The Art Of Patience: How Long To Age Your Ribeye Steak
The length of time needed for proper aging depends on a variety of factors, such as the cut and size of the steak, the temperature and humidity levels in your aging space, and even personal preference. Knowing how long to age your ribeye steak can help you achieve that perfect flavor profile every time.
Butter Aged Steak Faqs
Question: How Long Does it Take to Butter Age Steak?
Answer: The duration of butter aging steak varies with your preferences. Ideally, a minimum of 30 days is required for the butter to combine its flavors with your steak. As long as you follow one of the two processes above, you should get the best outcome in 30 60 days.
Question: Why Doesnt Butter Aged Steak Go Bad?
Answer: The meat doesnt spoil when you age is because of the conditions that ensure the levels of bacteria and moisture are controlled. Moisture is drawn out of the steak during the butter aging process. This ensures the beef flavor increases and becomes beefier.
Question: How Does Butter Aged Steak Taste?
Answer: Decidedly beefy, similar to rare roast beef, is the taste to expect from any butter-aged steak. Additionally, there are subtler hints of other delicious flavors. They include warm buttered popcorn and enhanced flavors of the steak you have butter aged.
Question: Is Butter Aging Steak Safe?
Answer: Yes! As long as you follow the butter aging process to the letter, it should be safe. Additionally, make sure you maintain the same temperature in your refrigerator during the butter aging process.
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About Our Dry Aged Steaks
Dry aging takes time, a keen eye for quality and a precise technique for the perfect ripening climate. We have it. A proper dry-aged steak is expensive and usually found at only the best steakhouses. These steaks are FUNKY and will be SMELLY. As steaks are dry aged they lose moisture as evaporation occurs and natural enzymes change the steak. This produces a strong umami flavor and the breakdown of carbohydrates produces a sweetish taste. A lot of purveyors are selling 30 day dry aged steaks where the funk is noticeable… these steaks are VERY dry aged. The funk will be strong.
This steak has been dry aged for at-least 45 days, but usually for 55-65 days.
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What Is Dry Aging
Dry aging is a post mortem treatment for beef designed primarily to intensify flavor, with a secondary benefit of promoting tenderness. The flavor development is shaped by both a reduction in moisture which correlates to a concentration of flavor, and the cultivation of good mold and bacteria to lend a funky, nutty profile to the meat. In short dry aging makes beef taste really, really good.
CAVEAT: dry aging does not appeal to everyone. There are some folks who prefer regular beef, and who find the intense and nutty flavors of dry aging too much for their palate. The assumption here is, if youve arrived at this article interested enough in creating a set up at home, that you enjoy aged beef. If you havent yet tried it, I thoroughly recommend getting in touch with a local purveyor and tasting dry aged beef before you embark on this journey.
Benefits Of Dry Aging
There are several benefits associated with dry aging beef including increased flavor complexity due to enzymatic breakdowns as well as improved texture from moisture loss during the process. Additionally, dry aged steaks tend to be more expensive than their non-aged counterparts because they require special storage conditions such as refrigeration or freezing after being aged for an extended period of time.
Once these steps have been completed, you can place your seasoned steaks on racks inside airtight containers lined with cheesecloth or butcher paper to begin their journey towards becoming perfectly aged cuts ready for grilling.
Key Takeaway: Dry aging beef can improve flavor and texture while also increasing cost due to the need for special storage conditions. Steps include selecting a cut, trimming fat silver skin, seasoning, and placing in airtight containers with cheesecloth or butcher paper.
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Our G1 Certified Usda Prime New York Is Best In Class
Our USDA Prime New York is the best Angus beef has to offer. This means you will always get beef with moderate marbling, grade A maturity and it is sourced specifically from a couple specific farms in the MidWest. Our New Yorks are THICK, because we only work with steers with a RibEye area of 10.0 to 16.0 square inches.
This is not your average New York , it isnt even your average Prime New York.
Get Your Dry Aging Fridge Knocked Up
When I discovered the concept of dry age fridge inoculation, it kind of blew my mind. I had never considered it before, yet it was so obvious! Much like a sourdough needs a starter, or salami requires introduced mold cultures, your dry aging fridge will benefit from being inoculated by an already dried piece of meat.
In short introducing the right mold to the fridge gets you off to a flying start, and makes sure the correct bacterias are present from the get go. The Certified Angus Beef® dry age locker in Ohio got their starter piece from DeBragga meats, New Yorks Butcher®. And my fridge was started off by a 70 day old strip shell from the CAB facility, with DeBragga provenance. Its kinda cool to trace it back that far. So ideally, you want to start off your fridge by smearing the interior with the already-aged meats from a facility that has a good program already set up. This may require you to trace down some online options or try to negotiate with your local dry age purveyor.
So, what happens if you cant get your hands on a piece of dry aged meat and you dont inoculate? Well, nothing bad. You can still start your own fridge off, but the microclimate will just take far longer to develop. So, your meat will be tender and slightly more intensified, but will lack the funkiness of a mature dry aging facility.
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Selecting Meat To Age
What cut of meat should I buy for aging?
To age meat properly, you need to choose a large piece that is best cooked with quick cooking methods. This makes the standard steakhouse cutsthe New York strip, the rib steak, and the porterhousethe ideal cuts for aging. The easiest to find whole is the rib steak, which is what you get when you cut a prime rib between the bone into individual steaks.
Whats the minimum size Ill need to buy for proper aging? Can I age an individual steak?
Nope, unfortunately, you cant age individual steaks. You can wrap them in cheesecloth or paper towels, set them on a rack, and leave them in the fridge for about a week, but during that time, no detectable level of texture or flavor changes will take place. Try to age them even longer, and *, heres what you get:
*In my experience, this can happen when the cheesecloth or paper towel holds moisture against the meat and you dont have enough ventilation.
The meat is so dried out as to be completely inedible. After trimming away the desiccated and slightly moldy bits , I was left with a sliver of meat about a half centimeter thick. It was impossible to cook to anything lower than well-done, making my effective yield a big fat zero.
The simple truth is that in order to dry-age, you need larger cuts of meat, and you need to age them in open air.
So, of the larger cuts of meat, what should I look for?
Rib sections come in several different forms, each with its own number designation.
How To Dry Age A Steak At Home
Successfully dry-aging steak at home can be tricky at first, but once you know that youre doing, its a breeze!
I am going to tell you some basics on how to dry age a steak at home which will help you achieve a more successful dry-aging steak at home experience.
I have done this multiple times successfully, but knowing why it works is what really gets me excited about cooking.
So, lets learn how to dry age a steak at home
Contents
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S To Dry Age A Steak At Home
Ok, so how do you actually dry age steak at home? Well, there are a few steps you must take before proceeding.
For one, you need to have a refrigerator large enough to accommodate your steak or at least a tray and some space around it .
Youll also want to cover the bottom of the fridge with brown butcher paper and turn off the air conditioner/dehumidifier settings since dry-aging will naturally produce moisture.
What Is Strip Steak
The strip steak was given its name because its most commonly served in New York City. Its also called Strip Loin Steak or Contrefilet, because it comes from a section of beef known as contrefilet in French. In English, this translates to contrefiletsteak or simply strip steak.
The short loin is the subprimal cut that lies between the sirloin and the rib and is cut from either side of the backbone. Generally, a NY strip is boneless, although some butchers may leave the thoracic vertebra bone in and call it a club steak.
Like a rib-eye steak, a strip steak is part of the tender longissimus dorsi muscle. It does not have much chewy connective tissue or surrounding fat. Despite that, NY strip is:
Considering the two points above, a NY strip steak is an excellent balance of flavor and softness lean but moist.
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Which Cuts Work Best
Though both Poll and Pollaci said the cut is arbitrary and mostly up to the preference of the diner the most common cuts used for dry-aging are ribeye, sirloin, and New York strip.
These cuts are chosen because they tend to come from parts of the cow where muscles arent used frequently, like the ribs and the loin area, resulting in tender meat as opposed to tougher muscle. Its good to note that larger cuts, specifically primal cuts, are considered the best candidates. A primal cut, for those of us who arent butchers, is a larger cut of beef that has yet to be separated into individual steaks . Those big cuts can can handle aging much longer.
At Gallaghers, rib steak, sirloin, porterhouse, and filet mignon are all on the menu and dry-aged in their 52nd street-facing meat locker.
Castaway carries similar cuts, including a ribeye, New York, and tomahawk. Though Pollaci recognizes that some cuts fare better than others in the dry-aging arena, hes had a lot of fun experimenting with different cuts of meat, like brisket.
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What Are The Best Cuts Of Dry
Entire primals, rather than single steaks are dry-aged, but to be a good candidate for dry-aging requires a good protective covering of bone or fat. This means theres less surface area that needs to be trimmed away later. Filets tend not to be aged because theres no bone or fat protecting it, Flannery says. Dry-aging is wasteful because every single side of meat that is exposed to air will be breaking down faster than the meat on the inside. Bone-in New York strip or ribeye are good contenders for dry-aging, Pandel says.
Ribeye is a great cut to dry age. Photo: Kevin Marple
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How Long Should You Age Meat For
Heres where the art of dry aging becomes a rabbit hole Lets chat for a moment about tenderness. Yes, dry aging can help tenderness, but its mainly undertaken to intensify flavor. After about 28 days of aging, the meat is about as tender as its going to become. Technically speaking, for you sticklers, it has the capacity to continue to tenderize, but its practically negligible beyond this point. What you are looking at now is intensity of flavor, and nutty notes from the mold and controlled decomposition .
Short answer the length of time you leave meat to age depends on numerous factors. What cut are you using? What kind of mold do you have in your fridge? Is it more intense than other strains? How much of that mold is in there? And most importantly: what is your personal preference?
Generally, it takes at least 30 days before you can start to taste any signature dry aged flavors. My personal preference is for something between 60-80 days. That may change as I get to know my own set up better . After a certain point, dry aged steak turns from a delight to a delicacy. Meaning the more funky it gets, the fewer people it will appeal to. Kind of like a light blue cheese versus a gorgonzola. One is much mustier than the other, and some palates find that too overwhelming.
Proper Preparation & Cooking Of Dry Aged Meat:
Your set up is a huge part of the dry age process, but so is knowing how to treat the product when its ready to eat. There are important two factors you need to consider when approaching the preparation and cooking stage: palatibility and food safety.
PALATABILITY basically refers to how enjoyable it is to eat, both in terms of flavor and texture. Assuming all your aging parameters were correct and theres no spoilage, the only hindrance to perfect palatability is going to be the rind, or hard outer shell that forms during aging. The rind does not soften during the cooking process and so needs to be removed. Dont be stingy with your trimming here theres no point in aging steak only to have a poor eating experience by leaving rind on there.
When trimming back your rind, you may notice that there are parts of the muscle itself that have turned a brown shade. In most cases, this is nothing but oxidization of the myoglobin, a harmless color change. As long as you feel the darker areas and they seem to be the same consistency they will be fine to eat, despite not being appealing in color. Theres always a chance that the discoloration is not simply part of the myoglobin cycle, but a more concerning issue like meat that was close to an air pocket or seam which held mold. You should be able to make a judgement call here using smell and touch, but if in doubt, trim it away. Food poisoning is not fun, FYI.
AND SO TO SUMMARIZE
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What Wine Complements A New York Strip
The New York Strip is full of flavor and marbling, making it one of the most popular cuts around. Youll need a full-flavored wine with high acidity to break down the fat from the steak to create a mesh of bold flavors in your mouth.
If you prefer white wine, then champagne is your best bet. Champagne has similar acidic and flavor characteristics of red wine, so it can stand up to the boldness of the New York Strip. If youd rather have a red wine
Setting Up Your Dry Age Space
When it comes to dry aging your ribeye steak, setting up the perfect environment is key. To ensure that you get the best results, there are a few things you need to consider when choosing an appropriate location in your home or kitchen for dry aging.
The first step is finding a space with consistent temperatures between 55-60°F and humidity levels of 70-80%. This will help create the ideal conditions for proper aging. The area should also be well ventilated and free from any strong odors that could affect the flavor of your steak. Avoid areas near windows or vents where drafts can occur as this can cause fluctuations in temperature and humidity levels which can negatively impact your results.
Once youve found a suitable spot, its important to keep an eye on both temperature and humidity levels throughout the process so that they remain within range. Investing in a thermometer/hygrometer combo device will make monitoring these conditions much easier and more accurate than relying on guesswork alone. If necessary, use fans or dehumidifiers to adjust either level as needed during the drying process until optimal conditions are achieved.
Key Takeaway: To dry age your ribeye steak, you need to find a space with consistent temperatures between 55-60°F and humidity levels of 70-80%, ensure proper ventilation, monitor temperature humidity levels throughout the process, and use an airtight container that allows airflow.
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What Is The Right Way To Cook A Dry
A dry-aged steak, including dry-aged ribeye and dry-aged striploin steak, are noticeably tastier and more tender than any other types of steak available on the market. Unsurprisingly, they need to be cooked in a specific way in order to ensure that you are able to savour them to the max. Here is what you need to know.
How Long Does It Take To Dry Age A Steak At Home
Dry aging steak at home takes roughly around 30 days before you will notice any dry-aging flavors.
However, in my experience, its between 60 80 days that the steak really comes into its own, developing the rich beefy umami flavors dry aging is famous for.
Be aware that the steak will be riddled with bacteria.
Until modern man discovered how to use refrigerators, all meat was dry-aged this way.
Adding salt to the meat will inhibit bacterial growth and add flavor if youre trying to do it at home, I highly recommend it.
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