I hope this can be of use to somebody on the forums! It's just a link to a video that I have produced about dry ageing beef at home using some drybags. The results were really great for something that had been aged in a domestic refrigerator - almost as good as what would be expected from a trade standard ageing chiller.
I'd love to hear some feedback, so many thanks in advance!
had brisket not yesterday but the day before, it was left out (in tinfoil, still was hot so I didn't put it in the refrigerator) for about 10 hours, and it's been about less than two days in the refrigerator. is it still ok to eat?
My family ordered a whole pig to roast for Christmas online and we got it today. After cleaning it of its blood I placed it in the refrigerator. Is this fine for a day or two or should I do something else before just leaving it in there?
If there is a better subreddit for this topic, please let me know!
I’m looking for advice on how often to check on a cut of beef I’m going to be dry aging. I have constructed a “meat locker” from advice and experiences found in the cited web articles I will list below. I’ll be using a 5 cu ft chest freezer that has thermally switched power and humidity. I spoke with a chef and professor at the local culinary school (who trained in part at the meat labs at Iowa State), and he advised a temp of about 34-36F (1-2C) and 50% humidity. I’m shooting for 45 day aging time. My plan is to get a 20lb cut of prime rib, with the fat caps on. Bone-in or not is up in the air depending on supplier and pricing. I may drop to a 10lb for the sake of lowering my risk of trashing a bunch of meat on the first run.
I have been running the locker for about a week at my ideal conditions. Has been fluctuating between 1-3C, and 48-52% humidity. I am very happy with those numbers.
When I open the locker, and the rush of ambient air goes in- the humidity jumps to about 80-90% (apparently a very humid basement). Aside from common sense and not introducing airborne nasties, I don’t want to introduce that kind of humidity very often in combination with the natural rise in temps when opening. I’m wondering how often I should be checking on the meat? My thought is once a week maybe to check for any mold growth, making sure it isn’t sprouting anything black or weird. I would be perfectly fine checking less often. I just don’t want to go 45 days only to discover a gross mess…
As a side question, I’ve been getting different opinions on aging different meats at the same time. I thought about starting some sausages at the same time, so I don’t have to wait another 45 days to start that process. The locker is big enough to do both a 10-20 cut and a decent about of sausage. I didn’t know if there were any ill effects of doing say pork and beef in the same environment.
Thoughts and considerations are appreciated. Thanks in advance. Resources I have been pulling info and experiences from:
Beef Research discussing other research papers, and the effect of aging on beef.
/u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt's write-up as to why you shouldn't dry age steaks at home.
/u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt's write-up as to why you should definitely dry age beef cuts at home.
If there is a better subreddit for this topic, please let me know!
I’m looking for advice on how often to check on a cut of beef I’m going to be dry aging. I have constructed a “meat locker” from advice and experiences found in the cited web articles I will list below. I’ll be using a 5 cu ft chest freezer that has thermally switched power and humidity. I spoke with a chef and professor at the local culinary school (who trained in part at the meat labs at Iowa State), and he advised a temp of about 34-36F (1-2C) and 50% humidity. I’m shooting for 45 day aging time. My plan is to get a 20lb cut of prime rib, with the fat caps on. Bone-in or not is up in the air depending on supplier and pricing. I may drop to a 10lb for the sake of lowering my risk of trashing a bunch of meat on the first run.
I have been running the locker for about a week at my ideal conditions. Has been fluctuating between 1-3C, and 48-52% humidity. I am very happy with those numbers.
When I open the locker, and the rush of ambient air goes in- the humidity jumps to about 80-90% (apparently a very humid basement). Aside from common sense and not introducing airborne nasties, I don’t want to introduce that kind of humidity very often in combination with the natural rise in temps when opening. I’m wondering how often I should be checking on the meat? My thought is once a week maybe to check for any mold growth, making sure it isn’t sprouting anything black or weird. I would be perfectly fine checking less often. I just don’t want to go 45 days only to discover a gross mess…
As a side question, I’ve been getting different opinions on aging different meats at the same time. I thought about starting some sausages at the same time, so I don’t have to wait another 45 days to start that process. The locker is big enough to do both a 10-20 cut and a decent about of sausage. I didn’t know if there were any ill effects of doing say pork and beef in the same environment.
Thoughts and considerations are appreciated. Thanks in advance. Resources I have been pulling info and experiences from:
Beef Research discussing other research papers, and the effect of aging on beef.
/u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt's write-up as to why you shouldn't dry age steaks at home.
/u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt's write-up as to why you should definitely dry age beef cuts at home.
I was reading Harold McGee's "On food and cooking" and came across the following (in the context of aging meat): "the flavor and texture of beef keep improving for a month or more, especially when whole, unwrapped sides are dry-aged at 34-38 F and at relative humidity of 70-80%". It also says that before modern refrigerators were invented, it was normal to store meat at room temperatures for weeks.
However, it is usually recommended to keep meat in refrigerator only for a few days because of bacterial growth.
How long do you think is the optimal time to dry-age your meat in refrigerator (without any special equipment)? I have never really tried keeping meat in my refrigerator for more than a few days and before looking into it, I thought it was best to eat meat as quickly as possible.
