Experiment #4: semi-boneless leg of lamb

[Scott Mark]

Today at the Farmers’ Market I picked up a 5-lb semi-boneless leg of lamb. I decided to do that instead of the boneless rolled leg because I was thinking of the possibility of surface bacteria being rolled into the thing.

So, into the fridge it goes!

I’ve now got four experiments in the fridge.

[Charlie]

Awesome! Hope it turns out great!

Charlie B)

[Barry]

Please keep us updated!

[Scott Mark]

I forgot to post the picture of the lamby rascal.

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[Barry]

How long do you plan on aging it? That sure looks good!

[Scott Mark]

In general, I try to age beef about 30 days. I think the lamb leg is going to get about 21 days, then I’ll try to serve it March 3 and if we like it I’ll try to order one or two more for pickup at the Farmers’ Market March 10, and age it for Passover in April.

At this point, my problem with running experiments is that I’m running out of bags!

Oh — the next experiment might be bison. I’m working with a producer, asking what’s available in terms of subprimals. The thing with small producers is that they don’t sell subprimals to retailers so the retailers can cut it. They sell retail packages to them. So getting a subprimal with sticky proteins is going to take a little negotiating, just to make sure everything works correctly.

Here’s the other side of the lamb leg:

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[Barry]

Good luck with that. Mentioning the beef, I have the first project in the refrigerator–subprimal ribeye. Have you noticed any difference between 30 and 40+ days of aging? This is the third day, and I do notice the bond between the meat and the bag.
Wish I could e-mail a bag to you for your project! :laugh:

[Scott Mark]

aiki wrote:

quote :

Good luck with that. Mentioning the beef, I have the first project in the refrigerator–subprimal ribeye. Have you noticed any difference between 30 and 40+ days of aging? This is the third day, and I do notice the bond between the meat and the bag.
Wish I could e-mail a bag to you for your project! :laugh:

I don’t think I’ve ever intentionally gone for an age past 30 days. Everyone is different, but the meat-industry articles I’ve read on dry-aging say that 30 days is the “sweet spot” for dry-aging beef. So, to answer your question, I’ve never dry-aged 40+ days. Others here have done so.

Yeah – the funny thing is that I bought the “sub-primal” sized bag in bulk when I thought I’d be aging mostly ribeye. Then I compared a dry-aged sirloin to a dry-aged ribeye and there wasn’t much difference between the two. Except that ribeye fits in a subprimal bag, and has LOTS of fat waste, and sirloin fits into a short loin / brisket bag, and has surface waste, but not fat waste.

I did a strip loin — it also had a fair amount of fat waste (and fit in a sub-primal bag) but the recipe was so tricked out that I don’t really know what dry-aged strip loin is like.

And I’ve only got the three shelves in the fridge, so I’m going to have to be patient until I have some more space.

[Barry]

Thanks for the info. The subprimal sirloin is lower in price, but looking at it, I didn’t think it would fit into a subprimal bag. I had been told to cut it down to fit the bag, but aging the entire thing, IMHO would be better.
There’s got to be a new refrigerator (plus more gadgets) in the future! At least it’s for something good and useful.

[Scott Mark]

I’m possibly the one who recommended cutting it down. Considering the amount of fat trim in a ribeye — I think it’d be a tossup considering the amount of lean trim for a single ribeye or a halved sirloin. For those of us who trim!

For those who want to have dry-aged beef whenever serving steaks, optimizing the beef selection and treatment doesn’t seem to be as easy as I would like.

I was building up an inventory of dry-aged beef in my freezer, ready to pull whenever we decided to grill steak. Then I gave my entire inventory to my brother. The best-laid plans…

[Barry]

You were trying to free up freezer space!
I am wanting to get a really good aged ribeye to celebrate my father’s 94th birthday in April, so the one in the refrigerator is a first run!! He has always loved the fat in the meat (guess that shoots down a longevity theory)…..

Thanks for the info. It really has helped.

[Scott Mark]

aiki wrote:

quote :

You were trying to free up freezer space!
I am wanting to get a really good aged ribeye to celebrate my father’s 94th birthday in April, so the one in the refrigerator is a first run!! He has always loved the fat in the meat (guess that shoots down a longevity theory)…..

Thanks for the info. It really has helped.

I just want to point out, in case it helps. In meat discussion, we often mention intramuscular fat. This stuff is generally considered to be a good thing for flavor and texture. I’m sure that there are people who prefer less intramuscular fat and as far as I’m concerned they are welcome to eat chicken. Anyway, large amounts of intramuscular fat creates choice and prime cuts of beef.

Extramuscular fat is _delicious_ if treated properly. But, in general, it is discarded in the United States. Traveling abroad, I was taken aback when I had a steak with a local – I trimmed certain fat and gristle, he ate the whole thing.

Getting back to the sub-primal: I pulled as much of the extramuscular fat away and gave the guests only the “lean” of the sub-primal. In USA, I think that the extramuscular fat would have been waste in either case: I pulled it before creating steaks, or the guests would have left it on their plates if I’d not pulled it.

Maybe the next test is to direct-compare an aged sirloin to an aged ribeye or strip loin, started on the same day. Even though the sirloin will be cheaper.

[Barry]

Thanks. I might do that on the next project. Meanwhile, project #1 is starting to darken.

[Scott Mark]

For anyone who is still interested:

I pulled the leg of lamb today, about 17 days of aging. I wasn’t particularly careful with the trimming, and I also carved out the bone (making stock as I write). The original weight was 5 lb, aged and trimmed and deboned down to 3 lb.

I applied white pepper and smoked salt, bag-sealed it, and tossed it into the sous vide setup at 131F. I expect to leave it in for 48 hours and serve it for lunch on Saturday.

And… yes, I _am_ trying to free up freezer space. I pulled a quarter of venison out of the freezer to thaw. We’ll skin and process it Saturday morning.

[Barry]

So you’re leaving us in the lurch, eh?

[Author]

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