There are five components required to dry age meat properly; humidity, temperature, germicidal light, fan forced air and time.
Creating humidity within a meat ager fridge, such as the Steak Locker is a variable in that fresh meat will create more humidity at the beginning of the dry age process and increasing it towards the end of the process will keep the muscle from drying out too much.
Another variable of humidity is the amount of meat inside the locker, the Home Edition has a 60-pound capacity, and three 20-pound sub-primal cuts would fit comfortably without touching each other. Just remember that this will create more humidity within the locker and the front panel may be set to 65% for the first half of a 45-day process then bumped up to 70% for the second half.
The front panel on the Steak Locker should be set to 35 degrees and 70% humidity. There are defrost cycles and the temperature and humidity will always fluctuate. If temperature stays between 34-41 degrees and humidity stays between 60-80% there is a safe dry aging environment. A fresh product in the meat ager fridge will create more humidity than one that has been in there for more than two weeks.
Ultraviolet light is a type of electromagnetic radiation that comes from the sun and transmitted in waves or particles at different wavelengths and frequencies. When properly utilized, this invisible form of light can safely kill germs, mold, mildew, and in some cases even some bacteria. The UV Light also turn off in the locker when the door is opened.
Fan forced air is required to disburse a consistent speed of air to have better circulation and decrease stagnate air at the same time. If the forced air is at too high of a speed, then the product inside the locker will dry out too soon. The forced air fans within the lockers are designed to turn off when the door is opened to eliminate the external air from entering and during the defrost cycle so that the evaporators can dissolve moisture.
Time is an essential component in how dry aging works because once the meat is placed into the locker, it will take time to reach the desired outcome of tenderness, texture, and flavor. Shop our collection of dry age fridges here.
