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My grandson was asking me about dry aging meat. He said he was going to put some in a Tupperware or baggy and leave it in the fridge for an extended period of time.
I've never done it before. For those of you that have done it, what is your process and how has it turned out?
Technically, that’s not really dry aging. It’s more in line with wet aging but it will work just fine. Wet aging is done in a bag or container while dry aging is left out exposed to air and not allowed to sit in any kind of moisture like blood or water.
I have put venison backstrap on a wire rack with a plate under it in the fridge for 3-4 weeks. You will get a "rind" that you need to trim off, but the meat was very tender and delicious.
Its not something I do all of the time. It was a fun experiment.
Being in the meat business I have on occasion had to cut dry aged beef. I personally think it's a waste. So much gets trimmed off and thrown away. Even more so with wild game. There typically isn"t enough fat on game to help prevent it from drying out. If any moisture is involved it just rots.I consider aging game meat more than a couple of days to be wanton waste. Just my opinion.
There is a lot of waste on WG but not necessarily from dry aging. It’s mostly from all the dirt, hair, sticks, and gut matter. I cut dry aged beef and pork everyday and most of the waste is excessive fat, gristle, and bone.
Don't put it in an enclosed container. I dry aged some elk roasts one time to about 30% reduction in weight and then sliced thin, around 1/8"-1/4" thick and ate. Wasn't too bad. I did have it caked in salt for a couple of days first to kill surface bacteria.
To properly dry age meat you’ll need a special setup that maintains temperature, humidity, and circulates air - something regular refrigerators won’t do. Also, to dry age meat you need large primal cuts of meat. As others have mentioned, what your grandson is doing is wet aging meat. It will provide some of the same benefits as dry aging, but it is a totally different process.
I have a dry aging machine made by SteakAger that I use to dry age. I think the sweet spot is about 45-60 days - you start to get those funky, nutty, blue cheesy flavors that dry aging is know for, but it’s not too overwhelming. You also don’t lose as much of your meat compared to taking it longer (like 90 days).
I do it in a refrigerator. Not the best way or even right. But, it works. I do it for 21 days. And, I Leave my back hams whole when I do it. Just get it up on a rack and put a large cookie sheet underneath it.
The outside will dry out pretty quickly. Break that ham down and cut it clean. It’ll be the most tender and delicious venison you’ll ever have. The color red that the meat will be is beautiful once you get it trimmed out.
It really doesn’t matter how you cook it. Just don’t over cook it.
