Dry Aging / Wet Aging Beef Tips?

[ski-freak]

OK, so there's Dry Aged Beef that's been kept in a special room on wire racks with air circulation, and there's Wet Aged Beef kept in plastic with no air. Does anyone have any tips to follow on how long, what temperature, etc for success?

 

[brican]

Not much help for home use, but I hang in a cooler at 30 degrees F with good air circulation around it (air movement coming from the fans on the coils). How long to hang? I usually hang until I see a white beard on the exposed meat; the other thing is that there should be a good covering of fat. Weight loss on dry aged beef between 15 and 20% this includes trimming.

Dry aged beef and wet aged beef can be thought along the same lines as dry cured bacon and wet cured bacon; the dry aged beef has a superior quality and a taste second to none and leaves you wanting more

 

[chef jimmyj]

This is a topic that has come up before. Many of us Dry Age a week or two with nothing special, wrap Beef in cheese cloth and place in refer for 7-14 days changing the cloth every 2 days. Trim dry parts before cooking. If you wish to really get into it there are a couple of options. There is the DryBag system and some simple builds using a dedicated Refrigerator. This thread is very detailed and discusses options...JJ

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-dry-aging-beef-thats-my-project-this-weekend

 

[jimf]

Are you talking about slabs of beef or beef that is already cut into steaks?   I have dry aged cuts of beef in my home refrigerator. I wrapped the steaks in a paper towel and placed on the bottom shelf of my fridge.  Ideal aging temps are between 35-37 degrees.  I placed mine on top of an upside down tupperware container to allow air to circulate to the under side.  Each day I would replace the paper towel and flip the steaks.   Some say 3 days is all you need but something came up and I aged for 5 days.  The steaks were deliciously tender.  I highly recommend trying it.

If you want to dry age a side of beef then you will need a dedicated fridge with an internal fan, and humidity control.   Large slabs of beef needs 35+ days to age properly.  Some restaurants age in excess of 4 months.   But for single steaks, only a couple days is needed.

 

[ski-freak]

Thanks for the great dry aging tips!

 

[bruno994]

What is the procedure and time frame for let's say a 13+ pound brisket?  I have heard of the bigger comp teams dry aging their briskets a month before a comp.  Any input? 

 

[ski-freak]

Does anyone have any experience "Wet Aging" steaks, etc. in the fridge in a sealed ziplock bag with no air inside (air squeezed out and only a small amount of meat juice inside). Somewhere I heard that similar "tenderizing" can be attained. Would this be called a "Dry Bag" or is it another meat aging method?

 

[jimf]

I wouldnt think a ziplock bag would work.  The way I understand how the special dry age bags work is they allow air in but keep bacteria out.  Obviously the ziplock bags wouldn't do this.

 

[ski-freak]

OK, so then the Dry Bag is merely a variant on Dry Aging, now I get that. 

However, there is also such a thing as "Wet Aging" which is more as I described, and can even as simple as leaving a steak in the plastic wrap/foam backing that comes from a grocery store. Can anyone shed any light on "Wet Aging"?

 

[chef jimmyj]

The National Meat Packers maintain some super strict sanitation practices and an environment that is only surpassed by Hospitals in cleanliness. The Vac Packed meat is virtually Bacteria free so 2-6 weeks of Wet Aging in the bag is no issue...But...Once the seal is broken by the Grocery Store butcher to cut Steaks, the clock starts ticking. If the meat sits wrapped on the foam try more than 5 days, it will not age so much as rot and get funky. Vac Packing again will extent the time to funk by a couple of days but you will not get the 30-60 days of aging you can get with Dry aging methods...JJ

 

[ski-freak]

Thanks Jimmy! That makes perfect sense. Sometimes I can buy whole tenderloins that are still vacuum packed at a big box store, so those might represent an opportunity for Wet Aging - so long as they are still in the intact vacuum packaging received by the store. Otherwise, all I can really explore for most of what I can buy will be Dry Aging - and I do intend to explore that, and do appreciate the tips and guidance that you and others have provided.