Dedicated refridgerator for dry aging Beef.. That's my project this weekend!

[chef jimmyj]

Question: while searching YouTube, it seems like most people put the meat in their kitchen fridge. Obviously the door is being opened multiple times a day, but this option seems way more cost efficient than having a dedicated fridge. Is it safe to dry age in a everyday kitchen fridge?

 I have Dry Aged a 3-4 bone Rib Roast every New Years Day for the last 10 years in my regular Refrigerator. I go any where from 5-7 days without incidence but some cross contamination avoidance steps have to be taken. Here is a link to this years...

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/115671/new-years-day-prime-rib-dry-aged#post_745524

JimmyJ

I have a rack that is exactly like those.  You can find them here:  ***.acehardware.c**/product/index.jsp?productId=1279106&kw=roasting+rack&origkw=roasting+rack&searchId=55555118234 

If you are going to do the sea salt age, make sure to only use a non-reactive container for the salt, i.e. Pyrex.  Which would bring me to wonder what the salt would do to the lifespan of the refrigerators metallic components?  A lot of aluminum in there.  I could see some benefit from lightly salting the exterior of the beef for it's anti-bacterial benefits while the drying process starts, and to aid in getting the outside moisture down quickly, of course not so much as to over salt the meat.  Please take my comments with a grain of salt though,

  I've never dry aged beef before, though I think that it may need to be next on my agenda.

Goodballa
 

 Thanks for the info. I have frequently coated the beef with a moderate coat of Montreal Steak Seasoning and left it for the week. It comes out ready to go in the Oven and very well seasoned, though I must say, reserve the End Cuts for those that appreciate a strong Beefy flavor and are not affected by the higher Sodium content.  I do not want to slight this company but 1 rack and a couple pounds of salt is hardly worth the $50 price they charge for the kit. The refer I plan to use is my daughters all plastic Dorm fridge. In my email from the company they also indicated that the Salt imparts no flavor to the meat and is basically used as a desiccant so I am not sure how much airborne salt there will be to affect metal parts. Depending on the size of the meat and local humidity level, the Salt can be come damp, the company said that baking the salt to dry it is very effective and you are good to go with the next round. This sounds interesting now I just need the Boss

  to allocate funds for drying components and Beef...JJ 

Update: I checked at Acehardware.com, that rack is non-stick but not rubber or plastic coated. I think this will suit and is the right size for use in a 9X13 Glass or Stone Baking Dish. Thanks again. 

 

[goodballa]

Update: I checked at Acehardware.com, that rack is non-stick but not rubber or plastic coated. I think this will suit and is the right size for use in a 9X13 Glass or Stone Baking Dish. Thanks again. 

When I watched the YouTube video I got the impression that they didn't purchase the racks like that, but customized them.  I don't know how you would apply it, but here's something:

***.etundra.***/Red_High_Temperature_Food_Grade_Silicone_Caulk-P1573.html?utm_medium=organic&utm_source=google_product&cvsfa=2832&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=3336353037

Thanks for the info on the salt, I wasn't sure of the salts corrosion potential, but am glad to hear your thoughts.  As for the salt as a desiccant, wouldn't this only be beneficial in instances where the relative humidity is too high?  My understanding is that as long as your relative humidity is between 75 and 85 percent there should be no need for a desiccant.  Is there any antibacterial benefits of having the salt in there?  I can't help wonder if there is any real need for using salt in dry aging, or if this is more about selling salt???

Sleif, don't supposed you'd like to weigh in on your own thread?

Goodballa

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Since there's a link below the video to a dry aging kit for $50, I think it's safe to say that they're definitely trying to sell something.
"Kit includes adjustable rack, special sea salt, "cliff notes" instructions & full instructions /explanation of the dry aging process."

I've never used salt.


~Martin

 

[slief]

Slief,

Thank you for creating this thread.  I love these types of projects.  I currently have Lonzino dry curing in my fridge using a Ranco Thermostat.  Don't suppose you could give us an update on how your rib roast turned out, how your fridge is working, and if you've done any more drying...

Thanks,

Goodballa
 

Goodballa,

Glad you appreciated the thread! The Prime Rib came out great and was a huge hit with everybody. My mom who is a pickey eater absolutely loved it too. Here is a link to the thread on it.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...of-pics-qview-i-hope-i-dont-poison-the-family

I have yet to do more dry aging with it but have used it a couple times to store some ribs and tri tip that was marinating for a smoke. I will certainly be dry aging again with it in the near future but the next plan is to make some Lox so that will be the next major use of this fridge. Good thing is that since it's a fridge, it can serve multiple purposes besides just dry aging.   

One thing I was considering was to get some thin salt slabs and line the inside walls with the slabs. Not sure its needed but I can never leave "well enough alone".

 

[chef jimmyj]

Since there's a link below the video to a dry aging kit for $50, I think it's safe to say that they're definitely trying to sell something.
"Kit includes adjustable rack, special sea salt, "cliff notes" instructions & full instructions /explanation of the dry aging process."
I've never used salt.
~Martin

The guys selling the kit are in the salt business so they are definately pushing their product. How I got to them was I first watched a video on Drybag Aging then saw the videos from Golbsalt.com and the $50 kit. I then watched the Primehouse video which was along the same line just a much larger scale and based on Divid Burke's huge success figured there must be something to using Salt in the Dry Aging process.

 Here is a link to the video from David Burke's Primehouse. Notice the Wall of Himalayan Salt blocks, the Chef explains that refers are typically 34-40*F and 90% Humidity, he implies that the Salt reduces that humidity to the 60% they use for Aging. I'm not sure I understand how the salt seasons the meat, as he said, the makers of the Dry Aging Kit said it imparts no flavor.

 

[diggingdogfarm]

I've been dry aging beef close to 30 years and in my experience the humidity in a refrigerator is quite low 35% to 45%. The compressor pulls moisture out of the air.
I have to up the humidity and take other precautions so the meat doesn't dry too fast.
In their set-up, which is much different than a small home set-up, I'm guessing that the humidity is high in their walk-in because there are so many uncovered pieces of meat.
Salt does pull moisture out of the air, so, as he says, it helps regulate the humidity, but seasoning the meat? C'mon!
It's certainly not needed, and could be detrimental, in the average home beef dry aging chamber.



~Martin

 

[i is a moose]

Agreed, not to mention that you'll be leaving exposed beaf fat out to soak up whatever fridge funk permeates a kitchen fridge.

I've dry-aged smaller cuts in my kitchen fridge but because of the activity of it, I limit it to no more than a week.

It certainly can be done, but there's a lot of bacteria, molds and such in a refrigerator, so the potential for failure is greater.
A small dedicated fridge can easily be kept fairly clean and sanitized.
We have one here at home.
~Martin

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Agreed, not to mention that you'll be leaving exposed beaf fat out to soak up whatever fridge funk permeates a kitchen fridge.

So true!!!



~Martin

 

[jimf]

Am I reading all this correctly; if you are dry aging a large cut of beef for a long period of time (a week +), a humidity and temperature environment is best.   If you are dry aging single cuts of steaks for 3 days, the standard kitchen refrigerator is fine, as long as the temp is between 35-37 degrees, the meat is elevated for airflow, and the dressing (paper towels) are changed daily.

Is this correct?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Am I reading all this correctly; if you are dry aging a large cut of beef for a long period of time (a week +), a humidity and temperature environment is best.   If you are dry aging single cuts of steaks for 3 days, the standard kitchen refrigerator is fine, as long as the temp is between 35-37 degrees, the meat is elevated for airflow, and the dressing (paper towels) are changed daily.

Is this correct?

 I have done 9-15lb hunks of Beef for 5-7 days in my home, unmodified Refer bottom shelf and protected from cross contamination with Cheese Cloth or Paper Towel, for many years and always get great results.  I would like to try 30 days but think a controlled environment would be best for a long period. I have yet to try Steaks, they seem to go from Freezer/Store to Dinner with little planning, but think 3 days would benefit them as well...JJ

 

[i is a moose]

I think the biggest advantage to a dedicated meat aging unit is the fact that you won't have a dinosaur-sieze huck o' cow cramping your style in your kitchen fridge for the 21-50 days that many meats can be aged for.

Everything else is a matter of preference. This thread shows a really tip-top build with alot of thought in it, but I know folks who've gotten away with 15 year old garage fridges and have done the task just fine.

I really commend the OP here, because he put alot of effort and thought into something that I have no doubt will work far better than running a straight fridge. (Please note that I'm not saying a kitchen fridge, or your garage fridge won't work, banish the thought! This particular build just covers alot more variables.)

 

[go lb salt]

Gentlemen,

We're glad you found our video!  While we do offer our DIY Dry Aged Beef Kits, we most definitely ARE NOT pushing them.  We like dry aged beef as much as the next guy.  Probably more in many cases.  We have made a significant study of the process, the affects of the various inputs to the process and the change in final results as those inputs are modified.  

The video began as a project in 'proof of concept' of what we had done for Mr. Burke in his commercial cooler, but on a residential scale.  We knew the process worked quite effectively in his environment and wanted to see if similar results could be achieved at home.  Mr. Burke is a commercial client of the importer of the salt we use.

As some of you have already noted, aging a full sub-primal really requires a dedicated fridge.  The off-gassing of other organic materials in your regular fridge is not good for the aging process. 

As for the salt adding any flavor or affecting the flavor, there is no empirical evidence to support this conclusion.  There is, as mentioned in the video, a layer of micro-aerosolized salt on the surface of the beef.  This layer of salt only prevents the growth of bacteria...nothing more, nothing less.

As an aside, we find the use of cheese cloth in dry aging a distasteful and unsanitary practice.  Cheese cloth is for cheese.  If it's really the right tool for the application, then you should be able to purchase 'beef cloth' from your local butcher.  

As for those who believe that moldy tasting dry aged beef is good tasting dry aged beef, we disagree there too.  If you want to taste moldy, stick with blue cheese, but don't try to duplicate that with dry aged beef.

Additionally, the one benefit of salt over any other process is the amount of moisture that can be drawn out of the beef in a relatively short period of time.  The Australian's lead the world when it comes to studying the dry aging process.  They have documented conclusively that all enzymatic breakdown ceases at 34 days.  Part of the dry aging process is for the benefit of tenderizing your beef, the rest is to draw out moisture for the purpose of intensifying the 'beefy' flavor.  Using a sea salt assisted aging method allows for 30% - 35% moisture loss in that 34 day aging period.  Approximately 1% moisture loss per day.  A typical dry aging process without the salt assist would require 75-90 days to get the same moisture loss.  Why wait that long if the same thing can be accomplished in 34 days?

The only reason beef is aged longer than 34 days at white linen steak houses is to further reduce moisture content and intensify flavor more.  Even David Burke ages longer than 34 days with his salt assist, but he maintains a higher humidity in his cooler.  We typically maintain 15%-35% RH in our fridge depending on what time of year it is.

As for the rubber coating on our aging racks, it is a food grade silicon that we sprayed on to our racks as a custom modification.  We were concerned about reactivity of the salt with the rack.  However, since then, we have begun acquiring stainless steel racks for our kits that will offer years of use with minimal oxidation.  As for your fridge and reactivity with the aluminum, most residential fridges come with completely painted interiors.  Oxidation shouldn't be a problem there either.

For a full read on our experiences and findings with our dry aged beef studies, you can feel free to check out our blog - it's free of charge.  We have written a number of posts on dry aging beef.  We also have some commentary on making your own bacon as well.

 

[supercenterchef]

Great thread with lots of interesting input/ideas...props to the OP for all his hard work and inventiveness!

I recently did a similar mod, but used a chest freezer with what is, essentially, the Ranco unit he mentions--I'm loving it...also the drain hole makes the need for drilling a thing of the past!

 

[slief]

Great thread with lots of interesting input/ideas...props to the OP for all his hard work and inventiveness!
I recently did a similar mod, but used a chest freezer with what is, essentially, the Ranco unit he mentions--I'm loving it...also the drain hole makes the need for drilling a thing of the past!

Thanks for the feedback! I'm surprised to see this thread has taken a life of its own. Glad it was helpful to you as well as others. I've Actually been thinking about lining the sides of my fridge with slab salt. After seeing input & the video from Golbsalt, I will be giving some more consideration to that idea.

 

[supercenterchef]

Speaking of...humidity can be a problem with the chest freezer (as you might imagine)--I'll be adding a Kosher tray to my next batch!

 

[go lb salt]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm surprised to see this thread has taken a life of its own. Glad it was helpful to you as well as others. I've Actually been thinking about lining the sides of my fridge with slab salt. After seeing input & the video from Golbsalt, I will be giving some more consideration to that idea.

Unless you have a large commercial walk in cooler, we DO NOT recommend this.  The amount of salt in the fridge would be WAY too much and the meat would be desiccated at a far faster rate than the enzymatic breakdown would occur.  We have and sell slabs too, but they are for a different purpose.  That's why we use only 2 lbs. of specially milled salt in our kit.  That quantity is suitable for sub-primals that weigh between 8-18 lbs.  NYS sub-primals usually weigh in about 8 lbs. and do incredibly well with just 2 lbs of salt for 34 days.  Our last result was OUTSTANDING and I don't really care for NYS - too tasteless and sawdust-y in texture for me.  Dry aging changed that POV!

 

[flyhigh123]

Question:

I once aged a CHOICE prime rib roast. It was done for about 25 days in my fridge. I didn't notice too much of the enzyme's making the meet even more tender.

I was told that since it was choice, it can only get so tender and that dry aging  CHOICE doesn't make as much of a difference as PRIME grade. That if I want to dry age, i should go PRIME from the start.

Is this true? What have your experiences been with CHOICE?

 

[go lb salt]

Our experience with CHOICE has been very hit and miss.  You must get your beef directly from a butcher before it has spent any time wet aging.  If it's been wet aged for more than 5 days or so, it will be tough to get a finished product that gives what you are looking for!

That pretty much rules out Costco, Sam's and any grocery store unless you know what days they get their sub-primals shipped in and how long between packaging at the meat packer and delivery to the store.

 

[chef jimmyj]

This has been discussed off and on before. If you go to Walmart or other Grocery Store and pick-up a hunk of Rib Roast...You can stick it in your refer for 5 days and it will intensify in flavor from some level of dehydration. It will taste Beefier... But...Since virtually all Grocery Chains buy Beef from National Packers and all that meat comes in Subprimals, Rib, Short-loin, Sirloin, Chuck, Etc., that has been Wet Aged in Vac-Packs, you can expect very little in terms of additional Enzymatic action. If you can find a local old style Butcher that either Slaughters and Hangs Beef on site or purchases Sides or Quarters that have not been vac-packed then that meat can be Dry-Aged with methods described above with excellent results. I have been doing this for the last 20 years, I found a Butcher that slaughters on site. He Hangs the Sides at 38* and about 70-80%RH and Dry Ages for a minimum of 14 days before Custom Cutting and distribution to area restaurants and his Retail Store Front. This year after learning about the benefit of using Himalayan Rock Salt I plan to purchase a whole Beef Rib section on or about Dec 1 for consumption on our annual New Years Day celebration. So between the 14 days the butcher puts on the Beef and the 30 additional days I will add, I expect a quite tender and intensely beef flavored roast.

For other members benefit and in reference to this comment...

"As an aside, we find the use of cheese cloth in dry aging a distasteful and unsanitary practice. Cheese cloth is for cheese. If it's really the right tool for the application, then you should be able to purchase 'beef cloth' from your local butcher."

The use of Cheese Cloth has much less to do with the aging/dehydrating the Beef as it does with providing a BARRIER to the cross-contamination of other items that may accidentally contact the meat in a Non-Dedicated Home Refrigerator, like the type the average person who can't afford a dedicated refer but still wishes to Home Age a piece of Beef for a few days once a year might have...If Cheese Cloth was so Unsanitary it would not be used in the Cheese industry either!   

Salt is not my business...BUT...Sanitation and Safety is!...A piece of beef that is wrapped in a Fresh piece of Cheese Cloth or Paper Towels, every couple of days, is by far much Safer than raw Exposed Meat in the home refrigerator...JJ

 

[flyhigh123]

Our experience with CHOICE has been very hit and miss.  You must get your beef directly from a butcher before it has spent any time wet aging.  If it's been wet aged for more than 5 days or so, it will be tough to get a finished product that gives what you are looking for!

That pretty much rules out Costco, Sam's and any grocery store unless you know what days they get their sub-primals shipped in and how long between packaging at the meat packer and delivery to the store.

Why does the wet age affect it? For example, I wen to eat at Abe and Louie's in Boston ( which is my favorite steakhouse in the USA currently, i'm from LA) and they say they wet age 20 days and also dry age another 30 or something like that.