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Aging beef

Jack Fabulous

Jack Fabulous

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Does anyone know how to properly age steaks?

I ran across some sirloins "aged 28 days" at the grocery store last week and they were FANTASTIC. Are there some special steps that must be followed to age a steak?
 
Jack Fabulous said:
Does anyone know how to properly age steaks?

I ran across some sirloins "aged 28 days" at the grocery store last week and they were FANTASTIC. Are there some special steps that must be followed to age a steak?
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Was the steak dry or wet aged?
 
Just leave it on the counter. You'll be fine.

OK. That's not true. If you eat a steak you left on the counter for a few weeks you'll probably get botulism or something.

Start with a larger rib roast that hasn't been trimmed too much. You need a good fat cap. Put the roast on a rack on top of a hotel pan. Put the pan with the roast in an empty refrigerator. On a shelf above or below the roast put in a batter operated fan. Close the door and wait at least a couple to three weeks. Take the meat out, trim off the dried fat, cut your individual steaks and grill them up.

The bad part is that if you screw up the process you wasted an expensive chunk of beef.
 
zyzygy said:
Was the steak dry or wet aged?
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Dry aged, I think.

They were awesome! I generally prefer ribeyes but I thought I'd give the aged sirloin a try. Glad I did.
 
From what I know, it's actually pretty simple. All you do is that you trim the steaks and place them over seasalt in the fridge - that's it.
 
Jack Fabulous said:
Does anyone know how to properly age steaks?

I ran across some sirloins "aged 28 days" at the grocery store last week and they were FANTASTIC. Are there some special steps that must be followed to age a steak?
Click to expand...

Hey Jack, I played around with dry aging a few years back and the steaks were fantastic. I will link a video to what I basically did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E97xZjDJ4lQ

You should note in the video about the salt bed and the coating on the rack, this keeps unwanted bacteria and moisture to a minimum. I did my aging in Its own mini or stand alone fridge similar to the video. I also would periodically place a small usb rechargeable fan in the fridge to circulate air.

Note: I personally would not attempt to dry age beef in your everyday refrigerator with other foods, bacteria transfer is a risk, (Not) for the standard groceries but the meat you are trying to dry, any extra moisture could mean mold and you wasted your time and money.

To be honest I was very nervous with serving this meat, you need to start out with a substantial cut and really can’t freeze extra. For me the end result didn’t justify the cost and time. The goal is to change and alter the protein molecules in the beef with removing moisture. This can also be done with a salt brine or very high heat searing.
 
I have never done it because I believe that it is way too much work, I would rather pay someone to do it right. However, dont forget that Ultra Violet lighting is important, especially for long ages:

Firstly, temperature control is critical to slow and almost stop the rotting process. Beef is received right after slaughter and it must be held at a core temperature of around zero degrees (this is done by our cool room running between −0.5 and 1 °C). Secondly, airflow is critical. Increasing the airflow around the aging room is needed to make sure that the fresh beef dries as quickly as possible on the surface to stop bacteria and potential mould growth. To achieve this, we have a number of ceiling mounted fans to push air in different directions around the room (Fig. 2). Thirdly, the use of UV lights is crucial to kill any air borne bacteria (Fig. 3). Lastly, the humidity is important and it must be between 80% and 85%. At high levels of humidity mold growth is an issue. If the humidity is too low the beef will dry out too quickly and therefore cause the steak to have less juiciness than is needed
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Dry aging beef

For sure a dedicated fridge is needed.
 
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Hawkeye10 said:
I have never done it because I believe that it is way too much work, I would rather pay someone to do it right. However, dont forget that Ultra Violet lighting is important, especially for long ages:


Dry aging beef

For sure a dedicated fridge is needed.
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Curious, have any done dry salt brining? You can turn less desirable cuts into tender cuts in a few hours.

This method quickly changes the protein molecules in beef. You need to source some decent coarse sea salt and lay down a bed. Place the meat on the salt and then completely cover the meat with a top layer. The rule of thump is for every inch thickness of the steak equates to one hour or 1.5 under the salt.

You then rinse the salt off completely pat dry then let air dry for a time. You would think the steak would be a salty mess but not so.
 
woodsman said:
Curious, have any done dry salt brining? You can turn less desirable cuts into tender cuts in a few hours.

This method quickly changes the protein molecules in beef. You need to source some decent coarse sea salt and lay down a bed. Place the meat on the salt and then completely cover the meat with a top layer. The rule of thump is for every inch thickness of the steak equates to one hour or 1.5 under the salt.

You then rinse the salt off completely pat dry then let air dry for a time. You would think the steak would be a salty mess but not so.
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Ya recently. I never believed in it but brother kept yakking about it.

I am a fan, though finding meat that has not been pre injected with salt water can be a problem, and I am told that this is a requirement.

STORY: My wife bought some door to door salesman beef, paid I think $100 for a box of assorted frozen cuts......damn these must have been some ancient milking cows because it was injected with up to 34% salt water to tender it up (Plus selling salt water for about $5 a pound is a nifty scam)....they actually tasted OK, though the shrinkage during cooking was alarming. I told her never again, but I am a believer in using salt on meat.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Ya recently. I never believed in it but brother kept yakking about it.

I am a fan, though finding meat that has not been pre injected with salt water can be a problem, and I am told that this is a requirement.

STORY: My wife bought some door to door salesman beef, paid I think $100 for a box of assorted frozen cuts......damn these must have been some ancient milking cows because it was injected with up to 34% salt water to tender it up (Plus selling salt water for about $5 a pound is a nifty scam)....they actually tasted OK, though the shrinkage during cooking was alarming. I told her never again, but I am a believer in using salt on meat.
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Yes, I agree, finding a market or butcher shop that doesn’t proses meat with brines and dies is tough. I have two local places and I’m thankful for those. I got a tour of my local butcher shop and watched the truck backing in with half slabs then to the cutting and trimming table. The same happens at the big market in my area they have a full on butcher shop. I do know this Isn’t the norm, as you said the water content is a red flag, look at any piece of meat from Walmart or other chain markets the water content labeled is shocking.

Cooking the perfect steak really Isn’t rocket science even though science is involved. You need to change the protein molecules to make it tender and tasteful. The easiest way to achieve this is with extreme heat. Direct fire isn’t the way to go, full contact searing is the best. This really cant be done indoors unless you have one hell of an exhaust fan over you cooker/stove. When, I do treat myself to a great cut I power up my outside iron griddle. The hellish surface temp of this unit sends satan’s children running but makes the perfect steak.
 
woodsman said:
Yes, I agree, finding a market or butcher shop that doesn’t proses meat with brines and dies is tough. I have two local places and I’m thankful for those. I got a tour of my local butcher shop and watched the truck backing in with half slabs then to the cutting and trimming table. The same happens at the big market in my area they have a full on butcher shop. I do know this Isn’t the norm, as you said the water content is a red flag, look at any piece of meat from Walmart or other chain markets the water content labeled is shocking.

Cooking the perfect steak really Isn’t rocket science even though science is involved. You need to change the protein molecules to make it tender and tasteful. The easiest way to achieve this is with extreme heat. Direct fire isn’t the way to go, full contact searing is the best. This really cant be done indoors unless you have one hell of an exhaust fan over you cooker/stove. When, I do treat myself to a great cut I power up my outside iron griddle. The hellish surface temp of this unit sends satan’s children running but makes the perfect steak.
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On the other hand about 5 months ago I did some No-Roll strip steaks (another sad story about my wife trying to buy beef) that looked absolute crap indoors and they were fab.

Us chefy types tend to find a way to make do.

:pimpdaddy:
 
I bought some flat-iron steaks recently. I thought they would be some tough piece of crap meat, but they were half the price of ribeye at about $5.50 lb.

Man! They were great! Very tender and flavorful.
 
Dry age 28-38 days for the best results. Best if the meat is left to age in a dark room ... actually black-lights (ultraviolet) are best. Use a dehumidifier to remove the moisture in the air. After about 14 days, mold will begin to grow on the surface of the meat. Over time, the mold bacteria will break down the muscle structure in the meat. This is why it is so tender. By 28 days the meat will actually have so much mold that it looks like greenish hair. The butcher will then remove the mold with a meat scrapper and a thin "face cut" with a meat-saw.
 
Brewdog said:
I bought some flat-iron steaks recently. I thought they would be some tough piece of crap meat, but they were half the price of ribeye at about $5.50 lb.

Man! They were great! Very tender and flavorful.
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Are you sure they had not been pre processed in some way to make them tender?

Or maybe you did a marinade?

:wassat1:
 
Wet aging is far easier for the home chef and does a credible job, though as not as good as dry aging.

For either wet or dry aging, you start with sub primal cuts. Individual steaks do not age well. Purchase the sub primal in Cryovac and and make sure the packaging is still sealed and note the packing date, which is found on the box, not on the store label. Simply leave in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks from the packing date.
 
jimbo said:
Wet aging is far easier for the home chef and does a credible job, though as not as good as dry aging.

For either wet or dry aging, you start with sub primal cuts. Individual steaks do not age well. Purchase the sub primal in Cryovac and and make sure the packaging is still sealed and note the packing date, which is found on the box, not on the store label. Simply leave in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks from the packing date.
Click to expand...

Not as good you say? So far as flavor goes they are not by any stretch of the imagination the same thing.

The results are completely different.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Are you sure they had not been pre processed in some way to make them tender?

Or maybe you did a marinade?

:wassat1:
Click to expand...

I can't say what the butcher may have done. But I seared them to a nice mid-rare, and they were very tender all the way through. It was a very nice, flavorful piece of steak for $5.50 lb. I'll look for it again for sure.

And I just used olive oil, salt, and pepper. No marinade.
 
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