Did my own dry age steak taste test.

Sea2Ski

Other people have done this same test, but we all have different tastes so I thought we would do our own.
Went 40 days. 40% of the roast was naked, the other  60% went in the bag. Both went in the same fridge on the same shelf side by side.

Pictures, because it did happen....


Naked end:


Wrapped end:


Side by side:


One steak cut in:


I cut each steak in half, and marked the one from the bag with a toothpick to make sure I did not mess them up. Then reverse seared









The only difference was the outside on the naked was understandably harder.  Other than that, no difference was perceived by me or my wife.

Thought I would share my very non-scientific results with you, just in case you were wondering. 

cookingdude555

Did you prefer the harder texture?

northGAcock

Nice experiment. Was it good and gooder?

Sea2Ski

cookingdude555 said:

Did you prefer the harder texture?

Really it did not make a difference to me. I am totally indifferent. 

Sea2Ski

northGAcock said:

Nice experiment. Was it good and gooder?

Yes they were definitely gooder.  This is the first time I did it with choice and not prime.  I will say there was a noticeable difference in that respect. I will go back to doing it only with prime. 

20stone

That's a real beauty. Thanks for sharing this

NPHuskerFL

I wouldn't mind being the blindfolded guy for that taste test. 

bgebrent

Very nicely done brother ski!

JohnnyTarheel

Is it worth the effort?

Sea2Ski

JohnnyTarheel said:

Is it worth the effort?

The effort of what? If you are asking about dry aging, then yes. Why? Because there is no effort, and that is the beauty of it.  
Take it out of the cryo, and put it on a cookie cooling rack, put it in the fridge and forget about it for however long you want. For the last 2 or so years, i will say I have gone through the added effort of trussing it to try and keep it as round as possible for a bit more even drying.  Totally unnecessary, but I still do it.

Sea2Ski

NPHuskerFL said:

I wouldn't mind being the blindfolded guy for that taste test. 

If you are in the area this week, swing by..... you are always welcome. 

JohnInCarolina

Very scientific - I love it!

GrillSgt

"The only difference was the outside on the naked was understandably harder.  Other than that, no difference was perceived by me or my wife."

Couple of questions. If you detected no difference why would you not wet age instead. Also you trimmed the hard stuff off didn't you? I've never truly wet aged. 

Thanks for the post, interesting and informative. 

Sea2Ski

@GrillSgt Sorry for the misunderstanding.  There was no perceived difference between the bagged vs naked.  There is very much a large difference between dry aged and non dry aged steaks. The difference in the fat alone is like day and night.  The buttery smoothness is simply unmatchable. 

I never trim the hard rind. Some people love it, some hate it and some are indifferent.  I fall in the "depends how long it was aged" group. Prior to 30 days I love it. 30-45 to me, it is okay. More than 45 I cook with it on then usually trim on the plate after cooking, but I never trim the meat prior to cooking.

You said you have never truly wet aged. Have you dry aged? I am convinced everyone should try it at least once. You never know what you are missing - good or bad, fun or not - until you try it. 

GrillSgt

Yes I dry age and trim. Still confused though, what's the difference between wet aged and bagged. Wet aged is simply left in cryovac and not exposed to air. 

Sea2Ski

The bagged is a special permeable bag that allows moisture to escape but not let any odors in or out of it. I can send you the link to it if you want to see/read about it.  I have no affiliation with the company or their products. This was the first time I did not use the bag.  

Teefus

I dry age all my steaks. They sit on the counter coming up to room temp while the grille settles down. That's enough. 

JohnnyTarheel

Sea2Ski said:

JohnnyTarheel said:

Is it worth the effort?

The effort of what? If you are asking about dry aging, then yes. Why? Because there is no effort, and that is the beauty of it.  
Take it out of the cryo, and put it on a cookie cooling rack, put it in the fridge and forget about it for however long you want. For the last 2 or so years, i will say I have gone through the added effort of trussing it to try and keep it as round as possible for a bit more even drying.  Totally unnecessary, but I still do it.

Sorry the aging... yeah sounds like that is your go to... I need to try it..

GrillSgt

Thanks Ski, I got it now. Sorry to be a pita.