Quick Dry Aging Method

[old sarge]

For those of you that like dry aging beef, here is a nifty method from Popular Science:
https://www.popsci.com/cook-steak-koji-fungus?CMPID=ene063018

 

[myownidaho]

I may have to give this one a go.

 

[SmokinAl]

Interesting!
Al

 

[dls1]

Interesting article, sarge. Thanks for sharing.

After reading an article about koji around 5 years ago in SF Gate, I started experimenting with it as a flavor enhancer for many items as well as something of a tenderizer for meats. It really is a multi-purpose ingredient with many uses. https://www.sfgate.com/recipes/article/Traditional-Japanese-koji-turns-into-versatile-4526837.php

I've dry aged beef roasts in the traditional manner for several years and for a period of time there was always at least one roast on rotation in the refrigerator. For the most part my efforts were pretty successful and I never gave thought to altering my method until I read an article in Bon Appetit a couple years ago about using koji for "Faux" quick dry aged beef. Since I already had some koji on hand I gave it a shot with some steaks and was very pleasantly surprised. Since then, my traditional dry aging has dropped at least 50% and the remainder has been replaced using koji.
https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/dry-age-shortcut-koji

As mentioned in all of the articles, koji is a rice grain that has been inoculated with a live harmless culture known as aspergillus oryzae. When packaged, it also includes a bit of salt. Shio koji also includes a little water, or alcohol. This specific species of fungus is very efficient at breaking down carbohydrates into sugars and proteins into amino acids. Koji is a primary ingredient in soy sauce, miso, sake, mirin, pickled items, etc. When used dry for aging, the rice grains are ground to a fine powder which is applied to the meat, and after a day or so, a white mold will appear which can simply be washed off before cooking. The slightly wet version, shio, is simply applied with a brush and the mold is less visible. I’m prepping some NY strip steaks tomorrow with shio koji to be grilled July 4.

Are the results using koji the same as traditional dry aging? Nope, but they’re pretty similar in as far as taste and texture are concerned. I’m not a food scientist but it seems to me that the koji rapidly accelerates, in a very short period of time, much of what occurs during the lengthy dry aging process in as far as tenderness and the development of that sort of funky umami added flavor is concerned. There’s also the bonus of being able to do individual pieces of meat rather than whole roasts, which is not recommended, and the fact that you aren’t looking at a 40%-50% water and trim weight loss that's a given when using with traditional method.

 

[old sarge]

Very informative. Thanks for sharing!

 

[cooker613]

Very interesting. Question: how do you think it would work on brisket?

 

[mosparky]

I was only moderately interested in this thread until it started to look like the aging does not create the loss from trim. That's when I HAD to read the article. I might have to give it a go.

 

[dls1]

Very interesting. Question: how do you think it would work on brisket?

Good question, cooker613, and something I've never considered doing but it might be an interesting experiment.

When using kogi for the fake dry aging process I normally use steaks (or chops) around 1 1/2" thick and let them "cure" for 48 hours. If I were to do a brisket I think I'd start with a smallish flat about 5 lbs. around the same thickness that's fairly even throughout and, due to the structure of a brisket, I try it at 60 hours. That's kind of a knee jerk guess and it's a crap shoot, but that's where I'd start. Something to think about trying in the near future.

 

[cooker613]

Thanks. I think the entire idea is intriguing especially as there is no or little loss of product. Kosher meat is just too expensive to “lose” any. But more tender is always in order.