Wet ageing beef... who's done it?

[Snarlingiron]

So, I goes to Costco yesterday on my more or less weekly run. When I make it by the meat section, they have a case full of whole NY Strips cryovaced on sale for $5.99 a pound. This is about 2 bucks a pound less than normal. So, I pick out a very nice looking one that has a price tag of about $90.00 more or less. I'm thinking that I will give this a wet age in the fridge for about 3 weeks or so before vacuum packing and freezing. Just wondering if any of you have done this? I have researched it pretty thoroughly, but couldn't find anything on this forum. Found several threads on the Umai bags for dry ageing, but understand wet ageing works well too. Give me your advice.

[SMOKE FREAK]

I'm not totally convinced that wet aging does much good...BUT...I have done it several times...As long as the cryo is not compromised and no air reaches the meat it will be good for a few weeks...But don't expect some great change in the quality of the meat...At least not from my experiences...

[BYBBQ]

I agree with what Craig said. I've done it a couple times and wasn't really impressed with the outcome. You will need to age it around 40 days give or take a day or two to achieve any real noticeable taste or texture gain.
I've had better luck using the Umai bags.

JMHO-YMMV

[jwbtulsa]

Wet aging around here just means I was too lazy to get up and go cook.

[SMOKE FREAK]

The way I see it is that you have nothing to lose...Ya aint gonna spoil your beef if you use some good sense...
And let us know how it turns out for ya...

[AJ]

I wet aged 3 cryo packs of beef this summer. One prime grade boneless ribeye rack, one prime grade brisket, and a cryo package of select grade tritips. The ribeye and brisket came from Costco and the tritip came from Cash & Carry. I aged them for 35 days each before opening the cryo and using or re-packaging into vacuum packed steaks/roasts.

What I noticed was no change in flavor or juiciness from fresh (green) meat that was not aged much. I did notice a more tender cut of meat after wet aging. Now the tritip benefited most from the wet aging. The ribeye and brisket was also more tender but the change was not as noticeable.

Since there was no loss like the dry aging, I believe I will go with wet aging from here out. I really like the deep beef flavor of dry aging but the loss from trimming is not worth the effort. It is good for sausage though. The steaks are so much smaller from dry aging.

My plan is to get another prime ribeye roast mid October and wet age it for Christmas dinner. It will be prime rib and steaks with ~45 days of wet aging.

[Snarlingiron]

Thanks AJ, exactly the type of information I was looking for. Thanks to everyone, I'm going to give it a try and I will report the results.

[Mark R]

The Restaurant I work with wet ages all their beef 28 days.
I know of some serious comp Q folks that age brisket 28 to 30 days. But not more than 30 and you have to be sure of the harvest date. I know of one instance where they opened the cryo.....and had to send someone to the store! Evidently the butcher they use got the harvest date "mixed up".

[Slanted88]

interesting...me time with the airplanes has me jacked uppp...hmm...gotta get a gig...stick the time on me laptop to you done dummy! get after it...

[scubadoo97]

Wet ageing beef... who's done it?

I have a good friend that is the GM at one of the top steak and lobster restaurants in Atlanta. He says they wet age their meat at least 40 days. Another friend who has been a judge in the BBQ comp circuit says he always wet ages his briskets a min of 30 days

I age my briskets at least 30 days as a result of their recommendations


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[scubadoo97]

Wet ageing beef... who's done it?

I have a good friend that is the GM at one of the top steak and lobster restaurants in Atlanta. He says they wet age their meat at least 40 days. Another friend who has been a judge in the BBQ comp circuit says he always wet ages his briskets a min of 30 days

I age my briskets at least 30 days as a result of their recommendations. I not long ago wet aged a whole tenderloin around 40 days. Haven't done enough side by side comparisons to judge the difference. Just took the advice of those in the know









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[Snarlingiron]

Thanks again guys. Can't wait to try it.

[nickelmore]

So wet aging simply means leaving in the cryovac in the chilling machine between 34 and 38 degrees?

[HawgHeaven]

So wet aging simply means leaving in the cryovac in the chilling machine between 34 and 38 degrees?

My beef wet ages on the way to and in the store...

[Snarlingiron]

So wet aging simply means leaving in the cryovac in the chilling machine between 34 and 38 degrees?

That's the way I understand it.