How to Age Beef

If you love beef and you live for a nice steak, then you must try aging it at home. This is the secret of the finest restaurants. But with a few tricks of the trade, you too can age your own beef right from the comfort of your very own home and the limited capabilities of your kitchen.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Refrigerator
• 6 lbs. of beef

1. Unwrap the beef from its wrapper and set on a plate. Don't place excess juices on the beef, but allow the natural juices that emanate from the beef to remain when you place it on the plate.
2. Place the beef in the fridge and allow it to sit for 3 days.
3. Check on the beef after 3 days to make sure the outside is starting to grey. The process of aging beef is all about the enzymes of the beef starting to break down. This tenderizes the beef and makes it delicious when added to any recipe. Once the greying process has begun, the beef will stay good for up to 1 week in your fridge.
4. Remove the grey matter that has formed on the outside of the beef. Simply slice it away with a knife. When you age beef, you lose almost one-half of it in the greying process. Make sure to take this into account for recipes. This means you must buy roughly double the amount to complete your recipe.
5. Prepare the beef as you intended to do so. The beef is now fully aged and trimmed. A purist would say season with salt and pepper and throw on the grill until medium rare. But truly, the choice is up to you.

Tips & Warnings

• Place a box of baking soda near your beef in the fridge. This will help reduce the smells of other items in the fridge. No one wants a piece of beef that takes on the flavor of onions or garlic.
• There are other ways to age beef that are usually not available to the average consumer. For instance, you can Green Age beef by slaughtering the cow and allowing it to rest in a cooled environment for a few days before filleting.