Faux Dry-Aged Beef
Dry-aged beef is rarely found outside of restaurants and upscale butcher shops where you have to pay premium dollar for the luxury. The precise conditions required to properly dry age beef are more expensive to sustain, and the process not only decreases its weight, but its shelf life as well. The end result is a product that doesn’t last as long, weighs less and takes longer to get to the store. This has been decided a poor choice for retailers who would be serving it up with a sticker shock to reluctant, unknowing consumers who prefer their meat plump and cheap.
All meat is aged in some way to increase its flavor and tenderness, but invariably the stuff you see in the supermarket has been wet-aged, which is faster, cheaper and retains all the moisture of the original. Sometimes it even contains more moisture from being injected with brine. More moisture in this sense means you’re actually paying for added water, as well as the loss of control over seasoning.
There’s nothing wrong with wet aging, but the evaporation during dry-aging intensifies the flavor of the beef, making it more satiating in taste and nutrient density. The perception of overpaying is skewed by a value for quantity instead of quality.
Dry aging also improves the texture of the meat, so if you prefer your beef to be tender and flavorful, dry aging is clearly up your alley. But what if you don’t have access to dry-aged beef, or still don’t want to pay the upfront price tag? Here’s a method that can improve upon the flavor and texture of your standard butcher shop or supermarket steaks. It’s not as effective as dry-aging in a commercial process, but it still makes a significant difference. If you’re not patient enough to wait several days, even several hours at room temperature will give your steak a boost.
Even the lean flank steak above is greatly improved in texture and beef flavor, but this method works best with marbled cuts like a rib eye or strip steak.
The idea is so simple it doesn’t even require a recipe. Simply season your steaks on all sides liberally with kosher salt. Place the steaks on a cooling rack, and place the cooling rack on a sheet pan to catch any drippings. Put the pan in the refrigerator, uncovered, and leave it alone for up to three days. Try to avoid having any strong odors in the fridge, such as onions or fish, as the steaks will absorb this somewhat. After three days there will be a noticeable level of moisture evaporated and the steaks will be denser and darker in color. The process is complete!
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before cooking. Feel free to add black pepper or other flavorings as desired, but remember that they’ve already been deeply seasoned with salt. A dry-aged steak should be cooked at a lower temperature because it has less surface moisture to evaporate, causing it to dry out and burn faster. This lack of moisture also tends to make the steak cook faster and more evenly, in my experience. Since heat is easier to control on the stove, cooking a steak prepared this way is ideal in a pan over medium heat and, if quite thick, finished in a 350 degree oven. Don’t forget to rest the meat for several minutes before slicing. Basting the steak in the final minutes of cooking with a little garlic butter never hurt either.