, texture and flavor. The enzymes in the meat beak down the meat to be more tender in the first 13 days. The flavor is intensified by eliminating the water content through drying. You probably needed more dry time.

Here is what I do to get full salt coverage plus a little extra flavor. I got the idea from Ruth's Chris Steak house.

6 lb Boneless Rib Roast
Canola oil, to coat roast
salt and pepper
super finely chopped fresh parsley
Butter
Parmigiano-Reggiano

Place Roast on a half sheet pan fitted with a rack. Pat the meat Dry. Place into a refrigerator at approximately 50 to 60 percent humidity and between 34 and 38F for 15 days. Cut into 6 steaks and trim fat to 1/4” and trim off any leathery areas. Let steaks warm to room temperature.

Preheat the grill to high. Coat the steaks with oil, salt, and pepper. SPRAY THE GRILL WITH OIL. Grill Steaks for 6 minutes on the first side. Flip and cook until internal temperature reaches 132F. Cover loosely in foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Place plates in a cold oven and set it to 350deg for 15 minutes. Melt the butter on the plates and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano and parsley. Place steak on top of cheese.

the exposed ends of a roast will be overly dry and essentially jerky. those are trimmed and the rest is eaten. if you dry aged a steak for any decent length of time, the two sides would give up too much moisture.

drying needs to be done slowly, and exposing the flesh by cutting it into steaks would expose the flesh (not fat), causing it to dry too quickly. you are trying to condense the exterior fat primarily, and most rapidly. although overall there will be some water loss across the whole chunk.