Christmas Dinner

[SuperChuck]

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Get an untrimmed rib roast. Wash rib and pat dry, lightly salt and pepper, place on cookie drying rack, place rack in cook sheet, cover with paper towels and place in fridge, replace paper towels every 12 or so hours for 4 or 5 days. With a 7 pound roast you will evaporate about 3/4 to 1 pound of water out of the meat. As water itself has no flavor, the flavor of the beef will be intensified. Don't believe me? go to a high end steak house that serves dry aged beef.

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Now you will need a digital thermometer, the kind with the probe that you can leave in while cooking, look for one that allows you to set a temperature alarm.

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Good call on the probe thermometer... I started using one about a year ago and my meats have never come out so good. We set ours for about 5 degrees less than the recommended temp (it gets up to temp by the time it's served). Perfectly cooked every time.

Does the same drying technique work for any cut of beef? My favorite steakhouse dry ages their beef... I've thought about doing it at home, but I never knew how...

[nhcigarfan]

Does the same drying technique work for any cut of beef? My favorite steakhouse dry ages their beef... I've thought about doing it at home, but I never knew how...

It does, but you need un-trimmed meat (for the large cuts), and I have only done it for rib roast up to about 8 pounds. I have done it on single sirloins and filets but I only let them go a day. I knew a chef who would do whole ribs, a couple at a time in a single fridge and what he did was take a bag of rice, about 5 pounds and put it in a low, flat dish. The rice really seemed to assist in soaking up the moisture. But I have never tried it myself.

If you want to give it a shot, try it on a couple of sirloins. Dry one, and wrap the other in plastic wrap, grill them at the same time and see what you think.

One thing I noticed is that the dry aged steaks cook a little quicker than normal.