The Original Dry Bag Steak | Make Artisan Dry Age Steak at Home › Forums › UMAi Dry® Forum Questions › General Questions › Refrigeration…Been thinking
- This topic has 7 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 10 months ago by
Andy Starvaski.
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February 3, 2011 at 6:11 pm #1203
Anonymous
GuestMy home refrigerator has done a acceptable job of drybagging other than its being a inconvenience for space over the long haul of dry bagging.
Soooo. I am picking up a Dorm Sized refrigerator as per Aegwyn11’s postings on his Wagyu beef threads.
But I am going a step further as I can see the need for continuous internal air movement.
This is a older used unit.. costing me initially about 40 USD units. :dry:
When I get my hands on it I will drill a hole in some area of the case, avoiding any area that has control or electrical/refrigeration applications. Size yet to be determined depending on the materials I will need.
I hope to install either a strip connector inside the refrigerator to plug in a small muffin fan that will lay on the lower shelf.
Perhaps even a switch.. inside or outside to activate the fan.
As you may have noted in the past, I am NOT as yet a advocate of single steak dry bagging past 7 to 10 day’s. Full loins will go to 21 days. Longer if there is a proven need for it. My personal goal is flavor and internal tenderness, Temptation is my enemy..so I may try a few more trial single steak attempts again. :S
Those of you who have done similar as above, post your results or similar.
Thanks..
“Char-Woody”
:woohoo:
BTW.. yes, I will reseal the drilled hole with foam sealants… :dry:February 4, 2011 at 1:00 am #4392Ron Pratt
MemberC~W, question for you for sake of clarity and discussion…when you dry age single steaks for 5 to 7 days how much moisture is lost on a % basis? Then on top of that what is your preference on trimming? It just seems to me for people who trim back to red meat then the two faces of individually aged steaks are going to be brown and there will be more waste as compared to aging a full sub-primal and having to trim only the two end caps.
Your dedicated refrige sounds interesting and if I had the space I’d do the same, but it would have to be in my garage and that along with my lump charcoal horde might push my wife too far! :laugh: She just discovered my secret reserve of 120 pounds in my car trunk!
February 4, 2011 at 1:22 am #4393GuestB) Good question and I think you nailed down the reason I will pass on the individual steak, other than a 2″ thick Wagyu ribeye steak. 🙂
I am one of those that prefers not to eat the thickened darkened edges, and there is too much loss in trimming them down to red meats again. For me, a 7 to 10 day ageing is maximum. Now the full loin.. yes, I can fully understand this aging term.
How much % loss in moisture.. I have no idea, but a guess would be about 5%.
I may have to weigh and play with one.
:laugh:
“C~W”February 4, 2011 at 2:54 pm #4394GuestSlight correction…my fridge is actually a full size fridge (with freezer on top). It sits in the corner of the furnace room…there was just enough space to the side of the furnace for it 🙂 I picked it up off craigslist for $80…its probably 10-15 year old? Initially I was going to go a similar route to CW, but this fridge popped up and I had the room 😉
When I was aging my first batch of meat (small #4 chuck roast, #9 brisket flat, #13 strip loin), I thought the size was way overkill. Now that its full of Wagyu (~70 lbs worth currently), I don’t think the size was overkill…….
Nick
February 5, 2011 at 5:53 pm #4400GuestHi Nick…
I agree.. a larger fridge may be more appropriate for the herd at the door at dinner time. :laugh: Since my “house mate” is not a beef consumer at heart, and loves her hot dogs and sweet pickles, :ohmy: , and my family is spread far and wide.. I have no choice but to feed myself.. Alone. :laugh: Most of the time.When we have Holiday get togethers, my aged beef is hidden and we have the standard fare of Turkey or Ham. I added a duck one year, and it didn’t fly very well. :S Neither did the goose one fall hunting season. (donated to my culinary desires by a hunting buddy)
But I enjoyed em all. Sooooo.. thus my smaller investment in a fridge.
Regards… :cheer:
“C~W”March 8, 2012 at 12:52 pm #5754Joseph Moore
MemberI would go for this setup, if you think it would make a significant difference, even if it is somewhat experimental, in terms of installing it (maybe it’s not for you 🙂 )
March 8, 2012 at 2:28 pm #5756GuestIf you have a small family.. a small one will work fine for you. My opinon is to keep the drybag steak process in a dedicated refrigerator. Let the dehumidifying and 34-36 degrees do its work.
Good luck.March 8, 2012 at 5:07 pm #5757Andy Starvaski
MemberHey guys, I went through the same thing about a year ago….don’t know if you saw my posts at:
http://www.drybagsteak.com/forum/18-general-dry-aging-questions/1052-choosing-a-refrigerator
I was told by the pros who do home brewing and use these dorm fridges for kegs, that the cheap-o dorm fridges don’t maintain a very consistent temperature. It was strongly recomended to me that I purchase a Ranco thermostat control which would maintain a very precise temperature. I did and I have good luck with it and pretty happy with it.
If I had to do it all over again, and had the space, I would get an upright full freezer from a scratch and dent store (Sears Outlet?) and wire a Ranco thermostat controller to it. This would give you a lot of fride space for a good price (for some reason the upright freezers are significanlty less price than a smilliar sized fridge).
Good luck!
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