my dry-aging experiment

After having filet at Texas Roadhouse for Valentine's Day, Bryan and I asked what was special about their steaks. I prompted the waitress to ask if they were aged, as the top (cut edge) of the steaks was sort of separated and the grain exaggerated when the plates were brought to the table. She came back from the kitchen with the news. Their steaks are wet aged.

Of course, this means I went home and poured over all the information I could find about both dry aging and wet aging beef. Dry aging lets the whole piece of meat sit, exposed, for a certain length of time to let some excess moisture out of the meat, concentrating the beefy flavors, and also to let the connective tissues begin to break down. (Thus eliminating the need to use some kind of mechanical or chemical tenderizers.) Wet aging also allows the connective tissue to break down, but it is vacuum packed.

So I decide to do some more research, because the Mr. Science of Food - Alton Brown must have an opinion on all of this. And he does - he did a show on dry aging beef at home. I even found a website with a transcript of the episode. And so I set out to find a butcher shop to buy a whole beef tenderloin and begin my dry aging experiment.

I went to Armando & Sons market on Pine St in Pawtucket - right off of exit 27. A great find, in my opinion. I picked up a small tenderloin for 6.99 a pound - it was about 2.11 lbs - and I picked up a few other things while I was there. There was a great seasoning-salt blend with no MSG that I have now fallen in love with.

Anyway - I digest. I got home, trimmed the silver skin, washed the tenderloin, dried it, and set it on a tray that I thought would allow some airflow on the bottom of the piece of meat. Since I didn't like the thought of the possibility of something dripping or falling through the upper shelves, I rigged up a flexible cutting board with some silicone ties to act as a tent for my tenderloin. Nothing could drip on it, but it still allowed for airflow. (AND I didn't have to destroy a rubbermaid container)

The buying of the meat and prepping it was Saturday. That means Sunday night was end of day 1, Monday night was end of day 2, and last night was end of day 3 - also known as Filet Mignon night.

Got home, took the meat out of it's tent rig and set it on the counter. Trimmed off the hard, leathery parts and cut the entire thing into 2" filet mignons. Weighed out about a pound for last night, a pound for the future. Froze the future pound in freezer paper. (Also something I picked up at Armando & Sons) Then I mixed *APPX* 1/2 tbs garlic, 3/4 tbs each parsley, rosemary, oregano, & seasoning salt, 1/4 tbs pepper, 1 tbs olive oil. Smear this on outside edges of filets. (the part that will go around as it sits on your plate or the pan - not the cut side) Overall, the steaks rested at room temp for about 45 mins before I heated a pan (working on getting an enameled cast iron saute pan to do this all in one) until a drop of water disappeared in 3 seconds, added a smidge of oil and inserted the steaks. Sear 2 mins on each side, transfer to a baking dish since my pan isn't oven safe, and bake at 400 until medium.

Results: WOW - easily and by far the best steak I've ever cooked.