Dry Age "Cheating" on your steaks. Get the same great Steakhouse taste and texture at home

[brazoseagle]

Howdy,

I know it is cliche, but being from Texas, I consider myself an expert in the areas of all things grilling and BBQ'ing (smoking).

I've been grilling and cooking since I've been a teenager, learning from my father, uncle and grandfather. In my college days I grilled or BBQ'd just about everyday, now I have a family, but I still will grill out 4+ times a week. I've got charcoal grills, I've got propane grills, I've got natural LP gas grills, I've got infrared grills and I've got smokers and pits galore. My favorite smoker is an 18ft custom number that can be pulled behind my truck and has a grill section, a smoker box and two propane cooktop burners. It also comes equipped with with a storage box, counter top and cutting top.

Basically, all of that "chest pounding" was meant to convey that I know my stuff and I know how to cook award winning meat and BBQ.

I am now sharing with you one of the greatest tricks I have ever learned. I had always tinkered around with the idea of cheating on a "quick dry age", but I never really took the time to perfect it, until a chef friend of mine, who is more like a scientist when it comes to cooking, shed some light on the science behind what I was trying to achieve.

Step 1 - GOOD QUALITY MEAT!!!!

It doesn't matter what you do to a steak, if you choose bargain, poor quality meat you will never achieve that high end steakhouse flavor and texture. The cut and quality you choose is the most important step. I've eaten every cut of steak that's out there, and I've had store bought, organic, free range, grass fed, grain fed, and homegrown out of my own livestock.

To me the #1 best steak is a USDA Prime grade Bone in Ribeye. The fat is perfect and the bone adds such a great flavor and tenderness. Here in Texas they run anywhere from 12.00/lb - 14.00/lb for prime. Yes prime does make a difference.

Step 2 - Plan ahead. Go buy your steak from a reputable source 2 days (48 hours) before you plan on cooking it. When purchasing a good quality steak, make sure the butcher will let you look at it and smell it if you want. If there is not the size or appearance you like in the display have the butcher go cut you what you want fresh.

Step 3 - Beginning the cheating process Why do this???...Dry Aging serves 3 purposes. Flavor, Texture and Crust

Flavor - Nothing else is better than the flavor achieved from some dry aging and pre-seasoning. This process also concentrates the Beef flavor by extracting out water.

Texture - When you dry age things you pull out water and also the fibers of the meat itself changes structure to make a more tender steak.

Crust - This process pulls proteins and other moisture based compounds to the surface of the meat, which will react to high heat, and give your steak that awesome Steakhouse quality crust!!!

******BIG MYTH**********

It is a well debunked myth that pulling out water or pre salting a steak or any meat causes the meat to be dry once cooked.

This is a myth. Pulling out water merely concentrates the flavor. Water is not what makes the steak moist, the proteins and other compounds found inside the meat and locked inside the fibers is where you get your moisture from. Water will cook out and evaporate anyway, regardless of what you do in pre cooking.

2 full days before you plan to cook the steak, take it out of it's packaging, place a thick layer of paper towels on a plate, place the steak on the paper towels, and place another thick layer of paper towels on top of the meat. Place the steak on the plate in the open air of your fridge, somewhere close to the bottom and where air can circulate around it.

This starts the process of changing the texture and utilizing the paper towels absorbing qualities mixed with the cooling dry air in the fridge and the evaporator of the fridge to draw out water and start concentrating the flavor and developing the crust.

After 24 hours you will notice a visible difference in the texture of the meat.

Step 4 - 24 hours after letting it sit, and 24 hours before cooking, remove the plate, discard all paper towels and put together your seasoning. DO NOT RUB WITH OIL AT THIS STEP.

The greatest secret to Steakhouse flavor is NOT to over season. The reason why we all love a good high end steak floavor, other than the fact we don't have to cook it ourselves and the quality of the meat, is when you eat one of those $50 dollar steaks , you actually taste the steak, it's not masked with aggressive seasoning.

To each his own but this is what I use and I will even tell you my very well hidden secret.

Kosher salt

Cracked Black Pepper

Powdered Beef Bouillon or Powdered Beef Stock (The Key Secret)

Sometimes I will use a Chicago Steakhouse Flavored Fresh Grinder - Can't go wrong with that!!

Lay new paper towels out on your plate

Season very aggressively and liberally with the black pepper and evenely and consernatively with kosher salt - one side at a time

Sprinkle the powdered Beef Bouillon on. Heavy but not as aggressive as the salt and pepper

very lightly grind the steakhouse grinder or sprinkle a little garlic powder and onion powder.

*****Don't Rub but pat the seasoning in.. SPANK IT!!!

Repeat on the other side

If your steak is thick, make sure to season the sides too.

Place back on paper towels, this time do not put a paper towel on top.

Place back in the fridge.

Step 5 - After 12 hours, flip the steak

Step 6 - Final Prep and cooking

2 hours before cooking pull the steak out and let it come to room temp.

The first thing you will notice is the gorgeous crust of meat juice and seasoning that has developed everywhere on the steak. It will just look like the taste has been concentrated!!

Get your fire going - I prefer infrared or propane/LP gas. Charcoal and wood have their place for sure, but I prefer to taste the meat and the smokey taste it gets from it's own juices and fat dripping down into the fire causing smoke and a slight flame to provide a great flavor. I don't like charcoal overpowering a delicate Prime steak.

I either use my infrared searing burners on high or I set my whole grill to high and let it heat up for 10 minutes.

*****The thickness, coating, cleanliness and quality of your grates will greatly effect your crust and overall sear of your steak.

After 10 mins my Infrared will be around 1100 F and my gas grill will get up to about 700F

When you can't hold your hand over the flame for longer than 1 second it is ready. Higher the heat, the better it will sear the outside which locks in flavor and moisture by closing off the pores and that's how you insure a great crust and char.

COOKING:

Put your steak on over the hottest part of your grill, you should already know where this is

If cooking more than one steak make sure there is enough room between them.

Cooking times depend on many things, thickness of meat, cut of meat, temperature, flames or no flames, covered or uncovered, bone or no bone, and level of desired doneness.

I like medium rare, if you like your steak well done, than you just wasted a lot of time reading this and a lot of money on a good piece of meat that you are about to ruin.

For medium rare on my grill with my usual cut of steak, it takes about 3-5 minutes per side.

********Don't be a hero and try to move the steak during the cooking to try to achieve picture quality grill marks:

Rule of thumb, the more you move the meat the more it decreases the overall quality.

************Most important thing to remember - Only flip the meat once, NEVER, I repeat NEVER, flip the steak more than once.

I usually tell my steak is ready by touch and mainly by appearance of color/char.

Not too dark of a char, just hints of black starting to form, but the meat should be a nice crusty dark brown on the outside.

****Don't jab it with a thermometer - STUPID MOVE, allows moisture to burst out under an instant pressure release

Don't cut it to check the doneness - again allows for moisture release, as a steak cools the fibers suck back in all the juices to make for a great steak experience.

Step 7 Cooling

I always recommend transferring your steak directly to the plate you will serve it on and not on a seperate tray or plate. This will warm the plate and keep the run off juices intact.

Tent the steak with foil for 5 minutes. Don't look at it, don't cut it, don't poke it, don't dive right in. When a steak is subjected to such high heat, all off the juices and goods expand and are under pressure and move to the exterior of the steak, cutting it before cooling is like popping a balloon or shocking it and all the moisture runs out and never had a chance to soak in.

When you cool your steak, the fibers and tissue start to calm down and suck back in their juices and moisture. If done properly, after 10 minutes of cooling all the juices are now back happy and intact, and the temp is still perfect.

Step 8 - Eat one of the best steaks you have ever cooked yourself

I prefer a nice sourdough bread

Baked potato

Grilled Asparagas finished with butter and lemon zest

Sauteed Mushrooms.

NO SAUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite side for a steak is a tie between a Parmesan Truffled Grits/polenta. And a Snail, Wild Mushroom, Truffled Risotto!!!!

Pair with a nice Shriraz/Syrah , Cabernet, Merlot or Red Bordeaux

Finish with a great Cuban Cigar

You will be in heaven

Carry on the Meatscape Jouney and post your own Steaksperiences in this thread for all to enjoy!!!!!

[TankerT]

Awesome read. I like to grill, but have never done a good steak.

Out of curiosity, what does it mean to "tent" a steak?

[DrunkenMonkey]

Damn, Brazoseagle! You just ruined my afternoon. That's all I'm going to be able to think about the rest of the day.

Seriously, though, thanks for the info.

[ohioldd]

Wow! Thank-you brazoseagle for sharing your fantastic tips!

[Deemancpa]

Must be a Texas thing....others won't understand our red meat madness. I don't disagree with anything you said. Dee

[dochowl]

Fantastic post... and I agree with you 100% on all points. In fact, I just had quite possibly the best steak of my life at LGs Prime Steakhouse in Palm Springs CA. I've had their bone-in ribeye many time and they've always been fantastic. But for some reason, the one I had last weekend was like biting into a slice of heaven. No good way to explain it. It was just the best on all accounts. So good that I had to take a picture... Enjoy.

[aavkk]

This is almost exactly as I would advise as well with a couple of variations. Instead of olive oil I prefer to use rendered beef tallow and I always prefer pastured 100% grass fed cows. Thanks for jotting this down, very helpful!

[brazoseagle]

Awesome read. I like to grill, but have never done a good steak.

Out of curiosity, what does it mean to "tent" a steak?

Tenting refers to when you cover the steak or any meat with foil but raising the center to form a peak or apex. This will keep the steak warm, but decrease how much it will continue to cook, but also you don't want the foil touching the steak.

[brazoseagle]

Fantastic post... and I agree with you 100% on all points. In fact, I just had quite possibly the best steak of my life at LGs Prime Steakhouse in Palm Springs CA. I've had their bone-in ribeye many time and they've always been fantastic. But for some reason, the one I had last weekend was like biting into a slice of heaven. No good way to explain it. It was just the best on all accounts. So good that I had to take a picture... Enjoy.

NICE!!!

[brazoseagle]

This is almost exactly as I would advise as well with a couple of variations. Instead of olive oil I prefer to use rendered beef tallow and I always prefer pastured 100% grass fed cows. Thanks for jotting this down, very helpful!

Yeah, rendered beef fat is always good to use, I've made fries in nothing but Beef fat before.

If I really wanted to dedicate the time I would clarify enough butter to fill a deep pot and before taking the steaks off, jsut dunk them in the butter/herb mixture, and put them back on the grill a little longer.

I grill lobster tails over mesquite wood sometimes and I make a small bucket of clarified butter, white wine and herbs, and dunk the lobsters in it before , during and after grilling !!!!

[brazoseagle]

Damn, Brazoseagle! You just ruined my afternoon. That's all I'm going to be able to think about the rest of the day.

Seriously, though, thanks for the info.

Let me know how it turns out whenever you give it a try!!!

[thechenman]

Nice...my mouth is watering. Thanks for the tips...can't wait to give it a go over the weekend.

[rhodges]

Nice to see someone other than me has dedicated this much time to a steak. Excellent read! If you have never tried this give it a shot. I guess texan's can cook stuff besides brisket huh?

[BobLobLaw]

Awesome! I also agree with everything here. The only thing I do different is I get a larger (5 plus pound) piece of meat (usually NY strip) and "dry age" on a raised rack in the fridge for 7-10 days. Then trim off the really dried bits and cut nice thick steaks. I had never considered seasoning a day in advance so next time I will slice a day early and then season. Thanks!

[brazoseagle]

I'll do the same thing with a full side of ribeyes! I'll cut steaks about 2 inches thick. Grill half and slow smoke the others over a mixture of mesquite, pecan and peach woods!

[dochowl]

Fantastic. Finally tracked down some Prime bone-in ribeye... 4 steaks, 8 pounds. Followed the steps above (although shortened to 36 hours due to scheduling issues). Wow, what a difference. I've always grilled a good steak, but this thing was off the charts. I owe you one Brazos.

[DblToro]

Hey, great thread you guys got going, I am friggin drooling. Doc, since you are closest, what time is dinner at? Great job Brazo and Doc.

[brazoseagle]

Fantastic. Finally tracked down some Prime bone-in ribeye... 4 steaks, 8 pounds. Followed the steps above (although shortened to 36 hours due to scheduling issues). Wow, what a difference. I've always grilled a good steak, but this thing was off the charts. I owe you one Brazos.

That's what I'm talking about. Glorious!

[goalie204]

good thread As a big meat eater, and follower of a high fat/protein diet, i eat a lot of meat, and love a good steak. Definitely going to try this on the weekend, starting Thursday night for the 48 hour prep

[brazoseagle]

This was my latest masterpiece, The juiciest and most flavorful steak I have made to date! You can see clearly in the picture the glorious glistening meat juiciness just oozing out. This fine steak was not treated with any oil or butter after the cooking. Just pure beefy steak juice, that's what that is!!!!! I think I just had a meat seizure. This is being enjoyed with several Heineken's, (always in a can, unless it's draft), a bottle of Rapture Cabernet (Michael David Winery) and some whole garlic clove sourdough bread, soaking up all the juices!....I chose a purist route this time, no veggies nothing to get in the way , just an 18 oz. Prime Texas Ribeye!

[Lastroll]

David,

I just made that pic my screen saver! Thank you for the post.

I'm going to stop off on my way home and buy a few for the weekend.

[goalie204]

going to costco tonight, i've been told they have good quality meat, so going to try this for dinner Sat night

[darinjanssen]

I'll take 4 of those steaks cooked medium rare and a 12 pack of Heinekens....thank you! Please PM me and I'll send you my address for delivery....

[cckandb24]

Just bought 2 1lb bone ins for me and the wife this weekend. aging in the fridge as we speak. I always wondered why I could never get the same steakhouse flavor. I will add pics and coment after the weekend. cant wait, nowjust have to pick a good smoke for afterwards

[brazoseagle]

I'll take 4 of those steaks cooked medium rare and a 12 pack of Heinekens....thank you! Please PM me and I'll send you my address for delivery....

I cook steaks for you all the time you ding dong!