Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Dry aged brisket?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Originally posted by Bbq Bubba View Post
    Dry aging is used for only high end cuts of meat and usually takes a minimum of 15 days.

    1. Only the top grades of beef can be dry aged successfully. Use USDA Prime or USDA Choice - Yield Grade 1 or 2 (the highest quality of Choice) only. These have a thick layer of fat on the outside to protect the meat from spoiling during the aging process.

    2. Buy a whole rib-eye or loin strip. [You cannot age individual steaks.] Unwrap it, rinse it well with cold water, and allow it to drain; then pat it very dry with paper towels.

    3. Wrap the meat in immaculately clean, large, plain white cotton dish towels and place it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator - which is the coldest spot.

    4. Change the towels each day, replacing the moisture-soiled towels with fresh. Continue to change towels as needed for 10 days, to 2 weeks. (See Step #7 for cleaning towels.)

    5. After the desired aging time, you're ready to cut off steaks from each end, trim as desired, and allow the rest to continue to age in the refrigerator.

    6. If, after 21 days, you have not eaten all the meat, cut the remaining piece into steaks, wrap each steak in freezer-proof, heavy-duty plastic wrap, and freeze. The steaks will keep for several months in the freezer.

    7. To clean the towels for re-use, soak the soiled towels, immediately upon removing them from the meat, in cold water overnight. Next, soak them in cold, salted water for 2-3 hours to remove any blood stains. Then launder as usual. [In olden days, butchers used to cover sides of beef with cotton "shrouds" during the aging process - this is essentially the same thing.]
    This is how I do my prime and choice cuts. I think wet aging a brisket would be a better choice than dry aging. I won a DryBag Steak kit a while back from SMF (thanks again!) and I have yet to use it. It might be worth a try on a big brisket. Atleast we'll know whether it's worth it or not. I just gotta figure out how to use the thing.

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by Whisky Fish View Post
      Nope, I've dry aged a bunch of em. They are wonderful.
      PLEASE explain your process?

      Comment


      • #18
        Originally posted by Squirrel View Post
        This is how I do my prime and choice cuts. I think wet aging a brisket would be a better choice than dry aging.
        You and King have a good point. Wet aging in cryo is a wonderful thing.

        Originally posted by Bbq Bubba View Post
        PLEASE explain your process?

        Wrap in clean cheese cloth and change wrap every three days for 2 weeks, ever week after that. only done em 30 days myself but I've had em aged for up to 45 days. That's why I was scratchin my head on your post. If I'm doin something wrong please let me know, but tell me why too.
        JT

        Comment


        • #19
          and after trimming the mold off, whats left?

          Comment


          • #20
            Originally posted by Bbq Bubba View Post
            and after trimming the mold off, whats left?
            Nope no mold, some of the old timers around here do that with deer, it's called felting cause it looks like the felt on a pool table, Way too gamey for me. But hell I'm not alone on the ageing thing Bubba. Some top end joints age their beef 30 days plus. Like I said if I'm doin something wrong tell me why
            JT

            Comment


            • #21
              Originally posted by Whisky Fish View Post
              Nope no mold, some of the old timers around here do that with deer, it's called felting cause it looks like the felt on a pool table, Way too gamey for me. But hell I'm not alone on the ageing thing Bubba. Some top end joints age their beef 30 days plus. Like I said if I'm doin something wrong tell me why
              Not sayin your doing anything wrong.

              I know top end steak houses do this. Thus the reason i posted the general rules of thumb for dry aging.

              Obviously you have more experience than i at this.

              Comment


              • #22
                Originally posted by Bbq Bubba View Post
                Obviously you have more experience than i at this.
                The general rules are wrong. When you state that only premium cuts and grades are suitable for dry aging, I gotta call b.s. This forum is far too intellegent for sweeping "only" and "all" statements. When you fail to source your comments, I have to assume they are your opinion. And universal statements can be universally dismissed. This is a basic tenant of logic.
                The point here is that a member and a damn fine cook wants to rock his brisket and he is exploring the way to do it. To think that one hunk of beef will benifit more or less from ageing than another strains credulity. This is not new stuff. Not sure why I'm typing right now.
                JT

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by Whisky Fish View Post
                  The general rules are wrong. When you state that only premium cuts and grades are suitable for dry aging, I gotta call b.s. This forum is far too intellegent for sweeping "only" and "all" statements. When you fail to source your comments, I have to assume they are your opinion. And universal statements can be universally dismissed. This is a basic tenant of logic.
                  The point here is that a member and a damn fine cook wants to rock his brisket and he is exploring the way to do it. To think that one hunk of beef will benifit more or less from ageing than another strains credulity. This is not new stuff. Not sure why I'm typing right now.
                  To me its not so much a matter of if it will benefit. I'm sure that there will be some change in flavor and texture. The issue is, will it be enough to offset the loss of mass and still be noticeable in the finished product. When you dry age a chunk of meat, you lose some mass, both from water loss, and then from trimming the leather-like pellicle that forms on the surface of the meat. On a brisket, you are already dealing with a relatively thin cut to begin with. You will likely lose close to an inch of thickness after trimming. Combine that with low and slow cooking, and you won't be left with much. While it may be interesting to see the results of this, I have a feeling that if it was of any appreciable benefit, we would not be having this conversation, as many others would have already done it, and it would be common knowledge.

                  That being said, if someone wants to try it, go for it. I just don't see the benefit, IMHO.
                  Once you go Weber....you never call customer service....

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by IrishChef View Post
                    I have a feeling that if it was of any appreciable benefit, we would not be having this conversation, as many others would have already done it, and it would be common knowledge.
                    See this is where I'm having trouble. Around these parts it is common knowledge. The enzymes break down the tissue of ANY meat that does not spoil quickly. I will not do a top block unless it is aged 3 weeks in cryo. The stall is 3 hours minimum on the grill if you don't. This blows my mind. I always figuered that ageing was common knowledege. Maybe it's the warm climate out here that dictates historical food preservation.
                    JT

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Originally posted by Whisky Fish View Post
                      See this is where I'm having trouble. Around these parts it is common knowledge. The enzymes break down the tissue of ANY meat that does not spoil quickly. I will not do a top block unless it is aged 3 weeks in cryo. The stall is 3 hours minimum on the grill if you don't. This blows my mind. I always figuered that ageing was common knowledege. Maybe it's the warm climate out here that dictates historical food preservation.
                      To clarify, I have no issues with dry aging done right. I just don't see the benefit of doing it to a brisket. I think you would lose more in mass, than you would gain in benefit.
                      Once you go Weber....you never call customer service....

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        I don't claim to be the authority here but I keep hearing theory instead of experience. This whole thing about trimming off 1 inch of meat is just wrong. You'll get some areas of the cut that are dark grey and those can be trimmed off within about an eighth of an inch. Not mold. I've seen mold. Know what it looks like. That's why you use the cheese cloth.
                        Lets not play around with turning our nose up at safe contaminates or we might as well throw blue cheese, all mold enhanced sausages and hams in the garbage along with the aged beef.
                        Did a 45 day, fat trimmed, but untrimmed after the aging, tri tip on the grill last year and me and about 5 others stood around slicing and eating with some seriously good tequilla. (Maybe that's what protected us)It's dense, hugely flavorful, tender, with a delicate bite to it that begs for another slice. Like I've said twice now, If there's something wrong here let me know, the silence is deafening.
                        They've been doing this for a 100 years around here, with various cuts of beef. Can;t imagine we've all been lucky for that long.
                        Maybe this thread should be moved to the Charcutier forum because I don't want to give out bad info to the GP
                        JT

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X