The way you cook a dry aged steak is just as important as the dry aging process itself because if you cook it for too long, you risk spoiling the tenderness and juiciness of the steak. Overcooking often results in a dryer, tougher cut of meat so it’s always best to undercook it because you can always add cooking time but you can’t un-cook a steak. Fortunately, cooking a dry aged steak couldn't be easier when you follow Steak Lockers’ three simple steps.
Dry aged steak cooking preparation
Flavor the steak with salt and pepper, fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, or bay leaves, then with a fat like butter, extra virgin olive oil, beef tallow or bacon fat. Once you have dry aged your steak in a meat-aging fridge, it’s always recommended to bring the steak to room temperature for a few hours before cooking. When the juices within the steak are too cold, they’re not able to melt into the muscle and can cause an uneven temperature reading which might leave the interior raw.
Cooking dry aged steak
Internal temperature
Use your preferred method to get the interior of the steak to 100 degrees F. The timing on this step may take anywhere from 30 – 120 minutes depending on thickness of the steak and the temperature on the cooking method.
Sous Vide method
The two most common ways to cook a steak are to Sous Vide or to Oven Bake the steak. When the Sous Vide method is applied, place the steak with salt and pepper, herbs, and fat into the sealed bag then into a water bath with the circulator. Follow the instructions on the sous vide machine for the time and temperature.
Oven bake method
When the Oven Bake method is applied, place the steak on a sheet pan fitted with a grid and place in a 300 degrees oven for 20 – 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 100 degrees.
External temperature
This is the fun part where you can choose to Broil, Grill, Smoke, Deep Fry or Pan Sear the external part of the steak. Each of these methods of cooking the steak are a quick cook to get a nice sear on the exterior and finish the rest of the way to get the steak to 125 degrees for a rare steak. See our Blog Post from June 3rd; Dry Aged Ribeye Recipe: The Reverse Sear Method for our favorite method from the many to choose from of those listed above. Be sure to allow the steak to rest for at least ten to fifteen minutes after cooking with any of these methods. This redistributes those delicious juices within the steak and enhances the flavor even further.
Enjoy!
