nancy_wood•5d agoTop Commenter

Hot take: I think dry-aging at home is overrated for most of us butchers

I used to swear by dry-aging my own subprimals for 30 days in a dedicated fridge back in my shop in Ohio, but after losing about 18% of a prime ribeye to trim loss last month, I switched to wet-aging for my cheaper cuts. The flavor difference is smaller than folks admit, especially if you are not selling to high-end restaurants. Has anyone else found that the extra effort and waste from home dry-aging just is not worth it?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair_chen815d ago

Honestly, you're losing way too much trim. 30 days is pretty standard but an 18% loss on a prime ribeye is a lot, you should be closer to 10-12% with a good setup.

evan_davis5d ago

Wow, I think you're spot on with that loss estimate. If you're losing almost a fifth of a prime ribeye to trim, something is way off with your humidity control or airflow in that setup. A proper dry-aging fridge should give you that rich flavor without sacrificing that much good meat.

anthonynelson5d ago

Have you tracked your wet bulb temp at all? I had almost the exact same issue with my first setup, was losing way more than I should have been. I finally realized my airflow was too direct on the meat, basically blasting it. I moved my fans to just circulate air around the fridge instead of pointing them at the ribeye, and my trim loss dropped from around 17% to maybe 11% on a 45 day hang. It took me three batches to figure that out, your mileage may vary but it made a huge difference for me. The flavor was still great even with the high loss, but definitely not worth throwing away that much good meat.