Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

I tried it: Dry Aged Beef

smak
smak Posts: 199
edited February 2012 in EggHead Forum
I decide to jump on the dry aged beef wagon.

Here is a photo of the progress...  The first shot is Day 1 with weekly shots for 5 weeks.
image

And here it is sliced:
image

I did some light trimming on any tags hanging off and some of the thick fat cap.

I cooked them up on the egg, TRex.  I missed the after cook photos (oops).

I has very happy with the results.  I will be doing it again.  I want to do some taste tests along the way next time to get a better idea of the changes.

-smak
smak
Leesburg, VA
«13

Comments

  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    There is a store in n Dallas, small market- they dry age prime. - and less expensive than central market. I love it, just can't justify tying up the fridge space.

    Thank you for posting the pics. Fascinating seeing the changes.
    Cookin in Texas
  • TUTTLE871
    TUTTLE871 Posts: 1,316

    Whats the name of the store in Dallas?

    Rudolphs?

    Thanks..

    "Hold my beer and watch this S##T!"

    LARGE BGE DALLAS TX.

  • Thats a nice piece of beef there,
    Living the good life in MACDonna
  • I have dried age so many 6 to 8 bone standing ribs. I hit the processing house every December and a few times in the summer get a un-trimed rib, wrap in cheese cloth place in the bottom of my refeer for 2 days, make sure your refeer is lower than 38 but above 32. The cheese cloth which at this time looks a? Well let's just say it's soaked. Wrap with fresh cheese cloth for 3 more days. Then change every 3 days. I like to age for 21 to 25 days. Trim off all dark dried out fat and ends.  The secret is you need alot of fat and a fresh cut of beef. If it has been trimmed it may not age and just spoil and you’ll know if it spoils? A processing house is your best bet. Rub down with olive oil, I use a blond rub just coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper and lots of it. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

    To cook heat the BGE to 325 indirect using 1 or 2 chunks of hickory, let stabilize, using meat probe in center of roast in foil pan you do not want to lose this juice.  Till 125 it takes about 1 to 2 hours. It’s just my preference it will end up at about 130, place in warm oven turned off for 20 mins. This will also allow for the people who like their beef a little more done the ends will be well done but the center will be so good.

     

    Living the good life in MACDonna
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    Matador's. Near 121 and preston. I got a prime brisket there --- killer sausage.

    What/where is Rudolp's. Not familiar with it - might have to check it out.
    Cookin in Texas
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited February 2012
    Please try without the cheesecloth. You get a dried surface quickly, which is what you want. The cloth can keep that surface wet, and that is not only undesirable from a quality standpoint, but also provides the perfect environment for bacteria, which necessarily should be kept at bay. Temps will do this, but nothing is gained by providing them a breeding ground. The cloth also wicks moisture, which dries the surface too quickly

    The method involving towels or cloth is borne from a notorious internet method copied and passed along many times. It incorrectly confuses the linen shrouds used on sides of beef in coolers for some sort of drying mechanism. And presumes you want that on a rib eye. Not a good idea.

    Wash, pat dry, and leave it to form a pellicle quickly. A dry surface is hostile to bacteria. Damp towels soaked in protein are PERFECT places for them

    I won't bloviate about trimming. But essentially, trimming the dried portion is trimming off the dry aged beef anyway. The interior is basically wet-aged. Personally, if i had to trim, i would toss the inerior. It's personal preference, but the exterior is what is 'dry aged'. The interior is closer to wet aged. You will increase yield by not dry aging at all, if you do not care for the drier portions. Leave it in the cryo, and you'll get the same tenderness and byproduct flavors, without the drier condensing of the beef. Most trimming seems a result of cosmetic issues and 'flinching' on the part of the person considering eating it. We have been sold pretty, red, wet beef for so many years, that we are freaked out by the brown stuff. Power through it. That brown and drier meat is hard won. Pity to toss it.

    If the wife is skittish, serve her something bright red. To trim is nearly equal to adding ice cubes to red wine.

    Just one man's opinion

    But loose the towels. They have the potential to do harm, and offer zero benefit. ...they only satisy our learned compulsion to cover or protect things in the fridge. A habit which we all need to unlearn, admittedly
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Stike, With all due respect, <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

    I have known the owner of the Capital Steak House here in Atlanta (Buckhead) for many years. You probably have not heard of them but they dry age their beef and have been for more than 20 years. I learned this technique from him many year back. If you’ll notice the beef that is in the pictures does not have bones, the fat cap is very thin; this means it has been processed at least 3 times. The beef I use has been cut from a grass fed steer the day I bring it home. In fact I see the steer on the hoof 3 days before. I like to inspect the beef I am about to pay $250.00 or more for a 6 to 8 bone rib. The average weight of the ribs I get is 25 pounds. When I am finished the average weight is 18.  In fact you want that bacteria to start the break down process that makes the meat so sweet, yes you’re consuming some really fine germs. Be sure you’re getting off the hoof. It just makes a better cut of beef. When I started doing this the internet had not yet been invented by Al Gore.

    Living the good life in MACDonna
  • TUTTLE871
    TUTTLE871 Posts: 1,316

    Rudolphs Market

    2924 Elm Street

    Dallas TX

     

    "Hold my beer and watch this S##T!"

    LARGE BGE DALLAS TX.

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited February 2012
    with all due respect, i think you mean enzymes, not bacteria.

    what i'm saying is that there was a way it has been done traditionally, as part of the storage process, and there's a second fad-inspired DIY system involving 'wanting' dry aged beef because of the way it sounds, but not actually wanting to face what it really is.

    it is decomposing meat. 

    enzymes are what break down the proteins, which are flavorless.  the byproducts of that breakdown are flavorful esters and amino acids.   tenderizing is also directly related to the breakdown of the protein.

    but the DRY part of dry aging has nothing to do with enzymes. it is the overall condensing of the beef (and thereby, the fat and flavor) by getting rid of water.

    i don't know why they trim so much fat.  the fat is what delays over-drying, and allows you to go longer without overly drying the meat.

    to each his own, but they are selling a commercial product.  showing a restaurant patron a brown steak prior to cooking it is likely not going to win any new fans.  so they trim.  i just know that it wasn't ever trimmed

    how long are you aging them? commercial supermarket beef is hung for two weeks after slaughter in most cases.  yours never had a chance to go through rigor mnortis, which is a pretty important part of the slaughter process.

    hey, i say do what suits you.  but the cheesecloth does literally nothing. is a potential danger, and you most certainly are NOT eating bacteria.  it's enzymes which age the beef.  enzymes which are naturally occurring IN the beef, and which are not living microorganisms. 

    you eat no 'bugs' when eating dry aged (or wet aged) beef.

    i respect that they have been aging beef for 20 years.  but beef has been aged a lot longer than that.  it was frankly nothing more than storing beef.  had nothing to do with 'aging' pre se.  but with the advent of refrigerated trains and trucks, advertising, chain groceries, etc., americans have been steadily convinced that fresh beef, and bright ed beef, is best.  what we call aged beef is simply the way beef used to be. 

    you may wish to choose to use cloths (some use actual bath towels), but it never had a place in the industry,

    if the beef had a thicker fat cap, the fat would do what it always did (like it does with pates, etc.), slow drying, and meter the drying rate. 





    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • some of the Rouse's grocery chains in Louisiana have dry aging available.  You can purchase what you need that day or buy the whole ribeye (or whatever whole cut you want) and have the age it for as long as want at no extra charge.
  • OK, enzymes, bacteria, germs, whatever you call it, it works. Cheese cloth are not. I do know that the beef I age has never been in a cryo bag, a refer truck or a refer train much less a grocery store. The concentrating of flavors are what you look for. I have a Tecumseh refer small though very efficient and has served me well for more than 15 years. I think I trust a man who has made a fabulous living cooking beef for heads of state, dignitaries and just ole common folk who love a great steak. Stike, I came here to have some fun, but people like you ruin it for so many. It is your way or no way at all. I have only been here one day and posted a nice way I think of aging beef in a tired an true proven way. But you must have made millions at your restaurant to be so informed. I hope my wife is wrong! She said I might regret this? Please tell me the last time you paid 275.89 for a 8 bone fresh standing rib and have the confidence not to ruin it???? Oh by the this was last Christmas and I served it to twenty eight people and it was spectacular. Also I must forgot about the 22 pound turducken also in the BGE.   <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

    Living the good life in MACDonna
  • I dunno....bge30 seems to be a little too defensive...lighten up, it's just the internet :-c
  • I sense a Rumble In The Jungle coming on.

    Since I don't have a dog in this fight, I think I'll just sit back.


    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Ooh ooh.....can you please pass the popcorn this way VI!
  • The herd had been disrupted. EVERYONE PANIC!!!!!!!!!!
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited February 2012
    NM
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Tweev.

    I may be a doosh, but in the end, i have something to offer. You are a cipher. Literally nothing to add unless you repeat it or google it

    And if not that, you simply resort to trying to pot stirring

    You're MO grew tiring over there, and it's already becoming thin here.

    Fwiw, nothing i posted about dry aging beef is wrong. No one's sayin that, are they?

    I dont answer questions about pizza dough, or stir fry, or fifty other things. But when i answer, i make sure i'm not guessing.

    I dont think i'm always right. But sue me for being right more often than not. It's mainly because i dont open my mouth if i'm unfamiliar with the subject. I dont guess or google. If i dont know, i say so

    You could try that once in a while

    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • VI- Got anymore of that popcorn?
  • OK, guys.  Calm down.

    What's funny here is that everybody taking part in this discussion has the motivation to help others by presenting expertise that they have learned over the years ... many from numerous failed experiments.

    But, we can always learn from others too.  I consider myself pretty darned good at stir frying, but I learned something the other day from a first timer's cook.

    If we knew everything, we'd all be on TV, grabbing Giada's ass.


    Be well, and let me learn from you.  image
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
    I don't think I would be grabbing Giada's a?? !!!! ;;)
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
  • I don't think I would be grabbing Giada's a?? !!!! ;;)
    Bobby Flay?   :))
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
    edited February 2012
    VI

    Tyler Florence
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
  • I would love to grab Giada's ass. Hell, I'll grab Bobby Flay's ass if he teaches me how to cook!
    Mark Annville, PA
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    I was gonna weigh in on Grass Fed vs Grain Fed beef - and the misperceptions about that....

    but - there is enough excitement.   ITs all good.

    Cookin in Texas
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    Rudolphs Market

    2924 Elm Street

    Dallas TX

     

    Thank you - will check this out.  Always looking for interesting places.   I have been to Matador's 3 times - really impressed.   Headed into the city this weekend, will probably swing by there on Saturday.
    Cookin in Texas
  • I am with Granny, I would not be grabbing Giada's backside either, Tyler OTOH >:)
    VI pass the popcorn
    Tuttle871 that for posting the address for Rudolphs Market.  Next time we go up to see the kids we will scope the place out.  I have always been partial to Hirsch in Plano or  Kubys in University Park.  
    I will check out Matador's also, thanks boatbum.
    See some of you at Salado, or the Austin fest
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    last time I was in matadors - owner said he was getting two demo egg's to cook out front with.   He had a sidebox smoker when I was there.   I havent been back in a couple of weeks.
    Cookin in Texas
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    tweev, i think you and i both know it's not possible to hurt my feelings.  many have tried.
    ;)

    and we also both know i have never posted any charcuterie of mine without giving direct credit to the source.  has never happened. and any question about it which i answer, i refer to ruhlman or wise as the source as well.  either that, or i'm clear when i'm speculating.  you're attempting to position me as someone who pretends to make up all the stuff i do as though it were mine. 

    and yet, this is what you've done with tri-tip, the umami burger, and lastly, the apple in an apple foolishness.

    i wish you had some talent for food beyond the pressure cooker, but you don't.  and that's ok.  i'm not an original either.  everything i do has been done before.  you have potential though.  you're obviously intelligent.  but you are happy being agent provocateur rather than actually adding to the conversation.  and that's what someone does when that's all they can do.

    keep at it.  keep trying to establish yourself as some voice of reason, all the while stirring the pot with the other hand.  but it's getting real old, man.  you're a one trick pony.  range of a daisy air-rifle.  potential, but frittered away on being 'clever' instead.

    'meh', as you say.  where's the emoticon for a shrug when you need it?

    i think you could really offer something if you could just answer a legit question once in a while, or post something you actually cooked.  til then, i'll handle that for you.  you just keep trying to be witty and provocative.  someday you'll manage it.

    most of know who the 'doosh' around here really is. 
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • image
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Mike8it
    Mike8it Posts: 468
    So should I use a cheese cloth or not? :)>-