Although I do these on a regular basis, I like to report the results every so often for new folks on the block. With the outrageous price of meat growing higher each day, in an effort to at least try to buy smart and still have your steak, many of us have chosen to do so by buying in bulk. A number of us back in January took advantage of the Creekstone Farms deal of buying whole rib primals for $230. Sizes varied, some got luckier than others but regardless of the size, buying in bulk of a superior quality of meat cuts down on having to pay a premium for single steaks in the grocery store. Depending on the thickness and size of steaks cut, the cost is significantly lower. If a you were to get say a 12 cut steak yield, doing the math you're just under $20/pound. That's $3-5/pound less than prime ribeyes are selling for here in Houston. Even Creekstone themselves are selling these same cut steaks for $36 each for steaks that vary in weight from 12-16 ounces!!
That said, I generally like to up the ante and dry age mine as well. What that means to the uninitiated is the meat is allowed to age in a controlled environment that allows moisture to evaporate from the meat while at the same time allowing the natural enzymes within the meat to begin the process of breaking down the muscle fibers and tenderizing the proteins. The result, dependent on the amount of aging involved, is a denser more beefy taste with increased tenderness.
Some folks like to age 40-50-60 days or even more. For me personally, the steak begins to change in flavor and becomes way too dense for my palate. It's like aging cheese, there gets to be a point where it's too sharp and not very enjoyable. For me than 30 days seems to be the sweet spot where the meat takes on a mild nuttiness and cooks up tender with the right amount of retained moisture.
So I began with the primal ordered from Creekstone Farms. It weighed in a little over 15 pounds...
Yesterday was exactly 30 days after I began the dry aging process so I re-weighed it to note the result of that aging. As you can see my yield at this point was almost 2 pounds less in primarily lost moisture .
Note the hard pellicle layer that forms on the outside of the meat. It's a tough almost waxy like membrane that although edible, is like the consistency of shoe leather. As a result, most of it has to be cut off. One can attempt to do that by carving it off the primal as a whole, personally I like to cut my steaks then trim each one individually.
So in the final yield unfortunately, there was even more loss from the trimming of the pellicle and unwanted fat. In my case I cut away about a pound and a half of said trimmings....
Reserving about another one half pound to give to the puppies (it's like dog crack !!) .....
With the net result for me being eleven beautifully cut, trimmed and dry aged restaurant quality prime ribeye steaks for my freezer. So my final cost was right around $21/pound, not bad when you consider buying these individually would be astronomical.
And now, for the money shots...
That said, I generally like to up the ante and dry age mine as well. What that means to the uninitiated is the meat is allowed to age in a controlled environment that allows moisture to evaporate from the meat while at the same time allowing the natural enzymes within the meat to begin the process of breaking down the muscle fibers and tenderizing the proteins. The result, dependent on the amount of aging involved, is a denser more beefy taste with increased tenderness.
Some folks like to age 40-50-60 days or even more. For me personally, the steak begins to change in flavor and becomes way too dense for my palate. It's like aging cheese, there gets to be a point where it's too sharp and not very enjoyable. For me than 30 days seems to be the sweet spot where the meat takes on a mild nuttiness and cooks up tender with the right amount of retained moisture.
So I began with the primal ordered from Creekstone Farms. It weighed in a little over 15 pounds...
Yesterday was exactly 30 days after I began the dry aging process so I re-weighed it to note the result of that aging. As you can see my yield at this point was almost 2 pounds less in primarily lost moisture .
Note the hard pellicle layer that forms on the outside of the meat. It's a tough almost waxy like membrane that although edible, is like the consistency of shoe leather. As a result, most of it has to be cut off. One can attempt to do that by carving it off the primal as a whole, personally I like to cut my steaks then trim each one individually.
So in the final yield unfortunately, there was even more loss from the trimming of the pellicle and unwanted fat. In my case I cut away about a pound and a half of said trimmings....
Reserving about another one half pound to give to the puppies (it's like dog crack !!) .....
With the net result for me being eleven beautifully cut, trimmed and dry aged restaurant quality prime ribeye steaks for my freezer. So my final cost was right around $21/pound, not bad when you consider buying these individually would be astronomical.
And now, for the money shots...
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