So a while back I posted some pictures of my dry aging setup and received a ton of interest in the process. Well I've finally followed through and put together a quick guide on how to make your own dry aged steaks that run 30$+/lb at stores.

Let’s start off with why bother wasting time leaving our big tasty chunk of cow flesh in the fridge for a while when we could start slicing it into tasty steaks right now and pack on the mass? There’s two really good reasons to wait it out; tenderization and increase in flavor profile that will be impossible to find anywhere other than a good butcher with a nice price tag on it. There’s two ways to age meat; wet aging which is most common, and dry aging.

Before we break down the different methods let’s take a look at what the aging process does in meat. Aging meat by either method must done with a whole primal and not individual steaks. A primal is essentially the entire loin of the type of cut you plan to age. I’ve only used new York and rib eye, but I’m dying to get ahold of a porterhouse with the fat cap intact. During the aging process enzymes inside the meat begin to break down the fibers and connective tissue starting around the 7 day mark, and this will continue until 28-30 days. This is what contributes to making a steak tenderer. Most big chain grocery store steaks are only aged 7-10 days, as you can see this leaves a few weeks for extra improvement if we do it ourselves. Trust me this makes a huge difference. The aging process also creates an increase in the flavor profile of the meat, more so in dry aged than in wet aged. The first time I cooked a 28 day wet aged strip for my dad he told me “we’re never buying that shit they sell in the grocery stores again”.

Wet aging: This is in my opinion the easiest and most beginner friendly aging process. When a cow is butchered the individual loins are placed in sealed cryovac bags, boxed up and shipped to the customer. This box will have the pack date on it, which is the date it was butchered. Ideally we want to use this date to base our aging target off of as once the store opens the box and tags it we won’t know the original butcher date. This is not the biggest deal though as the sticker date on the loin is about 7-10 days after the butcher date. To wet age properly set a rack up on a baking sheet and place the whole loin on it still in the cryovac bag. Turn the meat over every 2-3 days and check to make sure there’s no holes in the bag. I recommend going at least 21 days, and preferably 28. Throughout the process you’ll want to watch out for any discoloration of the meat, leaking of package or a rotten smell escaping from the loin. I’ve wet aged 20+ primals and never had to throw one away.

Dry Aging: This is a slightly more difficult method compared to wet aging, and you need a fridge dedicated almost entirely to the project. My extra fridge is filled with aging beef and beer/water bottle on the side doors. Before you use the fridge for the beef you need to clean the entire thing with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Get a couple bottles and make sure you cover every corner and crevice, then leave the door open for about an hour so the fridge can dry out and there’s no alcohol vapors left over. You will also need a small fan (clean with alcohol too.) inside the refrigerator to increase airflow and help dry out the outer layer, this is key to preventing bacteria growth during the first few days. When you get home remove the cryovac and rinse off the primal, then wrap the chunk of beef in a towel and kind of give it a wring/squeeze to dry it out. Then you place it on a rack in the fridge with a baking sheet underneath. You can place the primals directly on the racks in the fridge if you’ve cleaned them well enough, as you can see in the link to my pictures. Flip every of days to ensure even drying of the outside and fat oxidation. Make sure no piece of the meat is in contact with the wall or ground. Meat that is dry aging can give off some funky smells so I place a box of baking soda in the bottom right of my fridge to absorb these, the longer you go the more pungent it can get. I’m at 35 days so far and I find the smell to be quite pleasant and it’s all I can do to prevent myself from gorging on steak every time I open the fridge. Be careful what else you store in your dry aging fridge as the meat can take on the smells of other items over time and affect the flavor of the meat. I’m not sure what a safe maximum is as far as dry aging at home goes, but I would just watch out for excessive mold growth or anything that just looks wrong. My local butcher said his friend dry aged a wagyu rib eye 450 days with no problem, and I've gone up to 70 days. If mold does grow it can be trimmed off.

What makes dry aging better than wet aging? Dry aged beef will take on the same level of tenderness as a quality piece of wet aged steak, but can develop a much greater depth of flavor compared to wet aged steak once aged past 30 days. The biggest downside is that you will lose about 15-20% of weight when dry aging due to aeration and trimming steaks when ready to cook, however the final cooked weight is hardly effected when the two are compared. After 30 days I cut a steak when I want one then stick the hunk of awesomeness back in the fridge to continue aging. You’ll want to trim any hard dried pieces around the outside, usually about a 1/10 of a millimeter or so, then you can trim the fat on the edges . The first link at the bottom of this article is the main one I used for this endeavor.

The last ribeye loin I picked up from my butcher had already been wet aged for 58 days. My butcher told me they wet age for 30 days followed by at least 55 days of dry aging. He said they do this to get the best of both processes since things happen when wet aging that do not occur during dry aging, and vice versa. After dry aging it an additional 60 days I can honestly say it was the best steak I've ever had.

How to find big chunks of cow. My favorite place is Costco because they have prime and choice grade for great prices. The higher grade of meat you use the better the end product. I would only use choice and above for rib eye, and prime for strip loins. If you don’t have access to Costco or Sams club, then call local butchers and high quality grocery stores to get quotes on whole primals. Explain that you’re planning to dry age the meat and you’ll get better help. It might take a few tries to get someone on the line that understands meat. If you want to go nuclear then I would suggest finding a local farmer to source your beef from.

Best link for dry aging.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-dry-ag...
A little more info here.
http://barbecuebible.com/2016/03/15/how-to-dry-age-beef-at-home/
My next project
http://www.eater.com/2016/9/8/12852740/whiskey-aged-beef-beatrice-inn-me...