Two weeks ago, I had dinner out with friends, and saw a 35 day dry aged rib eye on the menu for $50. Given the quality of the restaurant we were in, I was really tempted. But I also know a fair amount about cooking, and what it takes to cook streak so its really tasty (dry aged or not), and decided, it wasn't worth it. I can cook a better rib eye than most restaurants at home, honestly. But...
How hard is it to age a steak yourself?
After reading The Food Lab, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, it turns out its not that hard. An internet search found several accounts of other people doing it, with very similar processes, so I decided to give it a try.
In my research I discovered there's a thing called wet-aging, too. Basically, its bullshit. Don't pay for it, it does little to nothing for flavor. Moving on...
So, how do you do it?
EQUIPMENT:
Mini-Fridge -- You can skip this, but not recommended. Aging meat will give out strong aromas which other food can pick up, and it pick up flavors from other foods. Plus, using your household refrigerator with the door opening and closing all day does not provide a stable environment. I found a used mini-fridge on Facebook Marketplace for $20. If the steak thing doesn't workout, I can still use the fridge.Wire rack -- This is to make sure the meat gets full circulation on all sides. In my case, the wire shelf in the fridge works fine.
Small Fan -- Well, maybe. Several sources recommend it. I bought one, and decided not to use it because the fan itself produced too much heat for the fridge to keep cool enough. More on that Below.
Thermometer -- This is critical. The meat must be held between 32°F and 40°F. Too cold and the meat with freeze, which stops the enzymatic processes we want, and too warm it it will spoil. I bought a cheap refrigerator thermometer to keep in the fridge to make sure it's consistent. I already owned an Infra-Red thermometer gun and a Thermopen instant read, which I used to check the fridge more accurately before starting (more below). You can probably get away with just one. If that's your choice go for the most accurate you can get.
Meat - Because the aging process drys out the outer layer of meat, you want to start with a good sized piece. When its done, you'll cut away the dry layer. The bigger your piece to start, the more finished product. I bought a Prime grade rib roast, with 3 ribs, with the fat cap still on. The official name for this cut is "109A." When its done, it can be cut into rib eye steaks. The more fat the better, because the fat will dry out, and end up being cut away at the end.
That's it! Now on to the fun!
PROCESS:
Before I bought my meat, which wasn't going to be cheap, I decided to check the fridge was working as I needed it. I spent a couple days letting it run while empty and checking the temp. Using the IR thermometer and fridge thermometer I got it dialed into my ideal temperature range (32°F to 40°F).With the IR gun, I found that the temperature varied in different parts of the interior, so I adjusted until all areas were at least below 40°F after a few hours with the door closed. I also noticed that the fridge thermometer was reading at the bottom of the "ideal" range. As long as it stays consistent, that's fine.
I installed a small computer fan, to try to improve air circulation and get a more even temperature. But after a day, the internal temp of the fridge was consistently above 40°F, even when set to "MAX". This was no good.
Placing my had in front of the fan, I found it was blowing warm air. The fan motor was generating too much heat for my tiny fridge to keep up with, so I removed it. If the fridge was bigger, I suspect the fan would be a good idea, but since its about as small as they come, I think its fine without.
Once I was satisfied the fridge would maintain a safe temperature, I bought the meat. When I got it home, I unwrapped it and dried it off. Using paper towels, I patted all the excess liquid and got it as dry as I could.
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| Straight from the butcher's shop, 7.56 pounds of Prime Rib Roast. |
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| Day 1: In it goes. Note: The temp on the thermometer is too high, because I kept the door open too long to take pictures. |
That's it. Done. Now wait 6 weeks. Well... Sort of.
After 1 day I checked the meat and temperature. The meat looked a little redder, some juices had dripped onto the bottom of the fridge. The fridge thermometer continued to read the same as during testing. The IR gun gave different readings all around the interior, all within range. The surface of the meat itself read 35°F. Perfect!
Next I inserted my instant read thermometer, to get the internal temperature of the meat. This is really the most important part. The outside will dry out and protect the rest over the first week or two, so its the internal temperature that needs to be consistent. It read 32°F, right at the lower edge of ideal. I turned up the fridge temp a bit and closed the door.
The next day I performed the same checks. the interior of the meat now read 34°F. Happy with this, I closed the door and will leave it alone for awhile. My plan is to turn the meat once a week, checking the temp at the same time. Turning will help ensure even circulation of air, and promote even drying.
How long?
This is the interesting part, especially if you're willing to pay for an aged steak at the butcher's or in a restaurant. During the first two weeks, aging does nothing for flavor. As the enzymes inside the meat go to work, they will tenderize the meat, but not impart much flavor. I personally would not pay the prices for meat aged this little. If I want more tender meat, I'll buy a different cut.Flavor changes begin to happen around three weeks and get more intense as you go, with four to six weeks being most people's ideal range. After six weeks, I'm told the flavors get really, really intense and most people find them overwhelming.
Most restaurants who sever dry aged beef stay in the 28-35 day range, which is four to five weeks. Those are aged by professionals in purpose designed, highly controlled conditions. Since I don't have those conditions, and most sources I found for home aging recommended six weeks, that's what I'm shooting for.
One Week
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| After 1 week, the meat looks a darker and kind of weird, but the internal temperature is perfect. |
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| I flipped it over to ensure even drying all around. I also relocated the thermometer so its not directly beneath the cooling unit. |
Week Two
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| Flipped it back over. Internal temperature still a consistent 35°F (again the thermometer in the photo is wrong because the door was open for a few minutes to clean up some of the blood that dripped and dried.) |
What looks like white salt crystals are forming on the outside of the meat. I think that may be fat, but I'm not sure, since it looks different from the fat cap.
I expected to get some odors or bad smells, but so far nothing. Which I think means it not rotting, it doesn't seem to be, there are no gray areas. I'll check it again next week.
Week Three
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| Three Weeks: its really dark now, Purplsh-brown, almost black, no odor. |
By week three, the last bits of the dark red seem to have vanished and its really dark purplish-brown. There's no odor.
Week Four
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| Week Four: Not much change in appearance from last week. |
Four weeks now, two-thirds of the way there! Visually, it looks pretty much the same as last week. I flipped it again to ensure even circulation, but at this point I'm not sure its necessary. The outer layers are tough and leathery and dry.
Temperatures are remaining consistent. The prod from the thermometer slips easily into the tough looking meat, and read 35°F still, which is perfect.
I didn't notice any smell when I opened the fridge so I got close and sniffed. There's a light, almost chocolate aroma coming from the meat, which I didn't expect. Its now 28 days aged, and could be cooked and served, but the real flavor is only just beginning to develop now, so I'm going to give it more time.
Once again, I weighed the beast. Now it was down to a lean 4 lbs 15 oz, a total lose of 2 lbs 10 oz from when I bought it. Now I understand one reason dry aged steaks are so expensive! By weight alone, based on my purchase price, value per pound jumped 158%.
I divided the roast into three bone-in steaks, each about 2" thick. They weren't perfectly uniform since the end pieces had more meat trimmed off them.
Once divided into steaks, you can really see the color of the inside -- its a nice purple with some brown areas. But there's no rotting smell at all, so all good.
Week Five
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| Week Four: Not much visual change since last week. |
Almost ready! Its now 35 days aged, a perfectly acceptable age for severing, but I want to go a little longer. The chocolaty aroma I smelled last week is a little stronger, but only right after I open the door. The smell is not at all unpleasant, and not as cheese-like as I expected.
Next week we carve it up!
Week Six
Today the meat is done! Forty-two day dry-aged rib eye steaks!
Visually, not much change from last week. There is still almost no aroma when opening the mini-fridge. The steak feels leathery and a bit greasy. Poking the meatiest parts, it feels tough like jerky.
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| Six Weeks: all ready to carve up! |
Before trimming and carving, I weighed the roast. When I bought it, it weighed 7 lbs 9 oz (3.43Kg). After six weeks of aging, it came in at 6 lbs 2 oz, a net lose of 1 lb 7 oz in moisture.
But it's going to get lighter. All that tough, dried outer shell needs to come off. I'm not a butcher, so my trimming was probably not the most expert thing, but with a boning knife and a chef's knife, I carved away the tough outer fat and meat in thin slivers, so as not to take off too much edible meat. It wasn't difficult.
When I was pretty sure I'd gotten down to the good stuff. It looked like a lot!
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| The scraps after trimming the roast. |
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| The trimmed roast, doesn't look too different from a normal rib roast now. |
I divided the roast into three bone-in steaks, each about 2" thick. They weren't perfectly uniform since the end pieces had more meat trimmed off them.
Once divided into steaks, you can really see the color of the inside -- its a nice purple with some brown areas. But there's no rotting smell at all, so all good.
Each bone-in steak was about 2 pounds, that's a lot of meat! I'm not one of those ultra macho guys who eats tons of steak in one sittings, there's no way I could eat a whole of in a single sitting, and the idea of reheating left over dry-aged steak makes me cringe. So I de-boned one and cut into two boneless rib eyes, each about an inch thick.
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| Boneless dry-aged rib eye steaks. I decided to cut off a that big chunk of fat at the bottom after taking this photo. |
Once all the steaks were carved up, I vacuum sealed them in individual bags. The boneless steaks went immediately into the sous vide to cook up medium-rare. Once sous vide, they'll store for months! (Though I'll probably eat them all in a week.)
One of the bone-in steaks will get cooked up tomorrow night to share with a friend of mine who paid for half the experiment, and the other is hers to keep.
All told, I spent about $1.43 per ounce to produce these delicious dry-aged steaks (not counting the one-time cost of $20 for the used mini-fridge). Last week I was at a fine local restaurant that was offering an 12 oz, 42 day dry-aged steak for $65, or $5.41 per ounce, nearly four times my cost.
Regardless of the initial expense, this was super easy to do, and from a cost stand point, totally worth it!
For Next Time?
I will absolutely do this again! But with a couple changes. I did a little hunting around and found I can get full, grass fed, rib roasts shipped for about $225. That's a lot more cost effective, being about twice the meat for only about $40 more than I paid this time. That would dramatically increase the value of this whole process.
I could probably find even less expensive if I skipped the grass-fed part, but why bother? Grass-fed tastes better, is healthier to eat, and less cruel to the cows.
A full roast won't fit in my mini-fridge, but I can probably get 5 ribs worth in, instead of just three (Maybe even six? I'll measure when I get it.) The remaining ribs can be divided up and eaten during the six weeks of aging, so I'll always have good steaks in the house, just not always aged.
The other thing I'm going to do is try to increase the temp of the fridge a little. I think if I get the internal temp of the meat up a couple degrees, I'll get a little more aging flavor. As long as I keep it below 40°F, it should be fine.
Oh Yeah, How Do They Taste?
Cooking up a dry aged steak is done the same as cooking a normal steak, but it feels different. Because the meat has far less water in it, it doesn't pop and sizzle like you expect in the pan. It does develop a very nice crust though, because it still has all the fat.
I cooked one up in a cast iron pan, my preferred method for rib eye, and it was delicious. The texture is dryer, and chewer, again because it lacks water. But the taste is delicious.
Another steak I sous vide, then finished in a pan. This method ensures perfectly to temperature steak, and it was just as delicious.
For me, I won't say dry aged is better than regular steaks, only different, and the price of buying a properly dry aged steak from a butcher or restaurant aren't worth it for me. But with this method, I will absolutely do it again.
I cooked one up in a cast iron pan, my preferred method for rib eye, and it was delicious. The texture is dryer, and chewer, again because it lacks water. But the taste is delicious.
Another steak I sous vide, then finished in a pan. This method ensures perfectly to temperature steak, and it was just as delicious.
For me, I won't say dry aged is better than regular steaks, only different, and the price of buying a properly dry aged steak from a butcher or restaurant aren't worth it for me. But with this method, I will absolutely do it again.
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