28 day dry aged steaks - lots of pics

Frank from Houma

Have had several dry aged steaks in steak houses but this is the first time around for me for dry aging - went native without bags

Temp in drawer fridge


Day 1 - 28 days ago put the ribeye roast in a drawer fridge


Today


Cut into steaks


Vacuum Packed


Nine 1-1/4' to 1-1/2" steaks and one 2-1/2" prime rib roast


Searing on the Mini BGE


Roasting on the Small BGE


Done




Just right -

Desert Oasis Woman

"Just right" says it all

toothpick

Would you say it's worth the effort? Can you taste the difference? Is it something you'll do again? Thanks for sharing. Looks awesome.

Frank from Houma

Absolutely - My first wife and I normally share a steak no more often than once a week - we're set for about 3 months. In two months I'll pick up another one.

Frank from Houma

SSN686

Morning Frank:

BEAUTIFUL! Someday I'm just gonna have to get the courage to try dry aging a hunk of cow!

Frank from Houma

Jay,

Took me a while to try it. The drawer fridge was ideal - nobody opening it several times a day and a constant temp. Of course I had to peek every couple days to make sure it was still there.

texasAUtiger

Frank from Houma wrote:

Absolutely - My first wife and I normally share a steak no more often than once a week - we're set for about 3 months. In two months I'll pick up another one.

You aren't on the HBO show "Big Love" are you?

Firetruck

Great lookin steak Frank

Frank from Houma

Never heard of it - don't get HBO

AZRP

I have done this three times now and have always cut the dark rind off the edge of the steaks. I microwave the rinds and my dog loves them. Looks like you left them on, aren't they tough? -RP

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

No
best part of the steak

RRP

Randy,
Except for the two exposed face ends which I trim off just a paper thick layer I do not trim the rinds of the steaks. In fact I find they actually mellow and become part of the bark from the sear and they taste wonderful. Of course now your dog hates me!
Ron

Perhaps we should add that you and I use Drybags.

Frank from Houma

I just trimmed the ends. The "rind" was maybe 1/16" and a tough but tasty. Maria said she would like hers trimmed before the sear next time. HMMMMMMMMM - since we normally split a steak, looks like mine will be trimmed as well.

NoVA Bill

Hey Frank,

Great looking pics!!

I have a NY top sirloin in a drybag for a week now. I like your idea of going native now that I have a dedicated frig for meats.

AZRP

No wonder my dog loves me. -RP

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

what's odd is the subject has been discussed ad nauseum. i don't know how you read all the discussion about how to age but missed the part about WHY. hahaha

trimming off the denser meat removes everything that has been dry aged. everything in the interior is essentially wet aged, in a way.

plus, the yield is so much less.

i dunno. i can't imagine having gone through the effort without trying it. give it a shot next time.

you can trim off any overly thick fat that may be left, but even then, if i trim anything, it's when it's on the plate. gives you the luxury of trying it before deciding.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

reminds me of the scene in the jerk where steve martin says "and no more of this old wine. we want FRESH wine..."

RRP

For sake of discussion I have to wonder why your meat at 28 days is not as brown as other aged beef pictures have been. Could it be because yours was isolated in the meat drawer and therefore did not have the same flow of air for those 4 weeks? For instance here's my 28 day rib eye - notice how much darker mine ended up vs yours.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

the brown is oxidation, so you might be right.
the more there is, maybe the more airflow there is?

the meat drawer, though, is generally fed with a little air directly from the freezer side, so he's probably getting plenty of air circulation.

RRP

I understand oxidation and where the meat drawer is but could the 33° be too cold? Mine was on the bottom shelf on a wire rack and it remained a fairly constant 35° level though our frig has a veggie drawer and then a meat drawer clear at the bottom. OTOH mine was in a Drybag making that another variable.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

no.

cold won't turn it brown

meat doesn't freeze at 32. most of those meat drawers are fed directly from the freezer side for that reason..


it slows the enzyme action, that might make a colder chunk less brown than one a little warmer (because the meat is essentially digesting itself). slow that reaction, you get less browning. but we are only talking a few degrees difference.

too many variables to pin it on temp alone.

someday, someone with a dry age bag set-up might do a side-by-side...

RRP

I hear ya - but right now I've run out of freezer space - honest! Have steaks and roasts out there now from 3 aged subprimals, plus a bunch of other beef, pork and chicken bought on sale in the last month or so, let alone frozen soups and my stash of Pearl's frankfurters! It's only a 17 cu ft freezer and it's stuffed! I gotta do some eatin before more agein.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i could come stay with the two of you for a while :laugh: