Firemonkey Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 I decided that I was long overdue for some good, aged steaks. The only place i can buy a nice dry aged steak locally is Whole foods, but I just could not bring myself to pay about $25/lb for them. So I did what any low-budget afficianado would do...I headed for the local warehouse club to buy the packer cut strip loin. It went in my beer fridge, which is ALWAYS set to the coldest temp, and ALWAYS holds temps at about 33-34 degrees. It also runs plenty, which will create good air circulation in there. I moved out some of the non-essentials (Soda, Gatorade, etc) and moved all the beer to one half of the fridge. The meat went into the fridge on a rack, over a baking sheet, on the top shelf and sat there for 15 days. Then I pulled it out, carefully trimmed all the outer crust away, and cut it into 8 mighty fine 1.75 inch steaks. I grilled up a couple of them for dinner, and they were simply outstanding. ANY steak you cook yourself, the way that you like them, on your KK will blow away even high end steakhouses. But when you get a good one, its magical. Dry aging pushes the scale way over toward the latter experience. Behold: After trim: 1 pound 10 OZ of trimmings... Steaks, in the inside fridge: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk1 Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks That is not fair....you are making me hungry and it is only 4 PM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeylips Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks You are so creative and put so much thought and care into your food! Your family must LOVE you. I always look for your recipes and pics. Everything is always perfect. You are clearly a type "A" personality I can appreciate that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qundoy Posted January 10, 2012 Report Share Posted January 10, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks those look excellent. Yum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisLinkletter Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks They look great.. and much larger than 1.75" ... The shot with the stacked steaks in the fridge is killing me. I gotta try this.. Any ideas except the dog for the cuttings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk1 Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks Any ideas except the dog for the cuttings? I have been thinking about this.... add it to ground beef for burgers? I have tasted it from my 21-28 day experiments and it has a rich flavor...just a tad chewy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks Nice work FM! Need a job? Welcome to my world, I don't use the trimmings when I cut our steaks, unless they are free from mold or very black dried out tissue, tends to taint the ground meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks If you do this again, weigh the loin before and after, even before trimming to see how much weight loss you have. That's the hidden cost factor, along with the trimming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk1 Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks I did not weigh in my tests, but the weight loss was profound..... It makes the commercial prices seem way more palatable then before I did it at home. I went both 21 and 28 days. I wonder if there is a plateau to the weight loss? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks If you do this again' date=' weigh the loin before and after, even before trimming to see how much weight loss you have. That's the hidden cost factor, along with the trimming![/quote'] Yeah, I would have liked to do that, but I actually cut off a couple steaks from each end I when opened the COV to have for dinner that night. My kitchen scale doesn't go high enough to weigh the whole thing, so I will have to use the packaged price/weight as a beginning, then I can weigh the trimmings, and final product to come up with the moisture loss. Whatever the loss, the whole loin was roughly $55 or $60. I got 8 trimmed and aged steaks, plus 4 more (even bigger than the pictured ones) that werent aged - its a definite bargain to do it yourself if you have the fridge real estate. Plus you get the boasting rights when your friends open the fridge to grab a beer and start drooling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks Any ideas except the dog for the cuttings? I have been thinking about this.... add it to ground beef for burgers? I have tasted it from my 21-28 day experiments and it has a rich flavor...just a tad chewy I have done a rib roast for 7 days, and cooked it without trimming. I was not a fan of the flavor the outer layer had. It was hard to describe, but I didn't like it. Almost sort of metallic tasting. Dave - no mold, thankfully. If any of my family saw any mold whatsoever on that chunk of meat, I would have to eat it all myself! Wait....i have an idea.... I am actually glad there was no mold growth, I would be a bit squeamish about which molds were acceptable and which were not, and how far I would have had to trim to make sure i removed any trace. I noticed that the color stayed more burgundy than mahogany. Is the color a product of the time and temp (was 34 too cold?) or a product of the cut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted January 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks I did not weigh in my tests, but the weight loss was profound..... It makes the commercial prices seem way more palatable then before I did it at home. I went both 21 and 28 days. I wonder if there is a plateau to the weight loss? I read an executive summary produced by the beef council that cited all sorts of studies. Everything you ever wondered about the process. Here is an excerpt about shrinkage: Ahnström et al. (2006) conducted a novel study to see if using a vacuum bag that is highly permeable to water vapor (8000 g/15 ?/m2/24 h at 38°C and 50% relative humidity) would allow products to age with moisture loss somewhat lessened compared to the loss from normal dry aging. In their study, Certified Angus Beef® brand striploins were obtained and divided into four treatments: dry-aged for 14 days (Dry 14), dry-aged for 21 days (Dry 21), aged in bag (refers to the highly moisture-permeable bag) for 14 days (Bag 14), and aged in bag for 21 days (Bag 21). There were no differences in weight loss in the striploins between the Dry 14 (6.5%) and Bag 14 (6.3%). However, striploins from the Dry 21 treatment had significantly greater weight loss than the striploins from the Bag 21 treatment (10.2% versus 8.8%, respectively). Trim loss was similar for striploins from the Dry 14, Bag 14, and Bag 21 treatments (15.0%, 15.3%, and 15.6%, respectively). However, it was significantly higher (17.9%) for the Dry 21 treatment. Sensory traits and shear force did not differ among the four treatments, which means that the use of this highly moisture-permeable bag may allow an alternative aging method to the normal, unprotected dry aging process. The full document is here: http://beefresearch.org/CMDocs/BeefRese ... 20Beef.pdf From the research, it sounds like there is some merit to the bags insofar as the finished product at longer intervals, but for me, the cost of the bags themselves, and a new vac sealer (since they wont work with a foodsaver) are outweighing the benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks Any ideas except the dog for the cuttings? Welcome to my world' date=' I don't use the trimmings when I cut our steaks[/quote'] Despite clear evidence hiking in coyote country that our dog will eat pretty much anything, I try to restrict her to what I would eat, myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mguerra Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks My dogs will eat a dead old rotten deer carcass they drag up from the canyon, and they seem none the worse for it. If the trimmings don't seem rotten or putrid, I would braise them in some water or broth and serve 'em up on top of the dog's chow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks If you do this again' date=' weigh the loin before and after, even before trimming to see how much weight loss you have. That's the hidden cost factor, along with the trimming![/quote'] Awhile back I dry aged a bone-in 21 lb. rib roast wrapped in 3 layers of very fine cheese cloth for 12 days. The meat lost 1 pound during the aging. I then trimmed the roast. Alas, I did not weigh the trimmings, but it approximated another pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks The mold that grows on the meat is rendered harmless when you cut it off, down to good tissue that's not dried. remember the aging process is nothing more than controlled decomposition. The deep burgundy color is a direct result of the concentration of protein and evaporation(kind of) of moisture and fat.34 is not too cold,my cooler is set at 32-34 and has a pretty high relative humidity, I've seen some mold growing that resembled fuzzy fur at times,and had an aroma not unlike finely aged prosciutto(or old socks as my Polish butcher puts it). That's when I pull bring it out to the display case, after a trip to the meat barber! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribeless Posted January 11, 2012 Report Share Posted January 11, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks Firemonkey, on the photo in your first post, third from the bottom, what is that part grill arrangement you've got your sausages resting on, while cooking the steaks on the bottom grill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted January 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2012 Re: Aged Strip Loin Steaks The steaks are on the KK lower grate, and the small grate is an accessory that was made by one of the forum members. Fetzervalve made it (search versagrill) but I think he finally sold all he had. BTW, those aren't sausages, they are really big baked potatoes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
