Dry Aging...? Am I Ready ??

you haven't been reading much if you still are aiming to try individual steaks.

whole ribeye subprimals only, or large roasts, etc.

you can age any chunk of meat (pork too) as long as it is big (roast or larger)

How large of a roast is recommended? I'll probably try this the next time I buy meat, but don't know if I want to devote the whole thing to it. 

dimensionally at least as long as wide.

if you are drying something, anything, for as long as possible while also trying to not dry it out too much, you don't want to age anything thin, because you are exposing maximum area, minimum volume.

a ball of meat would be the perfect thing, but we don't have those.

ribeyes do well because they are fattier and have a lot of volume.  strip loins are also aged, but you'll see they get very thin after the same amount of time, because they are thinner to begin with and have a lot of surface with less volume.

you can age a three bone rib eye, but if you are a trimmer, you will be trimming away a lot of meat.

trimming is a recent phenomenon.  there is no need for trimming.  those of us who really enjoy this usually find the exterior to be the best part actually.

if you don't trim, you can do a three bone roast.  but that's still small.

and if you have never had dry aged to begin with, i would not recommend doing it yourself first.  you won't know what the heck to look for and you'll second guess the whole way (unless you just DO IT).

better to buy a dry aged steak, untrimmed, and cook the thing.  even if it costs you $50, it's still cheaper than buying a rib eye roast and aging it a month only to second guess yourself and toss it in the trash

As usual, I agree with Darby on the fact as long  as the length  >= width you can dry age it. The smallest I aged though was a pork roast.  Darby might remember that thread: 
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1185826/30-day-dry-aged-pork-for-mother-in-laws-birthday-dinner/p1

It was insanely good and now I dry age most of my beef,  and pork if I can find a good enough piece of pig to do it with.
I think I remember @nolaegghead was going to do a pork roast as well.  Never saw the outcome though.

Just found this fer those who don't have a vacuum sealer....awesome deal---
https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-Automatic-Vacuum-Sealing-Starter/dp/B003U738ZE/ref=sr_1_30?s=prime-day-secondary&psr=PD16&ie=UTF8&qid=1468332700&sr=1-30&keywords=fishing

bags aren't needed.  not to irritate anyone who does use them, but they are NOT required.

i stand by my oft-repeated assertion that the single greatest reason those bags are used is to 1.) assuage the wife, who already thinks you are nuts and doesn't feel comfortable with unwrapped meat in the fridge and 2.) because people think meat needs to be 'wrapped' for it not to go bad. 

go to any decent real butcher shop, and all the meat in their case is unwrapped.  that's why a butcher's chicken has great crispy skin,  air dried.

gmac said:

How "dry" does the fridge need to be?  I have a beer fridge from a bar that is somewhat empty but it's pretty humid. Doesn't seem to have the humidity control of a regular fridge. Would a little dehumidifier help with this process?  I do get a little black mould in it from time to time so uncovered meat sort of scares me. 

the aging is the primary thing happening.  drying is secondary.  you DO NOT want to encourage drying, you merely want to allow it.  too much drying makes beef jerky.  expensive beef jerky

your home fridge isn't as humid as you think.  in fact, home fridges technically are too dry.

commercial dry aging adds a little humidity back into the system to allow extended aging without too much drying.

don't add a dehumidifier.

please people, this stuff is a fixed, known, documented, simple, ancient concept.  do not improvise.  don't add towels.  don't buy magic plastic open-sided stupid aging boxes.  don't be a pvssy.

just please, for the love of god, try it once the way it has always been done. was your grandfather's butcher an idiot?

and if you don't like it that way, that's ok.  not everyone likes bleu cheese or espresso coffee or thousand year eggs or other aged stuff. you don't have to like this stuff.  in fact, if you trim this heavily, then i maintain you DON'T like this stuff, and are just following the crowd.

no one says they really like and appreciate cabernet sauvignon, and then adds "but it's a little to big for me so i add ice and a little soda water".  sure, you can do that, but it isn't what you are telling yourself it is.

if you are doing it because you love experimenting and trying food of all types, then by all means.  but if you prefer a pretty commercial looking bright red steak, and throw out cheese a day past the sell-by date, then this isn't for you.  seriously.

saying " man this sounds great i wanna do this and join the fad!" but then avoiding doing every step of it, doing a small hunk, or trying to do a steak, or trimming off the very aged stuff you made, or begging the wife to let you do it, or jumping through vacuum-bag hoops so she will let you (and you can't explain why you need them in the first place)... man.  just seems like a big waste of time.

[soapbox dismounted]

Sea2Ski said:

As usual, I agree with Darby on the fact as long  as the length  >= width you can dry age it. The smallest I aged though was a pork roast.  Darby might remember that thread: 
http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1185826/30-day-dry-aged-pork-for-mother-in-laws-birthday-dinner/p1

It was insanely good and now I dry age most of my beef,  and pork if I can find a good enough piece of pig to do it with.
I think I remember @nolaegghead was going to do a pork roast as well.  Never saw the outcome though.

We're at 200 plus days on that one.

I know you didn't ask me, but here's my opinion as I have been dry aging for several years now. 14 days isn't worth the bother!!! I prefer 45 days myself - and I'm serious!

dldawes1 said:

RRP...not sure if I'm that patient !!!!!  How bout if I go halfway with you at 30 days???? 

cut off a steak at 27 days, then another at 42/45 days, then you will know. you will also find you eat smaller portions of dry aged beef so you can split a steak

I have had dry aged beef and love it. You mention adding humidity in a commercial situation. Do you know what the ideal humidity is?  I can easily add a hygrometer to measure the beer cooler humidity and see how close I am before I jump straight in.

I'm just worried because as I said, I do see mould in there from time to time. Very unappealing black mould. I never throw out cheese etc, just cut it. 

gmac said:

I have had dry aged beef and love it. You mention adding humidity in a commercial situation. Do you know what the ideal humidity is?  I can easily add a hygrometer to measure the beer cooler humidity and see how close I am before I jump straight in.

I'm just worried because as I said, I do see mould in there from time to time. Very unappealing black mould. I never throw out cheese etc, just cut it. 

i haven't studied it because i haven't considered adding humidity and the beer fridge does fine for my needs.

basically i am sure it's similar to other aging situations, like prosciutto, sausage, etc., [EDIT: which i think is 55% or higher, approaching 65%? ]

even then, the only reason commercial applications control that stuff is so they can maintain uniform quality.  it isn't necessary, it just means the country ham they produce this year will be similar in quality to the one they make next year, rather than suffer from too dry or too humid a season.

molds can be washed off, per USDA.  some mold is actually encouraged in aging, but that's another level.  i don't bother with that either for aging.

i agree with RRP re 45 days, but the way i got there (aside from buying 45 days from a butcher) is in trying it myself the way fishless advocates: age a whole rib eye, and lop off a steak at 21., 28, 45, etc.

i've done a hundred, which i find too dry in a fridge.  umai bags i do believe can go a little longer with a little less water loss, but i am not sure.

essentially, the bags slow drying up front, being plastic.  but the open-air beef slows drying at the end, as the rind gets bigger (bigger than in the umai bags).

they supposedly end up around the same weight (water loss) around 65 days IIRC.

at 45 does it really doesn't enter into it, as far as my needs are concerned

@Sea2Ski  kind of forgot about it.  Dunno.  Whatever I do I will post.

If there are convenient dispenser handles on the door, then there is no need to open the door every time you get beer.  Only need to open when replenishing the source.

no idea.

might rinse the interior and see if there's a smell that remains.

i probably wouldn't think twice, but 45 days from now i wouldn't want you to be perceiving some smell or flavor (real or imagined) after having me toldja it was 'fine'.

there is an element of rancidity in the fat that will occur anyway.  rancidity (contrary to popular opinion) isn't necessarily a negative when aging.  it's a component in the flavors of prosciutto for example.

but if you have never done this, the first time you have a steak you may be wondering in the back of your head "is that how it is supposed to taste? and what's that other flavor? is that correct too?" etc.

can always age in the main fridge as a last resort. down low in the coldest part.  or a roast in the meat or deli drawer (if you have one).  those are typically colder