ckreef Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I've had this small meat locker setup for a while now. I only use it for the occasional dry ageing. Got this choice NY strip loin primal on sale a few days ago. I cut off 7 one inch thick steaks to cook lunch for some out of town guests today. What remained was put in to dry age. This cut had a decent fat cap which I put down on the grate. Note: wire grate shelf for proper air circulation. Small fan for that circulation. Bowl of water in front of the fan to maintain proper humidity. A remote temp/humidity monitor so I can keep a look on things without opening the door. Temperature and humidity within acceptable range. Will go at least 21 days. Will post a picture of the crust forming within the next week or so. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Cool! 👠Benton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjs Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Nice set up. I am intrigued. Looking to seeing the finished product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I just wish my bar fridge was not self defrosting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I just wish my bar fridge was not self defrosting. That's exactly why most larger refrigerators don't work for this. You want to maintain a high humidity level but the frost free refrigerators are constantly pulling out moisture. I searched for the largest mini fridge with wire grates I could find. This is a Kenmore (Sears). A primitive setup but it works. This is probably the 6th or 7th primal I've done in this setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I have only dry aged once in the Umai bags. I did a NY striploin like yourself. I had so much waste especially from the non fat cap side. How do you trim the non fat cap side when done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Charles - very nice setup. This looks as if it's something even I could tackle successfully. Can we get an equipment list from you and where one might source the parts? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I have only dry aged once in the Umai bags. I did a NY striploin like yourself. I had so much waste especially from the non fat cap side. How do you trim the non fat cap side when done.That is the problem with doing NY strip loins, there are no bones to protect the other side. Which is also why I'll probably only go 21 days to minimize the waste. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Charles - very nice setup. This looks as if it's something even I could tackle successfully. Can we get an equipment list from you and where one might source the parts? Thanks in advance.I'll try and figure out the model number of that fridge and post a list after work later today. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 Very cool, I've been wanting to do a setup like this... I use Cook's Illustrated quite a bit for reference. They did a study that said steaks wrapped in cheese cloth and then placed on a wire rack in the fridge for 4 days yielded as good a result as stuff they aged longer. I can't remember where, but I recently read another article that debunked that theory and suggested a setup exactly as you have here...they went as far as 60 days, but admitted that only a few of the tasters liked it, comparing it to fine blue cheese. Most people in that study preferred 45 days. I have to say, my biggest concern in Singapore is wastage. That hunk of meat you paid $94 for would be well over $200 here....would break my heart to trim off too much. If I think of it later I'll try to find that article or blog or whatever it was I read... Please do post finished pics and let me know how much you actually had to trim off...pics of that process would be much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 This might be the article your remembering: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-dry-aging-beef-at-home.html I do all my aging in the beer fridge in the garage. A sheet pan with a wire rack that offers a few inches under it (like you use for cooling off cookies). Sometimes with an open pan of water near the blower, sometimes not, and I can't discern any difference either way. Because this is Florida, and the fridge it out in the garage, it runs enough to negate the need for a circulating fan. Interesting theory about the impact of self defrost. I know the defrost cycles doesn't affect my temps, as I have a recording thermometer on that fridge - it stays down around 34 degrees. But having had to replace the heating element for the defrost on that fridge before, I know it's easily reachable. I wonder if adding a bypass switch on either the element or the thermistor, turning the fridge into a manual defrost, would impact aging results? My hunch is that trying this would decrease the cooling efficiency and drive up interior temps to the point of failure as the coil iced over- which is the symptom you get when those parts fail. I've certainly never experienced low humidity levels in there (nor grown mold because it's too damp either) so perhaps Florida has enough ambient humidity that it stays self regulated? Opening the door does result in a quick layer of condensation inside the fridge. The key to success, IMHO is to have a fridge that doesn't need to be opened frequently. Despite being a full sized side by side, my beer fridge in the garage fits that description - getting opened no more than once or twice a day when the kids grab a drink to take for their lunches. If I'm grabbing beer- I'll grab 6 at a time and move them to the inside fridge. Everyone should try aging a chunk of beef. It can seem intimidating at first, with $100 plus of meat at stake, but it's about as forgiving as a pork butt on a KK - it takes a catastrophic mishap, or a series of smaller ones, to lose your meat, and some basic awareness and a decent thermometer can prevent all of that. Another similarity- 10# of meat will result in only 7# of dinner The biggest concern for using a "regular" fridge, especially the one that stores the rest of your fresh food, is the cheese-like smells that accumulate. After about 10 days,the fridge gets a pungent smell, sort of like sharp cheese. Not a big deal when everything in there is sealed, but no way you want that circulating with your fresh vegetables, butter, and stuff like that. I've accidentally left potatoes in the produce drawer while aging, or a spare pound of butter in the snack drawer, and they picked up the flavor. Any yes, the smell goes away from the fridge within a couple of days after your done aging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 While meat is on sale this holiday season I decided to take advantage of it. Choice whole primal bone in ribeye roast. Put it in the meat locker for the time being. On Christmas I'll cut off a 3 or 4 bone in roast to cook then put the remainder in for dry ageing. NY strip loin is starting to form a nice crust. I went back for another pork loin. It's really hard to find all natural pork loins where I live so I decided to take advantage of the great deal. Another $22. 6" pork loin roast 2 sets of 1/2" pork loin chops. 2 sets of pork loin Yakatori strips. Stir fry scraps Should go nicely with my other butchered pork loin. Yea we'll be eating pork for awhile. I'll need to get creative. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Good post Firemonkey. Dry ageing is really a no brainer. I've only had one disaster. Lost power to the house sometime in the afternoon. Fridge stayed good but by the next morning the power still hadn't come back on and the fridge temp was now in the low 40's* f. So I fired up the kamado butchered up the primal and ate really thick cut dry aged steaks for breakfast and lunch and dinner - LOL - not a total disaster but I was done with steaks for a little while. I think the frost free issue is really about humidity level. Living in GA (me) or FL (you) just opening the fridge once a day would probably introduce enough humidity. If you lived up north in a dryer climate or had the fridge in the house with dry winter furnace heat it might not work so well. Only draw back would probably be forming a thicker crust which translates to a little more waste. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 I think I'm going to find a cheap hygrometer to stick in there, just to see what it says. Of course, none of the "experts" can agree on what the ideal RH is, so it would be purely informational. The serious eats article linked above also found no difference between a consistent 80% RH, wildly fluctuating 30-80%, or unregulated ambient RH in three different types of refrigerators. More interestingly, is what they determined regarding waste: You can see that the layer of dried meat in a 4-week aged piece of beef is as thick as one aged for over 8 weeks. No matter how long I aged the steak, the waste was about the sameThat sure sounds counter-intuitive, but makes things easier on us, by removing some of the voodoo from the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) Check out Petsmart in their reptile section. Got mine there. A digital, remote temp/humidity monitor. Not scientific grade but probably close enough. Run the wires through the door so you can check it before opening. About $20. I'm interested in seeing your parameters compared to mine. Biggest problem with my mini fridge is about a 5° degree temp cycle. That also gives me about a 10% RH cycle between 60% and 70%. None of this is really A problem as it's still basically within reasonable parameters. From what I can tell after about 14 days the crust is so well formed the only thing that really matters from there out is temp between 32* and 40*. Also the crust doesn't form much more at that point. I'll test this as I'll do the NY strip for 21 days and the ribeye for 35 days or more. I'll get pictures of the crust thickness. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Edited December 23, 2015 by ckreef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 I was going to ask you if you planned to just trim all but the bone side, or cut the bones off after it was dried, but then I looked closer and saw that they already cut it off the ribs for you. Nice of them, huh $6.99 is a deal - I should check my publix ad. For that price I'll go for a rib primal for a change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 (edited) I was going to ask you if you planned to just trim all but the bone side, or cut the bones off after it was dried, but then I looked closer and saw that they already cut it off the ribs for you. Nice of them, huh $6.99 is a deal - I should check my publix ad. For that price I'll go for a rib primal for a change. Ribs are still on(still in original cryopac). You can't see the ribs from that angle(on the underside). I would have preferred a bigger fat cap but that was the best looking primal they had left. For what I cook on Christmas I'll cut them off then tie them back on. For the bigger chunk I age I'll wait till it's all done before I cut them off. Publix sale goes through Thursday if I remember correctly. Go Today, my Publix only had 2 cryopac primals left. All the rest had been trimmed up for sale. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Edited December 23, 2015 by ckreef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted December 23, 2015 Report Share Posted December 23, 2015 Good deal the ribs are still attached - I just saw the tag that said something about being cut from the bone and tied for easy carving. I guess that's impossible without opening the cryovac. Just stopped by Publix and grabbed an 18+ pounder. Not a huge fat cap, but I had the kid bring 3-4 out and picked the best. At least it has mostly full coverage, but none were very thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted December 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2015 Good deal the ribs are still attached - I just saw the tag that said something about being cut from the bone and tied for easy carving. I guess that's impossible without opening the cryovac. Just stopped by Publix and grabbed an 18+ pounder. Not a huge fat cap, but I had the kid bring 3-4 out and picked the best. At least it has mostly full coverage, but none were very thick. That tag is what they used for the holiday sale. They initially brought out a whole with the ribs cut and tied. I told them to take it back and find a cryopac with the biggest fat cap. Fortunately the manager was listening and he's know me for a couple of years now. He knows I only want whole primals for dry ageing. I've showed him all the pics along the way. 😉Sent from my QTAQZ3 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Put in the meat locker on Christmas day - a 4 bone ribeye. After 22 Days. I was going to go longer but after a long day at work I really wanted a steak so time to carve it up. In the past I've always cut the bones off from the long side. This time I tried cutting them off going down from the end. This worked much better and I was able to get right up next to the bones. Will always cut the bones off from the end from now on. It wasn't a big piece of meat but was able to carve up a few steaks of various thickness. Last night's dinner. 2 1/2 minutes on the first side. 2 minutes on the second side. Should have gone 2 & 2 but still came out md rare. Tried a new Bistro seasoning blend. Getting close to formulating my signature steak seasoning. IG picture. Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
