# Dry Age Steaks



## Riva

Most high-end resturants offer "dry-aged steaks" on their menu. The prices, depending on how long the meat was aged, are often times double or triple an already pricy steak that has not been aged. To me, the price for an aged steak is well worth it (occasionally) as it is the most phenominal tasting steak you could ever eat, bar none! 

I have always wanted to dry age steaks at home but have been fearful of health risks surrounding contamination, etc. Resturants that dry age their own beef do so under extremley controlled conditions. Simply throwing a steak roast in the fridge and letting it sit for a week is a recipe for disaster, IMO.

Well, I just stumbled on this product and it looks to be the answer for dry aging steak at home. It's called the "Drybagsteak". It appears to be a custom foodsaver witha twist! The key to it is you use a bag made of a unique material that allows moisture from the meat to escape while keeping oxigen out. Cost for the machine is about $120 and, each bag around $7.

Once you seal meat in the bag, you simply place it in the fridge anywhere from 7-21 days (maybe even longer). Then, after say 21 days, you remove from the bag and slice off all the hard, crusty shell that naturally forms on the meat. Here's What you have after 21 days in the fridge and shaving: 










Here's what you get after applying heat;










Check out these videos of the entire process. Anybody have this thing? 
I'm definately going to buy this!

http://www.drybagsteak.com/drybag-sealer-video.php


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## ESOX

I dry age them all the time without the bags. Just adjust the fridge so the temp on the bottom shelf is 33-34 degrees. My basement fridge is set like that at all times, with a thermometer to keep an eye on it.


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## Riva

ESOX said:


> I dry age them all the time without the bags. Just adjust the fridge so the temp on the bottom shelf is 33-34 degrees. My basement fridge is set like that at all times, with a thermometer to keep an eye on it.


You are a better (and braver) man than I Gunga Din!


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## wartfroggy

Riva said:


> You are a better (and braver) man than I Gunga Din!


Agreed. The big culprit is moisture. I have always been afraid of too much moisture and condensation in a cold fridge and promoting mold or additional bacteria.


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## Riva

wartfroggy said:


> Agreed. The big culprit is moisture. I have always been afraid of too much moisture and condensation in a cold fridge and promoting mold or additional bacteria.


Agree: the culprit is moisture. Many home refridgerators have up to a 90% humidity level. Many resturants have huge blocks of Himalayan salt in the meat locker to suck up humidity.


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## ESOX

A big bowl of Calcium Chloride in the corner of the fridge does the same thing. Keep the meat on a rack to allow for air circulation no matter which way you cure it.


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## bradymsu

Better yet, buy half a grass fed beef (what beef should taste like) and have a union butcher/processor do the aging for you.


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## ESOX

bradymsu said:


> Better yet, buy half a grass fed beef (what beef should taste like) and have a union butcher/processor do the aging for you.


Thats no fun, all aging really is is dehydration while the enzymes in the meat break it down. Controlled humidity, time and temperature. no voo-doo.


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## bradymsu

ESOX said:


> Thats no fun, all aging really is is dehydration while the enzymes in the meat break it down. Controlled humidity, time and temperature. no voo-doo.


You guys are the types that make their own beer and then pressure friends and family to drink it.


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## Riva

bradymsu said:


> You guys are the types that make their own beer and then pressure friends and family to drink it.


Not so. Spirits is something I never trust to an amatuer.


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## Toga

bradymsu said:


> You guys are the types that make their own beer and then pressure friends and family to drink it.


 
I brew my own beer but I leave dry aging beef to the experts...................I do cure my own bacon and country ham though


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## Spanky

Toga said:


> I brew my own beer but I leave dry aging beef to the experts...................I do cure my own bacon and country ham though



I agree, too many chances for pathogens and contamination.


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## Riva

Spanky said:


> I agree, too many chances for pathogens and contamination.


Oh ye of little faith!

Besides, you heat the stuff up on a 600F grill after it it's aged.


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## mkarpov

Riva said:


> Oh ye of little faith!
> 
> Besides, you heat the stuff up on a 600F grill after it it's aged.


Exactly. And a lot of the high-end restaurants are trimming off the mold before it meets the grill.


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## PuddleJumper

Esox has the right idea- I've been dry aging venison for the last 10 years in the refrigerator. I have a refrigerator soley for dry aging- no other food to impart flavors. Air circulation is the key to success. 
The first time I saw mold I thought I screwed up the process until talking with my grandfather who raised, slaughtered, butchered, and aged (21-28 days in 38 degrees) their own beef. Mold on the dried outside of the meat is not bad- it's the slimy and slightly rancid smelling outside that is your sign it's bad- typically caused by blood contamination. 

The overly dried outside layer gets trimmed (along with any unwanted fuzz) and tossed before being cut into steaks anyways and the outside of the meat (anything that has been exposed to air) gets applyed to direct heat and subsequent bacteria is killed. I would not recommend aging meat to be ground for more than 7-14 days as the grinding process exposes meat to air and possible bacteria and direct heat can not be applied to the center of the meat.

There is a high-end steak house in Chicago that has dry aged beef all the way up to 72 days which is way too long for the amateur but can be done under exacting conditions by professionals. 

The thing you have to remember is when you pay for a longer dry aged steak you aren't necessarily paying more for the meat, you're just not getting charged for all the water weight so the cost per pound is adjusted to cover the initial purchase price at the higher weight. The obvious other contributor to the cost is the overhead of keeping the meat for the additional time. So the only costs you are saving by buying meat and dry aging it yourself is the storage overhead. I would rather pay more per pound and pay for nice textured/dense, more tender meat than sloppy, loose water logged meat.

So, to me, since I'm supplying the meat fresh and am in control of the sanitation process from start to finish- I wouldn't think of not aging it. 
I would be slightly concerned about buying meat to age since I wouldn't know the "full" history of the meat.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## WILDCATWICK

Looked neat. I may have to pick one up for my venison. I wish I had room for an extra fridge but there already is an extra freezer that take up room.


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## Riva

Great post, PuddleJumper.

I beginning to rethink this product based on some of the input from you guys. While this product, drybagsteak, appears to solve some of the challenges regarding dry-aging meat, there are some other issues that are somewhat "concerning". These include "finding" the right spot in your fridge that maintains the ideal temperature, maintaining that ideal temp 24/7, assuring proper air circulation and humidity, to name a few. 

I'm thinking that a refrigerator used solely for aging meat is the ideal tool for this job. And, to make sure I'm at the precise temp, I just found this handy-dandy device on home beer making site: 










Plug the appliance of your choice into the thermostat, then plug the thermostat into a standard 120V outlet. An analog dial lets you set the setpoint temperature between 30 and 80°F, with 1 degree increments. The Johnson Control thermostat has a 3 1/2 degree differential, which means that the thermostat will shut the fridge or freezer off (stop cooling) at 3 1/2 deg below the setpoint and start the unit (resume cooling) once internal air temperature exceeds the setpoint&#8212;the effect of this fluctuation on the actual temperature of fermeting wort or beer will be insignificant.

You can see it in this pic:










Now, the last challenge..how to control humidity?


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## HTC

here is an article that might interest you guys:

http://www.askthemeatman.com/is_it_possible_to_dry_age_beef_at_home.htm

I can tell you that I raise, slaughter and fully process my own beef. I hang quarters in my walk in cooler for at least 21 days and no more than 24. The fat covering on the animals is what allows me to do this. I did not know you could dry age an individual steak. 

I believe the meat you buy in large retail supermarkets is fast aged. The animal is slaughtered, halved, hung and body heat removed in a blast cooler. It is then broken down into primal cuts, (the main cuts from each quarter) vacuum packed, boxed, somewhere along the way temperature is brought back up anywhere from 38 up to as high as 45 degrees. The higher the temperature the faster it breaks down....Kind of like a deer on the side of the road in July:lol:. The primal cuts are then sent to the super market where it is cut into the pieces you buy. Total time from walking to store shelf is as little as 3 days. Bottom line is the longer beef hangs in a cooler the more money it costs.


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## Riva

Somebody was kind enough to send me this link surrounding the drybag meat aging process: Lot's of information, links and feedback from users:

http://steamykitchen.com/6626-review-how-to-dry-age-steaks-with-drybag.html

and, here's a some formal univesity research....

http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/2097/2255/1/cattle09pg101-105.pdf


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## PuddleJumper

Riva- Next time please let us know BEFORE the study so we may volunteer to be the tasters. I'll let it slide this time, but I expect to see a better heads up next time. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## alex-v

HTC said:


> I believe the meat you buy in large retail supermarkets is fast aged.


Usually called wet aging. The temps do not go as high as you mention but for the most part the process is similar.

Another way to tenderize meat is to freeze it and thaw it out one or two times. It does make the cut of meat a bit more tender but does little for the boost of flavor that dry aging and wet aging will do.

A link to an article on dry vs. wet aging:
*http://www.goodcooking.com/steak/aging/aging.htm*


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## portagelaker

What is that little fridge looking thing at Whole Foods? They just throw in whole rib roasts, and cut off steaks to order. It can't be that expensive, can it?


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## Big Frank 25

PuddleJumper said:


> Riva- Next time please let us know BEFORE the study so we may volunteer to be the tasters. I'll let it slide this time, but I expect to see a better heads up next time.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=492009
Won't be long now!:corkysm55


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