How to Wet Age Beef at Home With Lemon Juice
Beef benefits from the aging process. It creates a new, distinctive flavor because the texture and the beef itself improves over time. The use of lemon helps further tenderize the beef. Contrary to what restaurants might lead you to believe about their "specially aged beef," you can wet age beef at home. The aging process is created by sealing the beef in plastic and storing it at a precise temperature in the refrigerator for a few days. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Remove the beef from its packaging, and place it on a flat surface. Take a fresh lemon, cut it in half, and squeeze fresh lemon juice on both sides of the beef. Place the beef in a vacuum-seal plastic bag and vacuum seal the meat in the plastic. The vacuum-seal machine and bags can be purchased from your local department store.
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Set the refrigerator temperature anywhere between 32 to 38 degrees F. Place the sealed bag in the coldest part of your refrigerator. This is normally the bottom shelf or a special meat drawer, if the fridge comes equipped with one.
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Allow the beef to sit anywhere from seven to 28 days. Consider cutting the aging process in half since you're using lemon juice. The acidic properties of the lemon juice speed up the tenderizing process. So the longer it sits, the more tender it will be.
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Check the beef every few days to make sure the wrapping is still intact and there's no air or liquid loss. Touch it to see how tender it is. You don't want the beef to be mushy.
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Take the aged beef out of the fridge at the end of its aging process. Carefully cut the plastic off of the steak without cutting the meat. Don't be alarmed by the sour odor, this is normal. Rinse the meat with cold water, and pat it dry. This will help eliminate some of the odor. Season the beef and cook it.
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Tips & Warnings
Only whole, prime cuts of beef can be aged and not individual steaks.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit beef meat image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com
