The Steakager

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I remember the Serious Eats article on how to convert a fridge to do this, and thought I remember seeing a pic Dennis posted which looked like a "meat fridge". I don't recall coming across much on safety or lack thereof (could you fill me in?)

I'm actually kind of tempted… I was thinking to buy a bar fridge and all the conversions would easily cost the same as this, although I'd need a second fridge for this as my main one is packed. Plus I'd want to see mores specs about size/capacity.
 
Serious Eats seems to refer approvingly of this. (Mentioned on the SteakAger website.) And the dimensions are 12x12x15. According to them, big enough to hold a 13 lb. roast (but I'm skeptical).
 
Ya I just read a bit more online, the 13lb roast maybe if it's wide and flat but if thicker it may be a problem if you want the upper shelf in. I thought in the Original SE article they mentioned having to trim the exterior of the meat afterwards, but it looks like they're not doing this
 
tjangula said:
I remember the Serious Eats article on how to convert a fridge to do this, and thought I remember seeing a pic Dennis posted which looked like a "meat fridge". I don't recall coming across much on safety or lack thereof (could you fill me in?)

I'm actually kind of tempted… I was thinking to buy a bar fridge and all the conversions would easily cost the same as this, although I'd need a second fridge for this as my main one is packed. Plus I'd want to see mores specs about size/capacity.
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Wouldn't you be at risk monitoring fridge temp, opening and closing the door through the day, humidity, etc? I'm FAR from an expert, just what I recall from various reading online. For flavor, I think you need to dry age for longer than you can safely keep in the fridge.
 
ImageUploadedByKitchen Knife Forum1451699259.236279.jpg

This fridge? Much lighter these days but I still have the Jowl
 
You can absolutely dry age beef in your fridge without concern, as long as your fridge is clean. Heston Blumenthal recommends that technique.

Someone please explain what the concern is here health wise?
 
What I'd like to do at some point is get an "all fridge" for bulk storage of jarred sauerkraut and other things that I don't frequently need on a daily basis, then either a dedicate a lower portion of it to a dry age setup or get a steakager to take the guesswork out. Plan B would be smaller dedicated fridge for dry aging à la SE style
 
SuperSharp said:
Interesting. The price is right. I wonder if you could just dedicate a mini fridge to aging meat and have more control over the process.
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Yes, see the link below. I'm almost thinking that may be the way to go as there'd be less things to break down or go wrong (aside from the fridge only a fan).


larrybard said:
For steaks, you might want to try a dry aging shortcut (mentioned by Modernist Cuisine; not invented by me) of brushing with fish sauce, sealing in a plastic bag (removing the air) and refrigerating for a few days.

And you might find this interesting: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/03/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-dry-aging-beef-at-home.html
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I aged many whole primal prime ribs at my last joint, in the walk-in cooler. I just stored the meat naked on a cooling rack with a sheet pan underneath to catch any run-off. Longest one I did was just over 95 days. The exterior becomes very leathery, and speckled with mold. When you're ready to eat you literally just cut the 'rind' off, then break the prime(or whatever primal you're using)down as usual. I wouldn't reccomend aging smaller cuts due to the loss of product that occurs. And it's good to have a working knowledge of good and bad molds. I had dry-cured hundreds of pounds of charcuterie before dry aging the prime rib, and was very familiar with the appearance of said molds. It's not too tricky though either way. And if you do begin to see troublesome mold(black or fluffy are both bad signs), you simply make a strong salt brine and rub the product down with it. Kills the mold on the spot.
 
Would love to know your knowledge of molds :)

Green and black are bad usually, aspergillus no?
 
bkultra said:
People on the BBQ forums are just starting to test these out. Most people received these just before Christmas and are just getting around to testing them. Here is a post with pictures of someone's first attempt.

http://www.kamadoguru.com/topic/25703-steakager-experiment-1/

Or for the low low price of $1449 there is the steaklocker...

https://www.steaklocker.com
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Wow the steaklocker made me chuckle, that's a lot of coin for a rebadged mini fridge. It can be tough to find the space but I just use the kitchen fridge; I place the beef as far back as possible and set up some blockers made up of cans of beer. I've done this for years with the longest being the ribeye for the ECG. I typically do 4-5 weeks.
 
Interesting. Sometimes I feel like SE articles involving products are kind of ... stinky. In general though I'm quite skeptical of product reviews.

I too have dreamed of owning a separate fridge for curing. One day!
 
might need a bit of macgyvering but for what it's worth here are some other methods I was researching (long ago)

I thought there were some cheap wine coolers available with humidity control but apparently not. Supposedly costco used to have a vinotemp for a really good price but from what I've read most of these units are pretty sketchy.
 
Bill13 said:
Wow the steaklocker made me chuckle, that's a lot of coin for a rebadged mini fridge. It can be tough to find the space but I just use the kitchen fridge; I place the beef as far back as possible and set up some blockers made up of cans of beer. I've done this for years with the longest being the ribeye for the ECG. I typically do 4-5 weeks.
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Interestingly I almost ran into the steak locker guy at dHL. D-bag extraordinaire - parks in the handicap spots (across two of them no less) because he's too f***ing important to walk an extra ten feet. His daughter/girlfriend that was with him felt embarrassed and moved his truck after he went inside. What a putz.
 
bkultra said:
These are the most popular option for the members of the BBQ forums I visit. I have only heard positive reviews.
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Hi All,

I own a steak ager and I can attest it is the real deal. The results are incredible. I have done a ribeye roast and sirloin tip. Ribeye was in for 30 days and Sirloin tip for 10. The meat was pronounced more tender as well as flavorful. My only wish is it had a bigger box to allow for bigger cuts to be done whole rather than cut.
 
bkultra said:
These are the most popular option for the members of the BBQ forums I visit. I have only heard positive reviews.
Click to expand...

The Umai dry bags are a half solution to dry aging. They don't allow air in which is needed to oxidize the fat which is what happens when true dry aging. It's not a bad product, but not the same as truly dry aging in a air driven environment.
 
Benm3 said:
Hi All,

I own a steak ager and I can attest it is the real deal. The results are incredible. I have done a ribeye roast and sirloin tip. Ribeye was in for 30 days and Sirloin tip for 10. The meat was pronounced more tender as well as flavorful. My only wish is it had a bigger box to allow for bigger cuts to be done whole rather than cut.
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The reports I have read mirror yours, they work very well and the only complaint is the current size (I'm told there is a larger unit being developed).
 
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