# Dry aging



## rahimlee54 (Jan 9, 2013)

I just grabbed an old refrigerator from my mom's house and I plan on using to for extra space and dry aging some beef. I saw a video on you tube where the guys, from a salt selling establishment, put a bunch of salt in the pan below the rib so I was wondering if there is any merit to this or if I can just shove the slab in the fridge for a few weeks and move on.

Thanks for the input
Jared


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## Zwiefel (Jan 9, 2013)

I do like me some Alton Brown ingenuity....

[video=youtube;t4aI_O8kcN8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4aI_O8kcN8[/video]


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## ThEoRy (Jan 9, 2013)

You need the right moisture or lack thereof, temperature, and air circulation.


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## ThEoRy (Jan 10, 2013)

Oops almost forgot humidity... 

Here's a pretty good diy project that seems to have wielded solid results. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...-dry-aging-beef-thats-my-project-this-weekend


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## kostantinos (Jan 10, 2013)

http://beefresearch.org/CMDocs/BeefResearch/Dry%20Aging%20of%20Beef.pdf

Start with this one for the basics.

I think i have a more in depth analysis on the subject somewhere as well . I will try to find a link .

It gets really interesting when you dry age things like duck as well .


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## Duckfat (Jan 10, 2013)

A fridge is already a giant de-humidfyer. Not really ideal for aging meat. IIR there is a kit available to convert a fridge so you can control temp and humidity. I think Mucho Bucho had done a conversion. I can't remember the dealer name but I could dig it up if your intersted. IMO the best approach at home for most is buying sub-primals in cryo and wet aging for 2-4 weeks. Then take the meat out of the cryo and set it on a wire rack in the fridge for about a week.


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## lowercasebill (Jan 10, 2013)

couple of guya on BGE forum have used these are are pleased with the results
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&newwin....&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.dmQ&fp=efd2c8fa9c025d66


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## rahimlee54 (Jan 10, 2013)

Duckfat said:


> A fridge is already a giant de-humidfyer. Not really ideal for aging meat. IIR there is a kit available to convert a fridge so you can control temp and humidity. I think Mucho Bucho had done a conversion. I can't remember the dealer name but I could dig it up if your intersted. IMO the best approach at home for most is buying sub-primals in cryo and wet aging for 2-4 weeks. Then take the meat out of the cryo and set it on a wire rack in the fridge for about a week.



You jogged my memory I emailed Mucho Bucho a couple of times a while back and had forgotten here are the plans he showed me, I'll prob end up jumping on this after the dust has settled from the holidays.


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## Duckfat (Jan 11, 2013)

IIR there was a dealer selling conversion kits for the fridge. If I can dig up that link I'll post it.


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## Duckfat (Jan 11, 2013)

I found the thread on another site and it looks like Mucho was using a Cole Parmer humidity control. I have no idea which one though.


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## Perj (Jan 11, 2013)

Here's a webage showing how to build a fridge for meat curing. It should work for dry ageing.
http://mattikaarts.com/blog/charcuterie/meat-curing-at-home-the-setup/

I made one last year for dried sausages and the only modification I made was to put the humidifier outside the fridge, (I put it on top) and I fitted a 1/2 inch tube to bring the moisture in through a hole I made on top of the fridge. I also made two holes in the front door to put a small computer fan and an adjustable trap for air circulation (the fan is on a timer and runs 5 minutes twice a day to change the air).

I found it difficult to get a humidifier and temperature cotroller under 100$ in canada, there fairly cheap in the US though. I got mine from this store on ebay: http://www.ebay.ca/sch/rogersdini/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
So far there working great. However, you do have to do some electrical wiring, they're not "plug and play", but it was easy even with basically no electrical knowledge.


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