I went to Sam's to get a hunk of meat to make jerky. While I was waiting for him to come out of the back, I noticed a huge hunk of meat behind me. It was a choice boneless ribeye roast. Not sure what I was going to do with it, I brought it home. A $150 impulse buy.
Day 1. Out of the package, onto a rack, on a cookie sheet. Don't pierce it, poke it, salt it, or trim it. Onto the rack she goes...
...and into the outside fridge next to the soda. I just put it in there and left it alone. These are around day 30.
Still day 30
The outside of this hunk of meat is pretty hard at this point. Very dry and hard on the outside. Some fat has settled on the surface of this hunk of beef.
Here we are on day 45:
A very sad, shriveled version of its former self. This is where my photojournalism stills broke down a bit as I hacked away at the rind on this thing. She was much lighter than at first, and felt very strange to handle. Stiff like it was frozen, and only a little easier to cut. I used every knife in my block, and ultimately I think an electric knife would have saved me some effort in cutting off the outside. You just keep cutting until you see something that looks red. I have to admit there was a moment when I thought I may have just wasted $150 on what amounted to the worlds biggest piece of jerky. But I eventually hit paydirt.
After hacking away the outer crust, the inside is a bright beautiful red.
I don't often spring for the dry aged beef as I like the fresh stuff plenty. I cannot say I have eaten enough dry aged steak elsewhere to say how these compare. I will say that they have a deeper, richer, almost earthier taste? Extremely delicate meat with a good bite a better chew. Not a single hard to chew bit, or chewed and discarded grizzle on the edge of anyone's plate.
If you've got the fridge space, I highly encourage you to give this a shot.
Day 1. Out of the package, onto a rack, on a cookie sheet. Don't pierce it, poke it, salt it, or trim it. Onto the rack she goes...
...and into the outside fridge next to the soda. I just put it in there and left it alone. These are around day 30.
Still day 30
The outside of this hunk of meat is pretty hard at this point. Very dry and hard on the outside. Some fat has settled on the surface of this hunk of beef.
Here we are on day 45:
A very sad, shriveled version of its former self. This is where my photojournalism stills broke down a bit as I hacked away at the rind on this thing. She was much lighter than at first, and felt very strange to handle. Stiff like it was frozen, and only a little easier to cut. I used every knife in my block, and ultimately I think an electric knife would have saved me some effort in cutting off the outside. You just keep cutting until you see something that looks red. I have to admit there was a moment when I thought I may have just wasted $150 on what amounted to the worlds biggest piece of jerky. But I eventually hit paydirt.
After hacking away the outer crust, the inside is a bright beautiful red.
I don't often spring for the dry aged beef as I like the fresh stuff plenty. I cannot say I have eaten enough dry aged steak elsewhere to say how these compare. I will say that they have a deeper, richer, almost earthier taste? Extremely delicate meat with a good bite a better chew. Not a single hard to chew bit, or chewed and discarded grizzle on the edge of anyone's plate.
If you've got the fridge space, I highly encourage you to give this a shot.
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