I picked up a nice New York at Costco the other day. Trimmed a little of the slick fat off and cut a nice section off the good end. The nerve end I broke down into smaller steaks. I wish it had more marbling, but at $7.99/lb, I’m not complaining.
I dried it well with paper towels, and squeezed as much blood as I could from it. The dull end of a bamboo skewer was gently shoved down and through the artery that ran through the muscle, cleaning out any blood inside.
I dried it again and placed it on a resting rack. I took over a vegetable crisper and set the humidity level as low as possible. I placed ut inside and there she will dry age for at least four weeks. Based off it going in on Tuesday the 12th, I would say it will age until Saturday the 14th of May.

You will suffer around a 40% loss. 20% from moisture loss, and 10-20% from cutting away the bark that is formed when dry aging. That said, the steaks should be butter tender as the enzymes break down the connective tissue and the tough muscle fibers. The flavor of the beef is also enhanced greatly through the aging process.

***If you decide to try this, you should know you are taking a risk of wasting a good piece of meat, and taking a risk of foodborne illness. While the risks are low, they are still there. The best way to know without having a lab, is your nose and eyes. If it smells funky, or looks moldy or rancid, it’s trash.
I have done this in the past, and have had great results. The key is having it in an area where the temp almost never fluctuates and where it never fluctuates rapidly. It can’t just go on the shelf in the household fridge. I have a secondary fridge that is rarely if ever opened, so it works out well. ***

As long as the humidity stays low and the drawer is not opened, it should age fine.

I will update this thread from time to time with pictures of how it is coming along.







Tuesday Evening




Friday Morning


One week in



Two weeks


Three weeks


Four weeks


32 Days and the end result!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Beancooker,

Very nice. I've done that before with mixed results.
Also did a single steak with salt that sat for 3 days. That's all you want to go if you salt.
Looking forward to your results and what you think.

Will be following ! Have always wanted to try this.

I do have a fridge in the garage and think I will see if the bride will let me have a crisper. Think will find a way to test the temp and humidity without opening the drawer ... maybe like the sensors for a roast in the oven that can be read outside the appliance.

Just make sure you scrape the fuzz off before you fry it up.

Too much trouble for not enough reward for me. Slice it off the cow, walk it through the kitchen, and throw it on a plate.

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Will be following ! Have always wanted to try this.

I do have a fridge in the garage and think I will see if the bride will let me have a crisper. Think will find a way to test the temp and humidity without opening the drawer ... maybe like the sensors for a roast in the oven that can be read outside the appliance.

Check out Umai Bags. They're basically vacuum seal bags that let the meat age while protecting it, you can basically put your meat in there and stick it in the fridge. They protect the meat and the other food in the fridge- your wife may be more amenable to it if it stays wrapped up.

I don't think I would want to leave a probe in the meat while aging. It seems at best unnecessary because if the fridge is maintaining temperature the meat will too, and at worst it's a vector for introducing outside contaminants into the interior of meat that you intend to let sit to age for some period of time.

-edit- I just reread what you said, and I realize now you don't intend to put the probe into the meat. Sorry, what you want to do should be fine.

Huge! fan of dry aging.
I have a Ribeye in the fridge now that will hit 40 days on the 23rd (so that makes it 31 days to date).
I may take it to 45 days.
It was a spectacular deal that a friend in the meat bus-to-dealers/retail got for a bunch of us.
$6.99 lb for just-under-prime (I always usually do Prime) - choice/select - that looks good on the marbling.
It started out at 18 lb but I am sure it will be down to 13-14 lb or so when I pull it.
PLUS you have to trim the pellicles and hard fat off so you loose even more.
I will render the fat for further later use or to enhance beef broth/stock.

Have several other in the freezer I already DA'd.

I use UMAI bags but would LOVE to have a separate DA cooler.

Yes you do loose some total volume but ... oh that flavor.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
Will be following ! Have always wanted to try this.

I do have a fridge in the garage and think I will see if the bride will let me have a crisper. Think will find a way to test the temp and humidity without opening the drawer ... maybe like the sensors for a roast in the oven that can be read outside the appliance.

Check out Umai Bags. They're basically vacuum seal bags that let the meat age while protecting it, you can basically put your meat in there and stick it in the fridge. They protect the meat and the other food in the fridge- your wife may be more amenable to it if it stays wrapped up.

I don't think I would want to leave a probe in the meat while aging. It seems at best unnecessary because if the fridge is maintaining temperature the meat will too, and at worst it's a vector for introducing outside contaminants into the interior of meat that you intend to let sit to age for some period of time.

-edit- I just reread what you said, and I realize now you don't intend to put the probe into the meat. Sorry, what you want to do should be fine.

Exactly sir ... I used a poor comparable. You are correct, no probe in the meat ... just a sensor that can be placed inside the drawer to monitor the temp and humidity.

The Umai bag is a great idea !

Just check the weight on mine > now 13.2 lb and went in with 18 lbs (maybe a little less as I did trim it slightly first).


As Guga says I know it doesn't look that good now .....

Also following - dry aging has been on my list of things to try, I just haven't gotten around to it yet...

Looking forward to hearing about the results!

Had a boss who was South African, father was a retired butcher. He took a side of beef each year and put it in a fridge outside his home (Dallas, TX).

He would dry age the beef with an occasional rub/brushing of vinegar on the outside of it to keep the mold down.

I did a partial dry age of a prime rib roast one year. Yummy

Some Prime NY Strips I did last summer, still have a few in the freezer.





Highly recommend to anyone who loves good beef especially.

I’m pretty excited about the outcome. I looked into the Umai bags, but they just don’t appeal to me for some reason. Probably influence from my best friend of 42 years who is the Executive Chef of a high end steakhouse (and a few other restaurants in his career) and has been dry aging for years. He’s the one I have learned from.

Smschulz, those pieces of meat, and the steaks look quite fantastic. Nice work my friend. What is the second set of numbers on the vacuum bags represent? (10.8.03, 10.5.03)

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I’m pretty excited about the outcome. I looked into the Umai bags, but they just don’t appeal to me for some reason. Probably influence from my best friend of 42 years who is the Executive Chef of a high end steakhouse (and a few other restaurants in his career) and has been dry aging for years. He’s the one I have learned from.

Smschulz, those pieces of meat, and the steaks look quite fantastic. Nice work my friend. What is the second set of numbers on the vacuum bags represent? (10.8.03, 10.5.03)

Looks like the second set of number refer to the weight : 10.8 oz and 10.5 oz

Yeah, it's the weight (oz).

smschutz ... do you recall what your fresh starting weight was and average weight loss for the steaks ?

Looks like one whole piece started right around 18 and it’s down to 13.2.

man I wish I had the discipline and nerve as well as means to do that....

I like beef.. in fact, I'm so contrary that when ever I buy a semi-good cut of beef I always taste some of it before cooking.. yep, eat it raw.. have for close on to 50 years and so far not a hint of "food born illness".

Not to try and highjack this thread but has anyone else realized the disclaimer on the bottom of restaurant menus does not in any way reduce their liability? I need to post that in the
"what's your deal section".

quote:

Originally posted by old dino:
smschulz ... do you recall what your fresh starting weight was and average weight loss for the steaks ?

Not on the the NY Strips but on a couple posts up you can see a current DA in process on some ribeyes.
Was 18 now 13 after 30 days.
I imagine it was similar but strip steaks are less fatty than ribeye so it could be less.

I have only wet aged beef,

so curious,

why pull so much of the fat cap off the Strip?

and Nerve End?
guessing that is the side that connects to and has a bit of the Sirlion attached? (the part of the strip with the oval bit surrounded by some gristle, that is down near the hip of the Cow