42 Day Prime Ribeye

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December 31, 2011 at 10:15 pm #1332

Steven Almas
Member

There’s just a quickie results post. I pulled my prime grade ribeye after 42 days, mostly because I want to grill some up for New Years Eve. The primal was 13.89# fresh, the end weight was 11.2#. Add another 2.8# in trim and fat and we’re looking at 20% moisture loss and another 20% trim loss. This puts the total cost for me right at $16/lb for 42 day, dry aged, prim ribeye. That’s a far cry from the local specialty shop that charges right at $30-$35/lb for the same stuff.

Anyway, here’s a few pictures:

I’m cooking some tonight and will let y’all know how they tasted. Thanks for looking.

December 31, 2011 at 11:07 pm #5286

Ron Pratt
Member

You’re headed toward some good eating! The marbling throughout looks terrific!

December 31, 2011 at 11:12 pm #5287

Steven Almas
Member

Thank goodness, I had 5 prime primals to choose from that day and as best I could tell, this was the best. Here’s to good eats…happy New Year!

January 1, 2012 at 12:58 am #5288

Steven Almas
Member

Here’s the money shot:

This was a good steak, very happy right now…slipping into my meat coma.

January 1, 2012 at 2:13 am #5289

Ron Pratt
Member

It’s history now, but I have to raise my proverbial question (or little voice in the wilderness some would say…) but do you like beef jerky? If you don’t then don’t bother reading any further.

If you are still with me then let me tell you that I am in a minority here (just like stike is elsewhere) and I only trim that hardened rind lightly. I then cook my steaks to our liking and I enjoy that aged outer edge. My wife doesn’t but she trims her rind off after cooked and that becomes some of the best cold “jerky like” beef you can imagine for the next day or two! It is pure intense, beef taste and not the spicy twang most processed jerky has.

Ron

January 1, 2012 at 2:21 am #5290

Steven Almas
Member

It’s funny you say that, because as I was trimming the outside, that’s kinda what it smelled like to me (beef jerky), and it cuts like prosciutto. I haven’t tossed any of it, it’s sealed in a bag in my freezer.

January 1, 2012 at 2:30 am #5291

Ron Pratt
Member

cooking it now after trimming will be harder to do, but right now I gotta go – catch ya tomorrow!

January 1, 2012 at 8:21 am #5292

Anonymous
Guest

What was the cost per lb. from the store? Where did you find prime?

January 1, 2012 at 3:26 pm #5293

Steven Almas
Member

Actually my cost calculation is off from above. I thought I paid 11.65/lb for the ribeye, but I actually paid 10.65/lb. So my overall cost was 14.91/lb after waste and shrinkage.

I usually purchase my meats at Costco. The one I shop at is close to some really upscale neighborhoods and they seem to always have some prime in the case. I was there just after Christmas and they had prime strips and sirloin. I didn’t see any prime ribeyes on this trip, but they normally have at least a couple.

I don’t know why anyone would buy prime tenderloin or brisket, but they always seem to have those too.

January 5, 2012 at 5:07 pm #5296

Scott Mark
Member

You mention “another 2.8 # in trim and fat” and charge that to dry-aging.

I don’t think that’s fair. Without dry-aging, would you have served that fat to your family and guests?

This is actually a very difficult issue: meats age and we decide to trim the meat, and maybe then we decide that a layer of fat should be removed. And — maybe if we’d gone straight to the grill we’d have left it all alone.

So – it’s neither simple nor straightforward to charge weight-reduction against aging and trimming.

It can happen that an exposed flat of meat is destroyed by the aging process. This can result in a flap of fat being discarded. But that flap would have been discarded in any case. Is it “fair” to charge this against the aging process?

January 5, 2012 at 8:29 pm #5297

Steven Almas
Member

I understand that even without dry aging, there would be some trim loss when cutting steaks out of a primal, but that was never really the point. I was just calculating my final cost regards of the process. I paid for that fat whether it was dry aged or not and it has to be factored into my final cost…that’s all I was doing. In fact, I may have been able to use some of that fat for grinding hamburgers, but because of the dry age process I can’t. How do you quantify that amount, I have no idea, but I do know what I paid per pound before and after the process.

January 5, 2012 at 10:14 pm #5299

Scott Mark
Member

OK, but it’s a very rare person who buys hamburger at $1.99 / lb, takes it home, fries it out for hamburger helper, and then weighs it and says “Actually, I’m paying $2.72 / lb, after water and fat loss.”

I don’t think we do that.

And if I buy a couple of ribeye steaks at $8.99 / lb and grill them and serve them, I don’t weigh the fat that my guests don’t eat and think “oh – my final cost was actually $10.47 / lb for the meat that we ate.”

We’ve made a decision that we’re going to eat aged beef. It’s going to cost more per pound than “fresh” beef from the grocery store. It’s going to cost less per pound than either “fresh” or aged beef in a restaurant.

Why is there such a focus in this forum on the per-pound cost of aged beef? Again, it seems as if we’re feeling a need to justify what we are doing.

January 5, 2012 at 10:53 pm #5302

Steven Almas
Member

toasty wrote:

quote :

OK, but it’s a very rare person who buys hamburger at $1.99 / lb, takes it home, fries it out for hamburger helper, and then weighs it and says “Actually, I’m paying $2.72 / lb, after water and fat loss.”

I don’t think we do that.

No, we don’t, but that would be the measure of true cost. I would love to see you argument that proves that wrong. Actually, I lie, I’m at the point that I don’t care anymore. This is a really silly discussion, I don’t enjoy my steak less because I paid a few cents more for it. I was just relaying information and how I look at total end cost. Obviously, you have you’re own measure.

January 5, 2012 at 11:17 pm #5304

Anonymous
Guest

I’ve been dry aging meat by using dry bags for 2 years now, and have never calculated the end cost. Who cares. If anyone of us are concerned about end cost, we truly wouldn’t be doing this. We all know the cost is higher than not dry aging. It’s the end results that we are interested in. Savor the flavor ! We surley aren’t trying to save money. Just my opinion.

January 6, 2012 at 12:11 am #5305

Ron Pratt
Member

Hello everybody – may I jump in here as I probably am the root cause of the per pound cost threads mentioned over the 1.5 years this forum as been active.

Permit me to bear my soul and background. I am what some people call a “bean counter” – yes an accountant and for 27 years worked in banking in the positions of auditor, controller, CFO, and treasurer. My way of life dealt with cost containment besides projecting revenues and expenditures.

Early on here I started posting what I thought could be helpful real life dry aging experiences which I admit had a bean counter slant to them. Initial weight, cost, trimmed weight and stated both in terms of dollars and percentages. Forgive me, but I guess I do get some satisfaction in knowing what my final cost was so I can crow to myself I suppose to what I saved compared to buying commercially dry aged beef…if that’s a sin or worthy of getting sideways on this forum then so be it…let’s find something else to chatter about -OK?

Ron
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