a DrybagSteak testimonial

How yall are ? Hello from New Orleans. I agree. I love red meat hot off the grill.I have loved meat since I was a kid. I’m the son of of a butcher. I have been around meat all of my life. Worked with my dad many of day. I got interested in dry aging about a year ago.I got to thinking, there must be a better steak out their somewhere. I started researching the internet, all I could find was info on the method of wrapping the meat in towels, or cheese cloth and changing it every day. This seemed like a lot of trouble. Then by chance I came across this web site, read the testimonials, I said what the heck, I’ll give it a whirl. First ribeye I did was about 14-17 days. I got antsy and pulled it out, not bad, but it could only get better with more time. Next one I did was for 28 days, talk about anticipation. That’s a long time to wait for a piece of meat. It was like watching molasses running up hill in the winter. Now I do all of my meat at 21 days. Deliciosis ! I read all of the post about going 45 days, I also seen a tv show recently about steak houses across America, this one place in Tampa, FL. goes 60 days. I bet that would be a heck of a steak. To tell you the truth my thinking on the grading of meat, the more the USDA inspector grades as choice or prime, the higher the profits for the slaughter houses, wholesalers , and retailers. Meat is graded on marbling, not on tenderness. All I ever age is select grade, Yes select grade, and you can buy as much as you want around here for $ 4.99 a pound for whole ribeyes . I have bought many, and I mean many that could easily pass for prime.You just have to select your meat carefully. Look at both ends for marbling , compare several and choose the best out of the chosen few. Going to put 4-6 whole ribeyes in the fridge this weekend.Select, at you guessed it, $ 4.99 lb. I have a spare fridge in the garage. One last thing, like others have said, we have eaten at many restaurants, and none compare to what you can do with these bags at the price that you can do them for. I will never buy another steak from out of the case again. Good grilling, and good eating.

+1 on grading … SOME Select may be pretty bad, but since grading is done by some U.S.D.A. grunt looking at a single plug of Rib Eye, there is nothing to say a NY Strip primal is not marbled as well as Choice.

Let your eyes be the judge. I usually buy Angus at my Restaurant Depot for < $5.00/lb. but occasionally have splurged for Prime at Costo for upwards of $9.00, and that's when I can SEE incredible marbling on the primal.

What I do is after the whole ribeye is finished aging, trimmed, cut into individual steaks. I season all of them with McCormicks Perfect Pinch for steaks. Then I place each one in a separate regular Foodsaver vacuum bag. Place in the fridge for a day, or two, so the steaks will absorb the seasoning, then I place them in the freezer. Nice tight wrap, no freezer burn, they keep for a long time. Just place back in fridge about 24 hours before you need to cook them to thaw out. They come out as fresh as you put them in. Enjoy.

How are you doing the tenderlions? Wet aging? I can’t imagine that you are dry aging them because of the lose involved. What I do with the tenderlion is, cut it up into the desired thickness, I don’t even wet age, place each one on a nice size sheet of clear wrap, put worchestire sauce, and olive oil, a moderate amount, put some parsely , and McMormicks steak seasoning to all surfaces, wrap steak up so that marinade doesn’t leak out, place in fridge in a container for 24-48 hours, grill em up medium rare, huuuuu boy !!!!!! Talk about melt in your mouth. I don’t know what it is, maybe the salts tenderize the meat even further than it is, but let me tell you, melt in your mouth tender. You’re right, I will never again buy a steak prepackaged ever again. My wife ate at a high end steakhouse recently, got a filet, she said it didn’t even compare to mine. She was right, she brought some home for me to taste. When I do go out to eat sometimes I order a steak just to check them out. Found a few that tasted fair, but the tenderness was not there. I don’t think ordinary restaurants use aged beef, it’s too costly. You know dry aging at home cost you a bit more to do , but it is well worth the loss. Enjoy !

You definitely need a separate fridge to do it right. When looking for a fridge make sure it will cool down to the lower range of the aging spectrum which is 34 degrees. I like aging at 34 degrees because of the safety factor. Also I don’t know if I’m right, but I don’t even worry about the humidity factor. I have NEVER had mold growth with ANY aging run. Maybe my fridge is at the right level. Also a good topping for the meat is sour cream with either feta or blue cheese crumbles, a little garlic, onion powder, salt, black pepper, and anything else you might like to add, mix well. Is really very good. Another dish that is extremely good is called Blue Potatoes Au Gratin. It is a Paula Deen recipe that you can find on The Food Networks web site. I’m really not one for recipes, I just usually make what pops in my head. My wife happened upon this one. It goes very well with meat. Don’t let the name fool you. There are actually blue potatoes, don’t bother looking for them, it isn’t necessary, use regular potatoes.You can’t go wrong with this one. Don’t tell anyone where you got the recipe from, tell them it is your own. Let me know if you try it and how you liked it. I can see it now, a nice medium rare 2″ aged ribeye hot off the grill, topped with some sour cream sauce, blue potatoes au gratin, steamed broccoli, and a side salad. Man O’ man , a meal fit for a king ! Enjoy!