As a group, can we move beyond the money?

[Scott Mark]

I see a lot of posts on the order of “I started with X lbs and a cost of Z, and after dry-age and trim I had Y lbs and a cost of …”

Who are we trying to convince?

Are we feeling so guilty that we want to convince our spouse that we’re saving money compared to a restaurant-aged steak?

We’re here because we like the dry-aged steak. And, honestly, we’re here because we can afford to do it. So why are there so many posts that address the actual cost of the final dry-aged product? Does it really matter if I started with a $8.95 sub-primal that aged into a $10.47 sub-primal and after trimming I was paying $12.38 per pound, while an aged steak in a restaurant is running $34 for 12 ounces?

I’m frustrated that we spend so much time trying to justify the expense of what we are doing. It’s SO good. Why do we spend so much time trying to excuse the higher cost?

[Steven Almas]

Everything has worth and that worth is different to different people. To me, cost is just as big a justification for dry aging at home as the process is. If it would cost me twice to do this at home as it would to buy equivalent quality at the store…I’m not dry aging at home. I would bet that $$ is factored in, at least somewhere, in everyones decission to take up any hobby. My $0.02, lol

[Scott Mark]

evil4blue wrote:

quote :

Everything has worth and that worth is different to different people. To me, cost is just as big a justification for dry aging at home as the process is. If it would cost me twice to do this at home as it would to buy equivalent quality at the store…I’m not dry aging at home. I would bet that $$ is factored in, at least somewhere, in everyones decission to take up any hobby. My $0.02, lol

But it doesn’t cost twice as much. We all know that.

Granted, we stick our heads in the sand — we look at the initial cost of the primal. We look at either the pre-trim or post-trim price of the primal. We ignore the electricity for the fridge. We ignore the cost -vs- lifespan of the fridge. We ignore the rental space for the fridge. We ignore the price of the drybag. We ignore the cost of owning a workable vacuum sealer. None of us comes _near_ an accurate estimate of the cost of a dry-aged steak.

I think we should stop discussing the money. It costs more than fresh. It costs less than restaurant. There’s no point in gabbling about the particular ratios.

[Steven Almas]

toasty wrote:

quote :

But it doesn’t cost twice as much. We all know that.

Which is why I am a big proponent of Dry Aging at home.

I don’t even really understand why you have an issue with discussion the cost of this hobby…really, I don’t understand the whole pint of this discussion? The only reason I’m replying to this post is that you felt the need to discourage me from analyzing the costs of my last primal. Cost is one of the factors I looked at before getting into this, so why would I be wrong for me to look at these cost in the process…plus there are others out there on the fence about doing dry aging, so the more info available the better.

[Scott Mark]

evil4blue wrote:

quote :

toasty wrote:

quote :

But it doesn’t cost twice as much. We all know that.

Which is why I am a big proponent of Dry Aging at home.

I don’t even really understand why you have an issue with discussion the cost of this hobby…really, I don’t understand the whole pint of this discussion? The only reason I’m replying to this post is that you felt the need to discourage me from analyzing the costs of my last primal. Cost is one of the factors I looked at before getting into this, so why would I be wrong for me to look at these cost in the process…plus there are others out there on the fence about doing dry aging, so the more info available the better.

You are correct – I want us ALL to not over-analyze the cost of dry-aging. I want us to focus on recipes for awesome presentations of aged beef.

I remain steadfast that we don’t do a good job of analyzing the actual costs of dry-aging. We consider the weight of the final (possibly trimmed) roast. We ignore the costs of the fridge, the electricity to run the fridge, the real estate to house the fridge ….

I’ve decided that aged beef is how I want to go. Y’all can pretend to count your pennies any way you want.

[Ron Pratt]

As I replied to a similar thread:

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 chat about -OK?

Ron

[Anonymous]

One thing I like about dry aging at home is even though I did not produce the cattle, I did dry age the sub-primal myself to produce the end results. I really like a good steak, like all of us, or we would not be doing this.The people I share the steaks with are totally amazed that I created the end results at home.

[Scott Mark]

I agree.

Remember – I did drybag for a year, fell away from it because I had so much other stuff going on, and just now getting back to it.

It’s hard to believe the amount of praise for the drybagged beef. I was thinking “My wife told everybody to gush and gush and gush as an encouragement.”

That wasn’t it. I’m feeling like Sally Field. You really, really like me.

One side of me thinks that the only people on the forum are drybaggers. For any of you who aren’t convinced — this is really the way to go.

For New Year’s Eve we did a 30-day dry-aged sirloin cooked under sous vide, then hot-seared and presented by a full-on professional team, with three (THREE!) sauces, starch, and beets. I like beets.

I grew up knowing nothing other than sirloin as steak. Never had a steak other than spoonbone sirloin. Probably the least expensive “steak” and that’s why I had any steak at all. Before the combination of dry-age and sous-vide, sirloin was … rubbery. Not tough, VERY much flavor, but chewy and a bit rubbery. I liked it a lot.

Aged, cooked sous vide — it’s got all the flavor, but the texture is softer without being raggish. It’s like ribeye with the greater flavor of sirloin and the texture of ribeye.

I’m very, very pleased at the results of a 30-day sirloin for New Year’s Eve. I’m just about ready to try a 30-day ribeye for .. for anyhow. I don’t have an event.

And, then, I’m going to compare a 30-day dry-aged ribeye to a 30-day wet-aged ribeye. As much as I want the dry-aged to win, it’s a test we need to do.

[Anonymous]

Ribeye is definitely the way to go. I have even done two short lions for T-bones. The only thing with those are cutting them at home with a reciprocating saw is tough. The steaks are amazing though, Yes souse vide is a perfect match for your aged steaks. You definitely don’t have to cook as long. Just a real hot quick seer.

[Scott Mark]

I agree that T-bones are difficult. (Not tough! but difficult)

I would like to discuss the aspects of bone-in -vs- bone-out sub-primals. For the most part, I can only get boneless sub-primals. I can’t get T-bone / porterhouse as a sub-primal. Maybe if I really want it…

I think that the bone would protect the meat some, but then I think “Do I WANT to protect the meat?” Or would I prefer for the meat to age?

I’d like to know your experience.

[Anonymous]

When I said tough I ment only to cut the bone because the sub primal wants to reciprocate with the saw. You have to hold on tight, or have someone hold it for you. I think the bone does add flavor only to the meat that is near it. As for as protecting the meat, I don’t think the bone protects the meat inside at all. The enzymatic process, and the moisture that leaves the meat still takes place. That is what you want anyway. Hence the dry aging process. The way that I get a whole short lion is when T-bones go on sale I ask the butcher to sell me a whole one. They will sell it to you. FYI, porterhouse steaks come from the rear portion of a ribeye. That is were the tenderloin is located which juts into it. You don’t get many porterhouse steaks off of it I wouldn’t imagine. I guess that is why you don’t get any porterhouse off of a whole ribeye, they cut them all off so that they can get a premium price for them. You know they do sell standing rib roast, so I’m thinking they must get whole bone in ribeyes, then cut them into roast. I’ll have to ask the butcher that one. One other thing. When I did buy a whole short lion the butcher asked me if I wanted him to cut it into steaks? The reason they don’t sell whole bone in subprimals is because the average Joe doesn’t have the means of cutting through the bone at home. Other than doing what we do, who would have the need for a whole bone in? One added feature of a bone in ribeye, you get to gnaw on the bones.

[Anonymous]

Hey Toasty, Where do you call home? I’m from New Orleans. Are you ready for some football this weekend? We surely are ! Hope nobody minds getting off the subject of dry aging for a minute.

[Scott Mark]

I’m from Milwaukee so, sadly, there won’t be any football this weekend.

But it’s been a pretty good season, so far.

[Anonymous]

I’ll be rooting for Green Bay if the Saints don’t make it. It will be interesting to see who does.

[Scott Mark]

Saints played well.

I was dismayed at the stuff that happened in the first Packers / Lions game. Two players were disqualified and — I’m not a livid Packers fan, but it really looked like the Lions were the cause of both of ’em.

The second game, last week, was much more civil.

I think it’s going to be a good match between the Saints and the Lions.

But I probably won’t be serving dry-aged beef at halftime. Sigh.

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