The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 355
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moment. Similarly, aged meat can pick up aromas from
your refrigerator. Unless your refrigerator is odor-free, a
mini-fridgeisthewaytogo.
•Afan.Topromotedryingofthesurfaceandevenaging,
you want to stick a fan inside your fridge to keep air
circulating. This works in much the same way as a
convection oven, promoting more even cooling and
humidity.IusedaslimcomputerfanIorderedonlinefor
about$30.
•Arack.Themeatmustbeelevatedonarack.Itriedaging
pieces of meat on a plate and directly on the floor of the
fridge. Bad idea. The part in contact with the plate or
refrigerator floor didn’t dehydrate properly and ended up
rotting.Aging on a wire rack or directly on a wire fridge
shelf with a rimmed baking sheet underneath to catch
dripsisthewaytogo.
• Time. Patience, little grasshopper.You will be rewarded
withthesteakofyourdreamsforyourpatience.
Q:Butwhatabouthumidity?Ihearhumidityneedstobe
kept[high,orlow,ormedium,ornonexistent,oretc.].
WhatshoulditbeandhowcanIcontrolit?
I aged meat in fridges kept at relative humidities ranging
from 30 to 80 percent as well as in fridgesthat fluctuated
wildlywithnocontrols.Guesswhat?Allofthemproduced
excellentagedbeef.
Anditmakessense.Asnotedabove,afterthefirstcouple
of weeks, the outer layers of the beef become all but
impenetrable to moisture. So, it really doesn’t make much
difference how humid or dry the environment is, because
the interior meat is protected. That’s good news for home
dry-agers!
Timing
Q:OK,I’mnearlyconvinced.HowlongshouldIagemy
meat?
Ihadtasterstastesteaksagedforvariouslengthsoftime.In
ordertoensurethatallthesteakswerefairlyrankedandthat
differences in actual cooking were minimized, I cooked
them in a sous-vide water bath to 127°F before finishing
them with a cast-iron pan/torch combo. The steaks were
tasted completely blind. The final results were largely a
matter of personal preference, but here’s a rough guide to
whathappensoverthecourseof60daysofaging:
• 14 days or less: Not much point. No change in flavor,
very little detectable change in tenderness. Few people
preferredthissteak.
• 14 to 28 days: The steak is noticeably more tender,
particularly toward the higher end of this range. Still no
majorchangesinflavor.Thisisabouttheageofthesteaks
atyouraveragehigh-endsteakhouse.
• 28 to 45 days: Some real funkiness starts to manifest
itself. At 45 days, there are distinct notes of blue or
cheddarcheese,andthemeatisconsiderablymoisterand
juicier.Mosttasterspreferredthe45-day-agedsteakabove
allothers.
• 45 to 60 days: Extremely intense flavors emerge. A
handful of tasters enjoyed the richness of this long-aged
meat, though some found it a little too much to handle
