Storing Dry Aged meat

[smokeaddict]

First dry aging process nearing completion. I am the one meat eater in the house. The rib eye 4 point is far too much to consume
and looking for a good storing method. I whenever possible do not freeze meat because that destroys the texture and some of the taste, especially beef. I ask the dry agers here, what methods do you use, for storing once trimmed and cut into steaks of you product ?
Thanks for your input,
Gus

 

[Gonna Smoke]

For long term storage until you can cook them, vacuum sealing and freezing is my method. You said that you don't like to freeze, but it's better than losing them to spoilage especially after all the time invested in dry aging.

 

[SKade]

I don’t know of any other way to store them aside from freezing. Did you get the meat fresh straight from a slaughterhouse? Even the local farms around me freeze their meat that they sell. Without the use of curing salt I don’t know of a safe way for long term storage aside from vacpack and freeze. Someone might have a method of encasing them in fat to help prevent spoiling but I’m not sure. Personally I also don’t think I would trust it. I would say enjoy what you can eat then freeze the rest. With all the care you put into dry aging don’t play when it comes to food safety. If you have some that you can’t eat and need to get rid of I’m sure you can find someone on here willing to take it off your hands. keep making great food. Do you have some picks of the dry aged ribeye? I’d love to see it.

 

[SmokinAl]

I have some dry aged ribeyes in the freezer & they have been in there over a year, in vac sealed bags. They have no freezer burn & I really can’t tell the difference between frozen or fresh meat. Especially dry aged beef. But my neighbor is just like you, he would rather throw the meat out before he would freeze it & eat it at a later date.
Al

 

[Bearcarver]

I don't know anything about Dry or Wet Aging.
All I do is buy my meat when it's on sale, Vac Seal it & Freeze it until I use it.
The meats in my Freezer usually run between 6 months old & 3 years old. Never had anything go bad.

Bear

 

[smokeaddict]

I don’t know of any other way to store them aside from freezing. Did you get the meat fresh straight from a slaughterhouse? Even the local farms around me freeze their meat that they sell. Without the use of curing salt I don’t know of a safe way for long term storage aside from vacpack and freeze. Someone might have a method of encasing them in fat to help prevent spoiling but I’m not sure. Personally I also don’t think I would trust it. I would say enjoy what you can eat then freeze the rest. With all the care you put into dry aging don’t play when it comes to food safety. If you have some that you can’t eat and need to get rid of I’m sure you can find someone on here willing to take it off your hands. keep making great food. Do you have some picks of the dry aged ribeye? I’d love to see it.

If the delivery costs for Sydney to the US weren't so high, I might entertain the thought of sharing ......
Very soon after I posted the question, it became obvious that freezing is the only way, as much as I dislike doing it. Meat sold fresh here is never frozen, rather, it comes in certain cases, such as whole fillet, vacuum packed, which is the same as wet aging. One day, it might be interesting to do a test which involves a fresh steak, a just completed dry aged steak, and a frozen fresh and a frozen dry aged, all from the same whole muscle. Then again, over the top theoretical excercise.....

This is the rib eye, 21 days in. The T bone in the cabinet belongs to the neighbour.

 

[smokeaddict]

I have some dry aged ribeyes in the freezer & they have been in there over a year, in vac sealed bags. They have no freezer burn & I really can’t tell the difference between frozen or fresh meat. Especially dry aged beef. But my neighbor is just like you, he would rather throw the meat out before he would freeze it & eat it at a later date.
Al

Al,
In the freezer for a year ? Are you keeping it for a special occasion ?

 

[SmokinAl]

Al,
In the freezer for a year ? Are you keeping it for a special occasion ?

Ha Ha, believe it or not we eat mostly a vegetarian diet. So yes the steaks are for special occasion.
Al