I’m pretty happy with how things turned out, though the steaks were a bit smaller than I expected. Though I tried not to over-trim, the final products don’t have much spinalis meat on them. I had a small wedge-shaped steak left over from slicing, so I seared it for a couple minutes in a cast iron pan for a taste test. The texture was great, and the flavor was very good (I didn’t notice much flavor difference from fresh beef, but at 21 days I didn’t really expect to get any strong flavor changes). Going to grill a few of them properly tomorrow.
I bought one of the smaller ribeye roasts in the refrigerator at Costco, which in hindsight might have been a mistake. I’ve also seen that other sources suggest finding roasts that are more intact (I’m not sure what the numerical designation of the Costco roast is, but I’ve seen advice elsewhere to find a 107 or 109A to minimize how much usable meat gets removed). Any advice for next time?