Best way to age a steak at home???

Question

What is the best way to age steaks? I was told by a friend to take a steak or fillet, put it in a zip-lock bag, and put it in the back of the fridge for 21-25 days. Then to season and sear on the outside, and put on low heat until desired (we like ours medium / medium rare) Does anybody have anything to add to this before I try it??? Would rather hear from experienced people who have actually done this over people telling me what they THINK sounds best.

Answer 1

Iam not sure where you buy your steaks but unless you are killing and butching your own meat than most beef is aged 14 to 21 days and more at some restaurants. Myself I purchase my steaks at the store like most people and than I wrap it up and let it sit in my frig for about 5 to 7 days and than YUMMY

Answer 2

Ok, this is going to sound stupid, but you can almost duplicate the aging process by marinating in good old Dr. Pepper & a dark stout like Guinness (3 parts DP:1 part Guinness) for 3 or 4 days in the back of the fridge. I usually go ahead and put some salt, pepper, & mexican oregano in there so you literally do nothing for seasoning when you go to grill. Drain, let rest for about 10 minutes in the fridge out of marinade on a drain pan (or if you don't have a drain pan, you can use a grill or cookie rack on top of a cookie sheet.) Pat it dry, and you're going to want to cook it slow, preferably with a press on top. (If you don't have a press, the clean bottom of an iron skillet works fine.) I always cook these to medium well, because the marinade really leaves them very moist and I like mine a bit drier, but that's a personal preference thing. I like to use my big stainless mixing bowl covered with instead of a baggie, but depends how many steaks you're making. I learned this as a caterer, we would basically thaw the steaks (ours shipped in frozen) by marinating them like this. You can't do a lot of the aging and stuff properly in foodservice because of health concerns.

Answer 3

If you get your meat from a grocery, your meat is already aged 14-21 days as mentioned. Steak cut off a fresh cow is actually inedible and is called green meat (think rigor mortis). Grocery store meat is usually aged hanging in refrigerated warehouses. To further tenderize the meat, "bombs" are usually set off which vibrates and tenderizes the meat. When you get it home, you have two options, which comes down to preference. You can dry age as you mentioned in your original question which involves a much longer aging time. Also during dry aging you will lose some of the product due to mold and dehydration. Dry aging in a ziploc is not a good idea because mold thrives in an anaerobic environment (think bread in a bag). The best thing to do would be to place the steak on a trivet near your refrigerators fan for maximum air circulation. Wet aging involves a marinade as others have described and you can use pretty much any marinade you want, but slightly acidic marinades work best. During the process of aging you are trying to break down the connective tissues in the steak which causes meat to be tough. Also, when it does come time to cook it, sear it on the outside and then put it over high heat or in a hot oven. Tender pieces of meat are meant to be cooked over high heat as quick as possible since they do not have high concentrations of connective tissue to break down and fat marbling which will melt away. Lower heat is used to break down connective tissues in lower quality, leaner, tougher pieces of meat such as pot roast and stews.

Answer 4

First of all don't store meat in your fridge for that long. You can season it and toss t in a baggie of marinade for a full day or two then throw it on the BBQ. While that going saute onions garlic and mushrooms in olive oil....when the steak is ready top with the onions....it is so EASY and Delicious!...wow, now I'm hungry..

Answer 5

Store steak in a bag of marinade in the fridge....