Ribeye with Cream and Bourbon Sauc

How to Dry-Age at Home

While it’s possible to dry-age beef at home, it is far more difficult and involved than some guides (including several online) would lead you to believe.

One popular misconception is that you can dry-age steaks by lining them with cheesecloth or paper towel, then leaving them in your fridge for four to seven days. While this method dehydrates steaks (which can heighten flavor intensity), it does not properly age them. Beef needs to be aged for at least 14 days for enzymes to properly tenderize fibers, and needs to be aged for at least 21 days for complex flavors to develop. One week in a fridge—cheesecloth or no cheesecloth—won’t make that happen.

Instead, dry-aging takes dedicated equipment, time, and large, primal cuts.

If you want to dry-age beef at home, you’ll need to start out with a large cut of top-grade, USDA Prime beef. Dry-aging needs to be done before a roast is cut into individual steaks, so go with something like a large rib roast, three ribs minimum. Also, be sure to buy a cut that still has a thick cap of fat on its exterior. This way, that side will only lose fat when you trim the exterior at the end of the aging process.

You’ll then need the following equipment: a dedicated refrigerator, a small fan, a tray, and a wire cooking rack.

Note: Do not age beef in a fridge with other foods, as your beef will pick up flavors from those foods and vice versa. Dry-aging in a multi-use fridge will also throw off moisture levels. The need for a dedicated fridge is the biggest challenge and added cost to at-home dry-aging.

First, select your fridge and set up a small, electric fan inside to maintain airflow. Next, put a wire rack on top of a tray. The tray is to collect any drippings. Make sure the bottom of the rack is elevated so that airflow is possible on all sides of the beef.
Set your cut of beef on top of the wire rack. Then, slide the tray, rack, and beef into the fridge and wait. Wait 2-4 weeks if you’re only looking for added tenderness, 4-6 weeks for that famous dry-aged taste, and 6-8 (or more) weeks if you’re looking to develop some seriously funky aromas and flavors. While it is okay to check on your beef occasionally, remember that every time you open your fridge’s door you throw off moisture levels and invite unwanted odors in.
After you have aged your cut for your preferred length of time, remove it from the fridge. At this point, the exterior will be dry, deep-red or purple/brown, and may have developed mold. Trim away any of this meat, as well as any exterior fat. Finally, cut the beef into individual steaks, according to your tastes. We recommend between 1¼ to 2 inches thickness, though some grillers prefer steaks as thick as 3 inches or more.
Remember: when aging at home, it can be hard to adjust and control things like humidity, airflow, and temperature without professional equipment. Because of this, dry-aging at home is generally less precise than professional dry-aging. This means that it can be tough—if not impossible—to replicate the signature taste of a specific restaurant or butcher’s dry-aging process.

I agree, a good steak doesn't need anything except a fork and maybe a knife. But, I will also say that the bourbon cream sauce sounds amazing and could ramp up a good steak to fabulous.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Good ribeye does NOT need butter or a cream sauce

Use those to mask a subpar steak

That's pretty much the way I look at it. Now if that had been a flank steak go for it especially if it was a gorgonzola cream sauce.:B

I'll give it a try. Thanks Kebamo.

Good ribeye does NOT need butter or a cream sauce

Use those to mask a subpar steak