Dry Aged Brisket

[Syzygies]

I made my first experiment with smoking a dry aged brisket: The Golden Gate Meat Company

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/golden_gate_meat_company.php

will hold customer purchases in their dry aging room.

I picked out a nice 12 lb packer cut brisket, left it 8 days with them, and picked it up at 9 lbs. I rubbed it with olive oil and a chile, salt, pepper mix overnight, then smoked it for 21 hours at 210 F or so. I let it take forever to melt its way across the crucial 170 to 180 F stretch, then let it creep to 197 F (by raising then lowering the pit temp to time this with our guests' arrival) before the foil and towels in a cooler bit, and serving.

This was the second best brisket I've ever made, the idea is worth further experiments. The meat almost turned to pudding, the sweet spot might be 4 to 6 days dry aging. I'd be curious if anyone else gets a chance to try this...

[Baby Huey]

That sounds fantastic Syzygies, I wish I had something like Golden Gate Meat Company down here in Huntsville, AL. I have only made one brisket so far on the KK, it was a 7ish pound flat that I cooked at 235ish for about 8 hours. It was definately delicious, but it didn't turn to pudding.

-Ben

[trish]

I know very little about dry aging, but I thought that the process could go up to 21 days? Do different cuts respond differently to the process? I would have thought the denser tougher cuts would need greater time then the more tender cuts. Does the connective tissue break down faswter then the meat itself?

[Firemonkey]

Szygies, are you imagining things again???

We are a visual bunch

[primeats]

I would imagine the brisket was aged still attached to the bone, pretty difficult to do boneless without a tremendous amount of shrink( trimming). Ageing makes any cut more tender via the enzymatic action breaking down tissue.

[Syzygies]

Sorry, no pictures, it was a chaotic day and the brisket went quickly. I was busy making fresh pasta "from the grain" for the vegetarians, and so forth...

No, the brisket was off the bone. It llooked pretty much like any other packer cut 12 lb brisket, before going into the dry aging room. It lost 25% of its weight but still barely fit into my #7 K. (I do explain to friends admiring my now-tileless K that Dennis has worked out the kinks in every respect, so buy a KK ...)

Yes, a quick-grilled steak might benefit from weeks of dry aging, yet the effect of 8 days on a brisket was truly dramatic. I'm a broken record on this one, but cooking is only partly responsive to speculation and reasoning, "I'd think ..." is often wrong. All I'm suggesting is that dry-aging worked, and is worth further experimentation.

I debated with the butchers whether this might be common practice in Texas, where I've had my best brisket. They thought not, that it instead came down to skill. On reflection, I'd say aging meat is something of a continuum, there's deliberate dry aging, deliberate wet aging, and simply "rotating stock" without calling undo attention to one's practices. Wet aging one can attempt easily at home. It sure seemed to me that the "pudding" consistency I obtained was an exaggeration of the Texas brisket consistency I'd never quite achieved before. (Not to be a troll, but most internet pictures of brisket look like shoe leather, compared to what I've eaten in Texas.) So I'm betting that some subtle "rotating stock" is at play here, and the deliberate sweet spot for dry aging is 4 or 5 days.

[Amphoran]

It is possible that a good part of that weight loss was trimmed off fat.

I did a choice packer's cut for the 4th, and 12.5 pounds came down to just a hair over 10 just from trimming the fat on the sides and around the point.

[Syzygies]

Actually, I was explicit that they weren't to trim it at all, and I didn't trim it at all. The 25% weight loss was dry aging. This is exactly what they predicted; they do this for a living. I was there, but don't take my word for this, try it!

Next time I will trim some fat. I believe you could hang a picture of fat next to the cooker for the same protective effects; the moist / dry axis is determined by other factors.

[Amphoran]

I wasn't challenging, just speculating. The only thing I've dry aged was a Prime Rib, and it didn't lose anywhere near that much, but of course the aspect ratio is completely different.

I will try it the next time I tackle a brisket; mine was tender and juicy, but not like pudding!

[trish]

I gotta say the 'pudding' analogy with brisket is not creating a positive image for me. I like pudding and I like brisket, but I don't want either one to be like the other. Are you saying the brisket turned to mush?

[PaulR]

Not sure if the "pudding" analogy was the best but to me it sounded like it melts in your mouth (which is a great way to describe some meat textures).

It's the way i like a great chateaubriand (hard to get here but once you've tasted a proper one.... )...

[johnnyboy]

I cooked a bone-in prime rib dry aged once also. My first experience with dry aging. I ordered it dry aged so no idea how much weight was lost.

Does anyone agree dry aging also makes the meat taste stronger?

The meat tasted stronger to me, but I can't say it was noticibly more tender.

[Amphoran]

I dry aged in a refrigerator, sitting on paper towels for 9 days.

It did lose weight, but not 25%, and the flavor changed. It was very tender, but I didn 't save half of it not dry aged for a comparison.

My wife, who is no big beef fan said it was the best prime rib she'd ever had. We agreed that it was well worth the time and effort.

Here's the thread where I got the method I used: http://www.komodokamado.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1005

Mike

[primeats]

The meat can take on a flavor that has been described to me as "minerally". It should be a good thing, sometimes when I have aged something a bit longer than I would have liked, there is a noticable flavor similar to fine prosciutto. If the meat hasn't been trimmed well enough( the fat cap on the prime rib for instance) you can have a flavor burst that borders on rancid or a bit sour. 9 times out of 10 the tenderness will be a def. improvement. I've Gotta try that aged brisket Syz!

[Saucier]

Aged Prime

I have dry aged prime in the refer before too, per Cooks Illustrated instructions, 7 days unwrapped in the refer.

I have done this maybe 10 times. My description would be a deep, rich, beefy flavor.. A slight tang. And a buttery tender texture.

You will get spoiled!

[Syzygies]

As it happens, I did take a picture. I forgot.

[Majestik]

Now THAT

...is a thing of beauty.

[Saucier]

Good

Nice cook sysg!

[Pyro]

Dry Aged vs Wet Aged

This seems to be a matter of individual taste. Morgan Ranch, identified by the Wall Street Journal as providing the finest Wagyu beef in the United States, wet ages their beef for four weeks. I e-mailed them and asked about dry aging. I got this reply from Dan Morgan, "As far as further aging of the steaks ; I do not like the potential after taste with the dry aging. I think, we have the steaks ready to be eaten." Based on my experience, they are definitely ready to be eaten.

I've ordered two briskets from him and will be cooking the first one on the labor day weekend, Having been raised in Kansas City, I will use the point for burnt ends. I will take and post pictures. BTW, for anyone that is interested Morgan Ranch sells Wagyu brisket for $5 per pound. Weights vary from ten to thirteen pounds.

[Syzygies]

Re: Dry Aged vs Wet Aged

I e-mailed them and asked about dry aging. I got this reply from Dan Morgan' date=' "As far as further aging of the steaks ; I do not like the potential after taste with the dry aging. I think, we have the steaks ready to be eaten."[/quote']

Very interesting. I would take his answer, however, as applying to dry aging after wet aging, rather than dry aging instead of wet aging. He sells wet aging. Delete the dry/wet adjectives, and he's simply asserting that he believes that their beef is already aged enough.

Dry aging concentrates flavors and breaks down the connective tissue, both goals that are also achieved by a low & slow cook. Wet aging will only break down connective tissue, but might lead to a moister result? It will be interesting to see.

When I next have a brisket dry-aged, I'll shoot for fewer than 8 days. Sources dispute that my favorite Texas brisket sees any aging, but a bit of wet-aging is simple to achieve by "rotating stock".

There's a parallel debate for dry versus wet cures for ham; I use either. I've got a wet-cured bone-in pork loin ready to cook tomorrow, but I prefer a dry-cure e.g. for spareribs.