i smoked a couple racks of ribs today. oh my goodness - they were sooooo crazy juicy - just amazing!!! i'm not sure why these ones were so much more juicy than normal? i did notice they had a little more fat on them so i wonder if that was it?
all i know is i'm looking forward to left overs tomorrow night for dinner!
__________________ "...and there goes Finger up the middle on Luongo!" - Jim Hughson, Av's vs. 'Nucks
Not sure if this belongs in the BBQ thread, but there isn't really a "meat project megathread". In the process of building a dry-ager/curing fridge. Testing it out and trending humidity/temp with some koji aged blade steaks before I attempt a full sub-primal for 45 days. Figured I might not be the only one here into this sort of thing.
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I'm definitely interested in following the meat aging process!
I put two bar size fridges in my basement bar when we developed it. I store beer/pop in one and the other one sits empty. So I figured why not re-purpose into a dry aging fridge. I bought a striploin roast at co-op for my first attempt at dry aging. I bought some cheap analog temp/humidity sensors at Canadian tire and ordered a little computer fan on amazon. I put the computer fan in the fridge with a HDMI charger from a battery pack.
The fridge lasted about 2 weeks and then died permanently. It was about 12 years old and I think the shock of the fan being in there killed it. I haven't bought a new bar fridge yet - and I just bought a Traeger Century 885 at Costco this weekend so my meat accessories budget is blown for a bit.
Striploins dry aged 14 days taste just like regular striploins.
I'd be very interested to hear about your set-up for temp/humidity/fan etc!
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Striploins dry aged 14 days taste just like regular striploins.
Haha yeah anything under 28 days there isn't much of a difference.
I just got my thermal camera to find the refrigerant lines before I drill into the fridge to run the permanent wiring. After the koji steaks are out of there I'll tear it apart and start the dry-ager build. I'll be documenting the whole thing so I'll post it here or a link to it at least.
The quick and dirty: Temp/humidity control - Inkbird Ihc200 and Itc308. The temp control won't be an issue for dry-aging, as it needs to sit at 0-4C anyway. For curing sausages it needs to be about 15C, in which case I'll need to use the temp controller to run the fridge. Bluetooth thermometer and hygrometer to measure and trend.
Humidity - Honeywell cold mist humidifier tied into the Inkbird. Salt block if I need to reduce humidity. Likely not a dry-age issue, possibly a curing issue.
Airflow - cheap USB desk fan
Fridge was a Marathon 4.5 cu/ft bar fridge I got from Costco. Thought about picking up a second so I can do curing and aging at the same time. Sadly they went up $80 since I bought mine.
Likely going to tie it into a UPS as well in the event of a power failure, but need to see if that'd even handle load.
Last edited by DownhillGoat; 03-18-2021 at 11:24 PM.
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Similar, but substantially more controlled. I appreciate what he did but I'm not doing this inside a fridge seeing normal use. I'd have to re-watch that, I haven't seen it in a while. From what I recall he just isolated it from the rest of the fridge in a styrofoam cooler.
EDIT: Just watched it again. So sort of, but not really. I have none of the constraints he does right off the bat (cost, not wanting to use a new fridge exclusively for this, noise, requirement to film the process). I'm building a standalone fridge dedicated to it (instead of a dry-ager-in-a-fridge). So the process will more or less be the same, but the equipment won't be. I'll be doing something closer to what Brad Leone did on It's Alive.
Kudos to him and guys like Brad Leone who were pioneering this kind of stuff for home use. It's advanced enough in the last few years that schlubs like me can just go ahead and do it without much trial-and-error.
Last edited by DownhillGoat; 03-19-2021 at 12:18 AM.
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Haha yeah anything under 28 days there isn't much of a difference.
I just got my thermal camera to find the refrigerant lines before I drill into the fridge to run the permanent wiring. After the koji steaks are out of there I'll tear it apart and start the dry-ager build. I'll be documenting the whole thing so I'll post it here or a link to it at least.
The quick and dirty: Temp/humidity control - Inkbird Ihc200 and Itc308. The temp control won't be an issue for dry-aging, as it needs to sit at 0-4C anyway. For curing sausages it needs to be about 15C, in which case I'll need to use the temp controller to run the fridge. Bluetooth thermometer and hygrometer to measure and trend.
Humidity - Honeywell cold mist humidifier tied into the Inkbird. Salt block if I need to reduce humidity. Likely not a dry-age issue, possibly a curing issue.
Airflow - cheap USB desk fan
Fridge was a Marathon 4.5 cu/ft bar fridge I got from Costco. Thought about picking up a second so I can do curing and aging at the same time. Sadly they went up $80 since I bought mine.
Likely going to tie it into a UPS as well in the event of a power failure, but need to see if that'd even handle load.
Yeah, I knew 14 days wasn't enough, but that's when the fridge died and once it had come up to room temp I didn't want to start aging again in another fridge.
I'm watching for sale on a couple of matching bar fridges that fit the existing holes in the bar, and will be up and running for attempt number two. Definitely interested to follow along your progress - please keep posting!
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Not sure if this belongs in the BBQ thread, but there isn't really a "meat project megathread". In the process of building a dry-ager/curing fridge. Testing it out and trending humidity/temp with some koji aged blade steaks before I attempt a full sub-primal for 45 days. Figured I might not be the only one here into this sort of thing.
If you can make this work that is awesome. I looked into dry aging about 5 years ago and it just seemed like too much hassle and risk for me to get involved with. I would love to do it though.
Yeah, I knew 14 days wasn't enough, but that's when the fridge died
Oh for sure. Wasn't a knock on you or anything. Just meant I wasn't surprised it didn't change at all.
Have you tried any Koji "aging"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by calgarygeologist
If you can make this work that is awesome. I looked into dry aging about 5 years ago and it just seemed like too much hassle and risk for me to get involved with.
Honestly I've seen enough home builds and with stuff like the inkbirds available now I don't see it not working. As long as the humidity works out the way I've got it in my head I think it's going to be fairly fool-proof. There's a few pitfalls obviously but I'm confident enough to use a decent cut for my first age.
My bigger concern is going to be when I transition to curing, especially doing fermented sausage. Lots more to go wrong when you start throwing in starter cultures and whatnot.
Oh for sure. Wasn't a knock on you or anything. Just meant I wasn't surprised it didn't change at all.
Have you tried any Koji "aging"?
Honestly I've seen enough home builds and with stuff like the inkbirds available now I don't see it not working. As long as the humidity works out the way I've got it in my head I think it's going to be fairly fool-proof. There's a few pitfalls obviously but I'm confident enough to use a decent cut for my first age.
My bigger concern is going to be when I transition to curing, especially doing fermented sausage. Lots more to go wrong when you start throwing in starter cultures and whatnot.
I haven't tried koji aging yet. Is there a good place to get koji in Calgary?
I agree there is almost no chance of any issues with your set up. I actually think its probably overkill. Calgary is so dry that I found the humidity in my bar fridge was always well within the acceptable range without any desiccant of any kind.
I would be a bit concerned about switching back and forth between dry aging and curing. The cultures curing meat probably aren't the same as the ones you want for dry aging. Might be worth sanitizing between.
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They definitely aren't. If/when I switch I'll sanitize for sure. If I don't do a second setup, I'll likely use it for dry aging for a year or so, freeze the cuts, then swap it to curing.
Hahaha if there's a word to describe me it's "overkill" so you're right on the mark there. I'm more worried about it being too dry rather than too humid. Unless I'm completely missing something, theoretically the humidity should be fairly close to the RH in the house, slightly lower due to the lower temp, and possibly slightly higher as the meat loses moisture. I have a humidifier for inside as I assume that's going to be my struggle. Any blogs Ive read using descicant (or a dehumidifier) were in places like Florida or Thailand. I assumed lack of humidity would be an issue here. Surprisingly I was talking to someone at work who does curing, and he has an issue with it being too humid even on Calgary, which really really surprised me.
So far I've started around 60-70% with it cycling from 50-60 with temp fluctuations as the meat dries. Might be an issue come summer, but certainly not in winter. In my head at least.
If you want powder (rice Koji), just order the cold mountain stuff off Amazon. If you want liquid shio Koji, I get mine from A-Mart but I'd have to imagine TnT carries it too. AFAIK there's only one brand of the pure liquid. A few brands that do a "creamy Koji" but I haven't seen them in town. You can also make that style using the Cold Mountain rice Koji, water, and salt.
There's also a company in Van that makes rice Koji too, but I haven't ordered from them yet.
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They definitely aren't. If/when I switch I'll sanitize for sure. If I don't do a second setup, I'll likely use it for dry aging for a year or so, freeze the cuts, then swap it to curing.
Hahaha if there's a word to describe me it's "overkill" so you're right on the mark there. I'm more worried about it being too dry rather than too humid. Unless I'm completely missing something, theoretically the humidity should be fairly close to the RH in the house, slightly lower due to the lower temp, and possibly slightly higher as the meat loses moisture. I have a humidifier for inside as I assume that's going to be my struggle. Any blogs Ive read using descicant (or a dehumidifier) were in places like Florida or Thailand. I assumed lack of humidity would be an issue here. Surprisingly I was talking to someone at work who does curing, and he has an issue with it being too humid even on Calgary, which really really surprised me.
So far I've started around 60-70% with it cycling from 50-60 with temp fluctuations as the meat dries. Might be an issue come summer, but certainly not in winter. In my head at least.
The lower temperature increases relative humidity. As air warms up it can hold more moisture, so when you cool it down it keeps the moisture it has which raises the relative humidity. That effect is where ice on freezer coils comes from - the cold air can't hold as much humidity, so it condenses out on the sides and freezes.
I agree that you're more likely to need to add humidity (especially in the winter). For the time i tried it I found neither was necessary, but I try and keep the humidity up in my house, so the rh of the input air was around 50%. Moisture off the meat and the temperature effect was enough to keep it in range. YMMV, obviously.
If you want powder (rice Koji), just order the cold mountain stuff off Amazon. If you want liquid shio Koji, I get mine from A-Mart but I'd have to imagine TnT carries it too. AFAIK there's only one brand of the pure liquid. A few brands that do a "creamy Koji" but I haven't seen them in town. You can also make that style using the Cold Mountain rice Koji, water, and salt.
There's also a company in Van that makes rice Koji too, but I haven't ordered from them yet.
Have you tried both the liquid and powder? If so, which would you recommend?
Semi-related to our thread: Does anyone know if propane cylinders expire at the beginning or the end of the month that they are marked?
Coincidentally, I have a cylinder that is marked April 2011, and they expire after 10 years. So... have I missed my chance for one last fill, or will I slip in just under the wire?
Generally speaking anything in a month/year format would be the end of the month. I'm pretty sure I've filled during the last month.
The only caveat would be how long you run through them. If it's going to sit for another year or two, do you want to take that risk for a pretty nominal savings.
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Semi-related to our thread: Does anyone know if propane cylinders expire at the beginning or the end of the month that they are marked?
Coincidentally, I have a cylinder that is marked April 2011, and they expire after 10 years. So... have I missed my chance for one last fill, or will I slip in just under the wire?
It really depends on who is filling it. Nothing to lose by trying.
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The only caveat would be how long you run through them. If it's going to sit for another year or two, do you want to take that risk for a pretty nominal savings.
In the spirit of this thread, I'll aim to get through it by summer. The tank is in pretty good visible shape, but it won't be sitting around for long either.
I actually have a good backup plan. My dad is going to Costco to fill his and offered to take mine as well. THEN he offered to grab a new cylinder and fill it if they wouldn't fill the cylinder in question. The old man is a good one.
The tank is in pretty good visible shape, but it won't be sitting around for long either.
