Tried dry aging my beef at home and it actually worked

I used to think home dry aging was a scam for most people. Thought you needed that fancy $2,000 fridge setup or you'd just ruin your meat. But a buddy of mine has been doing it in his regular fridge for like 5 years now with no issues. He talked me into trying it with a rib primal I got from a local farm near Madison. I used cheesecloth wrapped around it and a wire rack over a tray, changed the cloth every 3 days. After 21 days I trimmed off the crust and cooked a steak side by side with a fresh cut. The difference was way bigger than I expected, the aged one had this deep nutty flavor and the texture was way more tender. Anyone else here doing home aging with just a regular fridge setup?

3 comments

3 Comments

simontorres1mo ago

Maybe it's just me but I'm curious about the cheesecloth thing. Did you find it actually made a difference versus just leaving it uncovered? I've read some people say the cloth can trap moisture and cause mold issues if you don't swap it often enough. How did you deal with the smell in your regular fridge too? My wife would probably kill me if I tried this in our kitchen fridge unless I could keep the odor contained.

robinc661mo ago

Give the cheesecloth a try with some baking soda nearby to help with the smell... that's what I did and it kept the odor down enough for my wife to not complain. The thing is, so many people overthink these small hacks when really it's just about swapping the cloth out every couple days like you would any kitchen towel, @simontorres. It's the same pattern I see everywhere with people getting caught up in perfecting a system instead of just trying it and adjusting as you go.

pat_hall8727d ago

Robin66 has a point about just trying it, but I'd push back a little on the cheesecloth thing specifically. In my experience, the cloth does matter if you swap it out every 2-3 days like you would a dishrag. Leaving it uncovered meant the cheese dried out way too fast on the outside while staying soft inside, which isn't great for grating or cooking later. For the smell, I ended up putting the whole setup in a sealed container with a loose lid inside a regular fridge drawer, that kept the odor contained enough that my wife didn't notice. The mold issue is real if you let the cloth get damp and stay that way for a week, so I just tossed mine in the laundry after each use. Not a perfect system but it worked okay for me, your mileage will definitely vary depending on your fridge and how strong that cheese gets.