I first became interested in dry aging meat when I saw pieces of dry aged beef in a deli's meatcase. My first thought was, "Who would want to eat something that looks like that?" But after buying and eating a dry aged steak from our local supermarket, I was convinced that this was the way to go. My first lesson was that the dry edges are cut away and disposed of, thus revealing a much redder, more marbelized piece of beef. The result, a more flavorful, tender, succulent steak!
The next step was figuring out how I could do this at home without ruining the meat. After watching dozens of videos online, I discovered that I could order specially made dry aging bags from Germany. So I ordered the bags and a vacuum sealer, and waited with anticipation for their arrival. The day before they were due to arrive, I purchased a 1.5 kilo piece of ribeye. Not too big in case I managed to ruin it, and not too small so that the entire piece would dry out.
My original plan was to let it age for 28 days, but curiosity (and hunger) got the best of me, so I took it out after only 17 days.
After cutting away the dry bits, I was left with two 8 ounce (+/-) ribeyes.
I sprinkled just salt, black pepper and a tiny bit of garlic powder on both sides, and let the meat rest at room temperature 30 minutes before reverse searing them on my Kamado Joe.
The end result, the best steak that I have ever had (in my humble opinion)! More flavorful and succulent, and the fat just melted in your mouth! I'm definitely going to do this again in the future. Maybe I'll even make it to the full 28 days next time!
