Title: Ask the Test Kitchen: How to dry-age beef at home
Headings: Ask the Test Kitchen: How to dry-age beef at home
Ask the Test Kitchen: How to dry-age beef at home
Susan Selasky
QUESTION: Can you dry age beef at home? How is it done? — Lynn Storm, Washington Township
Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Content: Many upscale markets will carry aged beef. Some are dry-aged and some are wet-aged. When beef is dry aged commercially, hunks of it (before it's cut into individual pieces) are set on racks to air-dry in a climate controlled room. This is not something easily achieved with home refrigerator. After about 11 days in that controlled environment, the meat enzymes begin to break down. Moisture is lost, and the meat shrinks and turns dark. Flavors become more concentrated, and the beef becomes very tender. An Internet search turned up an at-home method for wrapping whole roasts or individual steaks in several layers of cheesecloth and setting the meat in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days. The cheesecloth is unwrapped and rewrapped on the meat daily. I've never tried it, but a friend tried it with steaks and had good results.