Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Hi,

The people at SeriousEats.com really discourage dry aging beef at home. Kenji stated specifically that it did not work. Recently, they had a discussion by Jeffery's Meats pointing out that success requires high sanitation, lower temperature, airflow and high humidity. They claim that these conditions are not attainable in the home environment and there is a high risk of mold and spoilage leading to stinky meat. I think they have a dog in this fight.

I have dry aged beef about 10 times for periods exceeding 10 days. The best was a boneless USDA Prime Rib roast for 28 days. I have not one time had any odor, mold, discoloration or other problem. The trimmings always taste like unsalted jerky.

I may be fortunate with my fridge. I dry age in the bottom crisper after cleaning with Starsan. The crisper has a temperature adjustment allowing for colder air with a fan and It stays at 34 degrees. I use a small roasting pan with salt and water. I cover the roast with cheese cloth to compensate for the humidy.

What are your experiences?

Tim

I haven't tried it at home, but did recently see an episode of Good Eats in which Alton dry aged a roast in his refrigerator with great results (only 72 hours). I was all set to try it for New Year's Eve dinner, but decided to ask my butcher if it was something they could do for me....they did and it made a world of difference in the end product.
It will be good to follow the "dog fight" as I am convinced it makes a good piece of meat even better.
Ilene

I've not dry aged much over a week, but have done those levels many times. I don't try to create a particularly humid environment and just sacrifice the dry outer layer (I slice it off). I experienced a significant, noticeable quality improvement regardless of my dry environment. Under my conditions, I've never observed any mold, etc. I get airflow by putting it on a rack over a pan.

I've done a few roasts and tenderloins, but usually only up to 10 days. I've never tried anything longer, not because of any safety fears, but because I can't plan far enough ahead. I have a second fridge that I can use and set lower than the regular fridge. I also view the outler layer as sacrificial and buy more accordingly.

I dry age like Paul described. And rarely over 2-3 days, since I too cannot plan ahead.

Tim- avert your eyes now since I know that you are not a fan of freezing meat.

What's everyone's opinion if I was going to freeze a roast, should I dry age before/after or doesn't matter? I tend to think after would make more sense, but before would be easier for me (see above about the planning ahead issue)

My first thought is do it before. Less moisture = fewer ice crystals.

JB- that's actually what I meant, as in freeze after dry aging but I wrote that so unclearly.

Drat. This is probably why I rarely dry-age as I'm always madly defrosting.

Hi,

I just spotted this National Cattlemen's Beef Association paper, "Dry Aging of Beef, Executive Summary". LINKY!

Being an executive in my own kitchen, Assistant Pot Cleaning Officer, I took a chance and peeked. Actually, the first half, about the meat, is a pretty good read. It seems that 14 days is optimal with 21 days to gild the lily.

The paramaters of Temparature (32F-36F), Sanitation, Airflow, and Humidity (70%) remain. (They call 85% humidity moderate.) It seems that ultra violet lighting is not often used.

I've decided to continue aging my primals for 14 days and my cream for at least 50 days. How long shall I age my kimchee?

Tim

I am wanting to buy a whole strip roast, dry age it for a week on a rack in my second fridge, and then cook it using Kenji's/CI's method of bringing the steaks up to 95-100 in the oven and then searing. I want to feed my sister's family, my family, and my dad on V Day.

It is a costly endeavor. Any flaws in my plan?

I also need side suggestions. I am leaning toward a mushroom/red wine sauce. My sister has requested a couer a la creme for dessert.

Hi,

While I prefer rib eye to strip, your plan should work nicely. Absolute sanitation is important.

Kenji recently had a large test on dry aging individual steaks for differing periods. In every case the steak loses taste test compared to fresh steaks. My wife, a super-taster shares this opinions presented in this test. She considers dry-aged steaks to have off flavors.

There were a few problems with Kenji's testing.

The aged steaks should have been compared to commercial dry-aged steaks, not fresh steaks.

Dry-aging primals is the preferred method. The steaks are cut from the aged primal.

Kenji quotes their NYC supplier as saying the home fridge is too humid for proper dry aging. According to The Beef Council, a home fridge has too little humidity for proper dry-aging, hence the suggestion to wrap beef with cheese cloth. The best option is to preserve the fat cap or wrap with caul fat.

The Serious Eats article repeatedly talks about undesirable mold infections occurring during home dry-aging. I have never had a single problem. Santitation!

Sorry about my manic rambling.

Tim