- Sep 6, 2008
- 38
- 15
Hi folks,
I've been wanting to try dry aging some beef for a long time and reading other members' threads had me itching for an opportunity. The local grocery store had an 18lb bottom round roast for $3.99 lb and I figured it was worth a shot.
I kept this as simple as possible; a dedicated full size fridge with a small fan in the bottom. Temperature set between 38-40. I didn't make any adjustments for humidity, I just wanted to see what happened naturally.
The meat was placed on a wire rack with 4lbs of salt in a foil pan placed beneath the meat.
6 weeks later. Hard rind as expected. No strange odors. Oddly, no mold growth. The white flecks are fat.
The inside looked great.
I ended up with 4lb weight loss from drying and lost another 4lb after trimming.
I cooked up a couple of steaks. Very intense beef flavor. We were very happy with the taste. The small pieces from the flat end came out butter knife tender, but the wider cuts from the middle were still a bit chewy in the center. So, I ended up with 10lbs of steaks at $7.29 lb, which is about what I can get t-bones and rib eyes on sale locally. A technical success, but I'm not sure about the value.
Physically, I saw very little change after the first two weeks, but I wasn't weighing it along the way. If I tried again, I'd probably pull after two weeks to see if the extra time made any difference. The end result- could not ask for a simpler process and I have no fear about trying it again with a better piece of meat.
I've been wanting to try dry aging some beef for a long time and reading other members' threads had me itching for an opportunity. The local grocery store had an 18lb bottom round roast for $3.99 lb and I figured it was worth a shot.
I kept this as simple as possible; a dedicated full size fridge with a small fan in the bottom. Temperature set between 38-40. I didn't make any adjustments for humidity, I just wanted to see what happened naturally.
The meat was placed on a wire rack with 4lbs of salt in a foil pan placed beneath the meat.
6 weeks later. Hard rind as expected. No strange odors. Oddly, no mold growth. The white flecks are fat.
The inside looked great.
I ended up with 4lb weight loss from drying and lost another 4lb after trimming.
I cooked up a couple of steaks. Very intense beef flavor. We were very happy with the taste. The small pieces from the flat end came out butter knife tender, but the wider cuts from the middle were still a bit chewy in the center. So, I ended up with 10lbs of steaks at $7.29 lb, which is about what I can get t-bones and rib eyes on sale locally. A technical success, but I'm not sure about the value.
Physically, I saw very little change after the first two weeks, but I wasn't weighing it along the way. If I tried again, I'd probably pull after two weeks to see if the extra time made any difference. The end result- could not ask for a simpler process and I have no fear about trying it again with a better piece of meat.
