Dry Age

TarHeelBBQ

dry aging a Prime Grade Ribeye Loin. In 44 days it'll be ready. I'm excited!!  First time trying the bag. We will see how it works out. I hope everyone has a wonderful week 

RRP

Looks good Burton! Now the difficult part has started - waiting the 45 days!

hapster

Standing by... 

TarHeelBBQ

TarHeelBBQ

It's really starting to turn colors now

SmokeyPitt

I am planning to be in North Carolina on 4/29/2015.  What time should I stop by for dinner? 

tarheelmatt

Where are you located @TarHeelBBQ ?

mahenryak

Nice going.  I have a boneless rib-eye subprimal that was just under 22 pounds, I think, in the refrigerator.  Also, first time using the dry bags.  Going on day ten or eleven.  Shooting for 45 days.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

20stone

That looks great.  I can get great beef, but not great dry aged beef where I am.

I always presumed that some amount of contamination was constructive in dry aging, so I would love to hear how it tastes.  My butcher up in Chicago had prime beef loins lined up with date markers in his walk in (along with a keg of Spatten).

Please keep us updated.

berndcrisp

Spaten is one of my five favorites. It's even better at the end of September in Munich. 

RRP

20stone said:

I always presumed that some amount of contamination was constructive in dry aging, so I would love to hear how it tastes.  

Why do you expect or even want contamination? The dry aging done commercially in large rooms with expensive environmentally  
controlled rooms or those sub-primals aged one by one in your kitchen refrigerator using a UMAi Dry bag just means drying the beef. What you are doing is slowly extracting the tasteless water present in beef thereby concentrating the beefy taste! 

My advice is to spend the coins and go to a good steakhouse that serves dry aged beef. If you like/love it then dry aging at home will be in your future - at a fraction of the price! 

nolaegghead

@RRP @20stone - The "contamination" is typically certain fungal (molds) that contribute to tenderizing the meat.  I've done extensive research on dry aging as I was going to buy dry bags.  My conclusion was to go commando, as I read the contamination adds an earthy flavor that I like in addition to contributing to the tenderness.  

The moisture loss (AKA flavor concentration!) is a major reason to dry age.  Contrasted to a wet age where natural enzymes tenderize, a more pronounced flavor is unique to the dry age process.  

It all boils down to what you prefer in taste, there is no right or wrong.  I am a fool insofar as I arbitrarily like things done more naturally.  mmmm...I can taste that fungus and it's delicious. 

I'm very interested in how this tastes.  "Contaminated" dry aged beef is not for everyone.  Could this be?  

Also, is it 44 days yet?

TarHeelBBQ

Terrible pic but I think it's going perfect. Turned brown, bag still sticking, starting to smell a little. 

DMW

Here's mine on day 41 of 50. Started out at 7 pounds, I weighed it a few days ago and it was just a bit over 5 pounds. I'll be trimming it minimally and cooking it whole as a prime rib roast for our family Easter dinner along with a ham. Good chance I won't be eating any ham...





I pulled off a dangly bit when I weighed it and it was better than any beef jerky I've ever tried. Wife thought I was a bit nuts, but I wasn't going to bother explaining how it was safe to eat, let alone try to convince her to try it.

Sea2Ski

@DMW you are not too far - mind if I stop by and pick at the scraps? Just tell me what time you think everyone will be done. Although I will warn you I usually show earlier as I hate being late.  In this case, I will attempt to get there 1.5 hours early.  Once there, I can just sit in the corner of the room.  I will not say a thing. I'll just sit there..... waiting.... patiently.....

DMW

Sea2Ski said:

@DMW you are not too far - mind if I stop by and pick at the scraps? Just tell me what time you think everyone will be done. Although I will warn you I usually show earlier as I hate being late.  In this case, I will attempt to get there 1.5 hours early.  Once there, I can just sit in the corner of the room.  I will not say a thing. I'll just sit there..... waiting.... patiently.....

Lol, will be cooking this at my folks place over in Ephrata, I'm sure you are more than welcome...

Sea2Ski

Ephrata??  That is even closer!  Whoo hoo!!!

piney

I just got my UMAi bags today have not opened the Priority Mail packet yet. I will be looking forward to seeing how things turn out for TarHeel and DMW

20stone

nolaegghead said:

...My conclusion was to go commando, as I read the contamination adds an earthy flavor that I like in addition to contributing to the tenderness.  

The moisture loss (AKA flavor concentration!) is a major reason to dry age.  Contrasted to a wet age where natural enzymes tenderize, a more pronounced flavor is unique to the dry age process.  
... 
Also, is it 44 days yet?

That's what I was wondering.  My favorite steaks were from Joe's "contaminated" walk in, though I expect that the good dry aged steaks I have had in restaurants were aged in a more sterile environment.  I would go commando as well if I had a place to do so (and will in the next several months).  I love contaminated cheeses, too.

However, I am really interested to see how the bagged ones come out.

@DMW, do what you want to do, but I would trim relatively aggressively.  The outer layer is going to be jerky, and it will roast better without that big knob of fat on the end.  I have followed the AmazingRibs site advice on prepping, tying, reverse searing with prime roasts with great results.

Roadpuke0

I'll be posting the same cook tomorrow from amazing ribs.cant wait to try

DMW

@20stone Thanks for the input. I am hoping the fat will have protected the meat so I won't need to trim much of the meat. I've never taken one to 50 days before, so I'll trim based on what I find. I will be tying and reverse searing for sure.

mgd_egg

@20stone that looks amazing!  I need to see what this dry aged business is all about. I'm Sure I've had an aged steak before but I don't remember a significant difference. I'll have to go out and order one. 

Fireman_Joe

Looking really good

20stone

mgd_egg said:

... I need to see what this dry aged business is all about. I'm Sure I've had an aged steak before but I don't remember a significant difference. I'll have to go out and order one. 

If you are up for a little road trip, go to Al's Market in Wilmette.  Tell Joe (son of Al, and the owner) I sent you (John, the huge Democrat that moved home to Texas).  You may end up with a beer in your hand. 

mgd_egg

20stone said:

mgd_egg said:

... I need to see what this dry aged business is all about. I'm Sure I've had an aged steak before but I don't remember a significant difference. I'll have to go out and order one. 

If you are up for a little road trip, go to Al's Market in Wilmette.  Tell Joe (son of Al, and the owner) I sent you (John, the huge Democrat that moved home to Texas).  You may end up with a beer in your hand. 

Wilmette is not far at all.  Thanks John the huge Democrate that moved to Texas for the referral!

st¡ke

Most dry aged steak served in restaurants are 21-28 days max. And they trim, because god forbid anyone see a real dry aged steak. Many consumers like the sound of the phrase "dry aged", but in this day of food panic, anything less than rosy red is seen as 'bad'. So you won't notice much of a difference. 21-28 days is not a big deal. But it allows them to charge a premium, and very few people want to admit they can't notice an improvement. Emperor's new clothes, and all that.

But up near fishless and me, they sell 45 day aged beef. They started trimming, to accomdate the yuppie housewives, but never used to. 

If you can get one 45 days, try it. If you can only get one that's 28, ask them not to trim it. The rind will soften when cooked, and becomes crispy. The fat will self-fry. 

Even the thicker parts of the rind are nothing more than jerky.  Completely safe to eat. At about 35-40 days there will be some thicker parts of rind. 

To me it's the best part frankly. 

DMW

st¡ke said:

Most dry aged steak served in restaurants are 21-28 days max. And they trim, because god forbid anyone see a real dry aged steak. Many consumers like the sound of the phrase "dry aged", but in this day of food panic, anything less than rosy red is seen as 'bad'. So you won't notice much of a difference. 21-28 days is not a big deal. But it allows them to charge a premium, and very few people want to admit they can't notice an improvement. Emperor's new clothes, and all that.

But up near fishless and me, they sell 45 day aged beef. They started trimming, to accomdate the yuppie housewives, but never used to. 

If you can get one 45 days, try it. If you can only get one that's 28, ask them not to trim it. The rind will soften when cooked, and becomes crispy. The fat will self-fry. 

Even the thicker parts of the rind are nothing more than jerky.  Completely safe to eat. At about 35-40 days there will be some thicker parts of rind. 

To me it's the best part frankly. 

Question for you WRT the ribeye I'm aging currently. Would you trim it at all if preparing as a whole roast?

st¡ke

Well. Me? No. 

I served a dry aged roast every year for christmas and every loves it. That's because they don't know it's dry aged. I also only go about 30 days, because 45 can be iffy in a home fridge if it gets too dry. The meat can shrink too much internally and pull apart. And although i dont care, not for christmas dinner, you know?

i started my whole dry aged quest about ten or twelve years ago at savonneurs market, where Julia Child got her dry aged beef. The guy carved it off the subprimal and scraped off the mold and that was it. Good enough for Julia Frigging Child, good enough for me.

there is an undoubted psychological hump that needs to be gotten over. And we need to remind ourselves that the only people who ever bought bright red meat were the last couple generations. It's all learned behavior and can be unlearned. 

I'm not saying that great grandma was buying purposefully dry aged meat. But the meat was probably older. Browner. 

One thought is that the idea of bright red fresh meat came about when advertising took to full color at the beginning of the century, say 20's era, with the burgeoning uptick in magazines aimed at women and housekeeping. 

So....  Trim the ends of course, the heels of the loaf are always driest. Like shoe leather. Edible bit not palatable. The exterior? I don't trim. The fat will be crispy and puffy. The rind will soften. 

After 45 days it becomes dicier. The rind is thick. But that's for tailgating or eating your own damn steak without having to sell the idea on someone as a guest who throws out food after two days in the fridge.  

oldest damn thing i ever ate was a steak that came off a ribeye i had aged 60 days. Keep in mind meat arrives having hung for a couple weeks already. So, maybe 75 days. I didnt finish it, and it went into the deli tray (super cold).  A month later i found the steak. F*ukkit. Alone at home. Winter. Fire in the fireplace. Feeling the scotch. I warmed it slowly. Ate the thing. Not great. But good. Better than a hundred days old. 

It's very very difficult to have food become unsafe in a fridge. At least in my house. 

TL/DR:  my guests get stuff aged maybe 30 days. The rind isnt as thick and will soften when it cooks, and will be perceived as that crispy exterior you get when you dry a roast maybe three or four days before roasting it. If you can't age it, at least dry it a bit

DMW

Thanks for the insight. I think I'll stick with my original plan and trim only minimally. There will also be a ham served for those that don't want to try it.

Monaarts

Sorry for my ignorance but what is the advantage of dry aging? 

st¡ke

Advantage is flavor. Fresh meat is protein and fat. Fat has flavor, but protein is flavorless

supermarket beef is already aged about two weeks, whole carcass. Goes thru rigor  mortis and the enzymes start breaking down some protein. When you break flavorless protein (decomposing it, actually. It's controlled rotting) it becomes amino acids, which DO have flavor.

That's "aging".   You get that whether you dry age or wet age (leave in cryo).

"drying" is utterly separate. It's nothing more than getting rid of water. Short term, it will dry the exterior and make for a better crust and browning. You can even dry a steak overnight. But not age overnight. 

Drying for an extended period condenses the beef. Only water is lost, and the flavor condenses. Both the fat flavor and the aged flavor

and since fat is mostly water, that sh!tty soft flubbery large chunk of internal fat in a rib eye instead becomes buttery. What's butter but (in a way) beef fat minus water? 

Here it is:  a bright red steak offers almost all flavor from the entrained fat. And although the meat itself is already two weeks old, it's not really 'aged' in flavor. 

Dry aging creates an entirely different piece of meat. It's akin to fresh milk versus cheese.