Aging Beef at Home

Dry-aged beef  is exposed to air so dehydration can improve the beef’s flavor. Here’s one method suggested by Jennifer Armentrout at Fine Cooking:

  • Buy a prime boneless beef rib. Unwrap the beef, rinse it thoroughly, and use paper towels to pat it dry. Do not trim the fat off of the meat

  • Wrap the beef loosely in three layers of cheesecloth, and put it on a rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Next, place the beef in a refrigerator that is 40 degrees or cooler for three to seven days; the beef will become more flavorful as it ages longer.

  • After the first day of refrigeration, unwrap and then rewrap the beef with the same cheesecloth. This will ensure the cloth fibers do not stick to the meat.

  • When the aging process is complete, unwrap the cheesecloth from the beef and with a knife, shave off and discard the meat’s hard outer layer and its dried sections of fat. You have now dry-aged your beef.

Note that for safety reasons, you must cook or freeze the beef within seven days of beginning to dry-age the meat.

 


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