Aging beef is a technique that can take your steaks from great to mind-blowingly delicious Dry aging beef intensifies the flavor and makes the meat incredibly tender and juicy While you can buy dry-aged steaks at high-end butcher shops and steakhouses, they are very expensive. Luckily, you can replicate the dry aging process at home for a fraction of the cost.
Why Age Beef?
Aging beef gives it a deeper beefier, almost nutty flavor. Enzymes naturally present in the meat act to break down proteins and connective tissues over time. This makes the beef more tender. Aging also promotes moisture loss from the outer layers of the meat, concentrating and intensifying the flavor. Dry aged steaks just taste exponentially better than non-aged steaks.
Dry Aging vs Wet Aging
Most supermarket beef is wet aged. This means it is vacuum sealed in plastic and allowed to age for a few weeks. While wet aging improves tenderness it does not concentrate flavors like dry aging does.
For dry aging, unpackaged cuts of meat are stored in precisely controlled environments to age uncovered for weeks or even months. This allows the meat’s surface to slowly dehydrate, forming a crust. Under this crust is intensely flavored, tender beef.
How to Dry Age Beef at Home
You’ll need:
- Dedicated mini fridge or wine cooler
- Fan for air circulation
- Digital thermometer/hygrometer
- Salt block or pan of water for humidity
- Untrimmed prime-grade subprimal cut like rib, loin, or sirloin
Steps:
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Clean and disinfect the fridge thoroughly.
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Place fan inside to promote airflow. The ideal temperature is 36-39°F with 60-85% humidity.
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Add a salt block or pan of water for humidity control.
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Place untrimmed subprimal cut on a wire rack in the fridge. Do not season it or wrap it.
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Age for minimum 30 days up to 60 days for intense flavor. Monitor temps and humidity.
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Once aged, trim off the hardened outer layer of beef along with any discolored portions.
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Cut into steaks and cook as desired. Enjoy the amazingly concentrated flavor!
Aging your own steaks at home takes some effort but pays off big time in terms of rich, delicious flavor. With the right mini fridge set up and high quality primal cuts, you can make insanely tasty dry-aged steaks for a fraction of restaurant prices.
What Is Dry Aging?
Dry aging is a post mortem treatment for beef designed primarily to intensify flavor, with a secondary benefit of promoting tenderness. The flavor development is shaped by both a reduction in moisture which correlates to a concentration of flavor, and the cultivation of ‘good’ mold and bacteria to lend a funky, nutty profile to the meat. In short – dry aging makes beef taste really, really good.
CAVEAT: dry aging does not appeal to everyone. There are some folks who prefer regular beef, and who find the intense and nutty flavors of dry aging too much for their palate. The assumption here is, if you’ve arrived at this article interested enough in creating a set up at home, that you enjoy aged beef. If you haven’t yet tried it, I thoroughly recommend getting in touch with a local purveyor (be it butcher or restaurant) and tasting dry aged beef before you embark on this journey.
Get Your Dry Aging Fridge Knocked Up
When I discovered the concept of dry age fridge inoculation, it kind of blew my mind. I had never considered it before, yet it was so obvious! Much like a sourdough needs a starter, or salami requires introduced mold cultures, your dry aging fridge will benefit from being inoculated by an already dried piece of meat.
In short – introducing the “right” mold to the fridge gets you off to a flying start, and makes sure the correct bacterias are present from the get go. The Certified Angus Beef® dry age locker in Ohio got their “starter” piece from DeBragga meats, New York’s Butcher® (who, fun fact, were one of the original purveyors in New York’s Meatpacking District). And my fridge was started off by a 70 day old strip shell from the CAB facility, with DeBragga provenance. It’s kinda cool to trace it back that far. So ideally, you want to start off your fridge by smearing the interior with the already-aged meats (that haven’t yet been trimmed) from a facility that has a good program already set up. This may require you to trace down some online options or try to negotiate with your local dry age purveyor.
So, what happens if you can’t get your hands on a piece of dry aged meat and you don’t inoculate? Well, nothing bad. You can still start your own fridge off, but the microclimate will just take far longer to develop. So, your meat will be tender and slightly more intensified, but will lack the funkiness of a mature dry aging facility.
How to DRY AGE BEEF AT HOME Properly – 45 Day Aged Bone in Ribeye
FAQ
How do you age beef without it spoiling?
How can you age beef at home?
Search for the air fan in your refrigerator, usually on the top shelf and place the steak near it if you can. You can buy a special air fan for your fridge if you plan on doing this regularly. You can then leave the steak there to age for anything from a few days to a few weeks or even months.
How long can you age beef in the refrigerator?
We recommend letting the cut rest for at least 28 days or up to 75 days. This is because the longer the beef ages, the more complex and intense flavours it develops, therefore the tastier it gets. At 28-35 days subtle mushroom and umami flavors develop, from 45-75 days bold blue cheese notes will develop.
How do you not get sick from dry-aged beef?
Dry-aged beef is safe to consume when properly handled and stored. The controlled environment prevents harmful bacterial growth, reducing the risk of foodborne illness.
How long should beef be aged?
Examine the color of the meat prior to storing. The color is directly related to the tenderness of the beef and how long the aging process should last. If your beef is darker, it does not need to be aged more than a week. Beef that is lighter in color should be aged more than 7 days, but no longer than 30 days.
How long does beef take to dry aging?
Most beef is aged in shrink wrap in a process called wet aging. However, exposing meat to the air will cause water to evaporate from it, concentrating its flavor. This is called dry aging. Dry aging can take anywhere from two to three weeks depending on the type and cut of the meat, as well as the desired end flavor and tenderness.
Can you age beef at home?
You may be tempted to age beef at home. You could take a vacuum-packed primal cut (from which market cuts are taken) from the butcher and put it in the refrigerator for two weeks in hopes of producing a really tender piece of meat. However, aging needs to be done at precise temperatures and humidity under controlled circumstances.
Can You Dry Age beef at home?
With careful attention and patience, it’s possible to dry age beef at home, for steaks with unparalleled flavor and tenderness. What Causes Flavor Change? Sometimes I get emails from readers that say something along the lines of, “You said in article X one thing, then, a couple years later, in article Y, you said almost the complete opposite.
Can you eat beef after aging?
Consume the beef soon after aging. Now that the aging is complete, you can cut your meat into portions, like steaks. Shortly after that, your meat should be eaten to prevent an unhealthy amount of post-aging breakdown.
Can You Wet Age beef?
Wet aging is simple: Put your beef in a Cryovac bag, and let it sit on the shelf (or, more likely, on refrigerated trucks as it gets shipped across the country) for a few weeks. Tell your customers that it’s aged; sell it at a premium. The problem is that wet aging is nothing like dry aging.