There are many choices and cuts of beef suitable for Steak Locker’s dry ager steak fridge. Here we’d like to highlight three of our favorites to use in the dry age process. Once you’ve chosen one or all of the options listed, place or hang them in our meat aging fridge and use the mobile smart app to track the number of days desired to age.
Our smart app technology allows you to add and track multiple cuts at a time or at the same time. The bone in cuts listed below can be aged anywhere from 28 to 65 days and boneless cuts should only be aged between 21 – 35 days. The bone in cuts can be aged longer because the bones and fat have enzymes that create added flavor that would allow you to age for longer than 65 days, refer to our other Blog Posts for details. The flavors of the dry ager steak begin with nutty notes, then develop into more mushroom essences and then into even more richness or umami meatiness.
Ribeye Dry Ager Steak
Ribeye is cut from the primal rib section of the animal and typically includes 7 bones and the Prime Rib Roast is cut from the 4 middle bones of this sub-primal. Ribeye are the steaks cut from the whole sub-primal piece. It’s best to keep the fat cap on and a whole sub-primal can weigh anywhere from 14 to 28 Lbs. depending on the animal. Ribeye is one of the most popular cuts of meat available at butcher shops and is known for its tenderness, flavor, and marbling.
Strip Loin Dry Ager Steak
Strip Loin also referred to as a New York Strip, it’s leaner, very tender and more affordable than the Ribeye cut. The Strip Loin is a part of the T-Bone or Porterhouse which has had the Tenderloin removed. We do not recommend dry aging just the Tenderloin because it’s already the most tender cut of the animal and without the bone or surrounding fat, the dry ager steak process would not provide the optimal yield. An average bone in Strip Loin weighs 14 – 18 Lbs.
Sirloin Dry Ager Steak
Sirloin is different from a Strip Loin because it’s a broader term that refers to any steak cut from the sirloin section. And, a top sirloin is leaner and more versatile than New York strip, but the latter is superior in terms of flavor. The main difference is geological in that the sirloin is a bigger region than the strip loin and it's in a broader category that contains more than one cut of the animal.
Length of Time For Dry Aging Steaks
When deciding on the length of time to keep any of these bone-in cuts in the dry age fridge, we recommend one of these two options. If you know that you enjoy a specific cut at 45 days; you can place the entire piece in the locker, butcher it into steaks, place them into vacuum sealed bags and freeze them to enjoy over the next few months. Or, you can place the entire bone in cut into Steak Locker’s dry age refrigerator and cut a steak or two off every 10 – 15 days to see how the flavor develops. With this method it’s best to apply beef tallow, bacon fat or butter to the cut side to protect it until you cut off the next piece, this helps to reduce loss.
Overview of Steak Lockers Dry Ager Steak tips
We hope this article has helped you decide which cut of beef to go for next time you use the Steak Locker to dry age your meat. To find out more about how to dry age steak in fridge or to see some of our favourite recipes such as a butter aged steak head over to our blog page. Please tag us in your dry ager steak results, we can’t wait to see how they turn out with Steak Locker.
