Pimp My Roast
You may have skills in the kitchen, but nothing says “you’ve got game” at your next holiday dinner, like dry-aged beef.
Dry-aged beef is an upgraded a.k.a. ‘pimped-out’ version of wet-aged beef. “Unlike any wet-aged Prime beef you’d find at the grocery store,”says Danny McCallum, Executive Chef at Jacob’s Steakhouse, “dry-aging removes excess water content so all that is left is alot more flavour.”
But, this type of pimped-out beef is expensive and hard to come by. So unless you’ve got butcher homie to do it for you, it’s hard to enjoy a dry-aged steak at home.
The next best option: dry-age the beef yourself!
“Unwrap your meat and place it on a piece of parchment paper on the bottom shelf of an empty fridge.” said McCallum, “Make sure the fridge remains empty so the beef doesn’t absorb any food smells, and replace the paper every two days. Put a large container of Kosher salt in the fridge to absorb all moisture, and away you go!”
For rookie dry-agers, a 5-7 day aging period is recommended, but, once you’ve mastered the process, “a large cut of meat can dry age for up to 80 days,” said McCallum.
For a holiday roast, try the following recipe:
Dry-age a Prime(4 bone-in) standing rib roast upright for nine days at 50 – 60 per cent humidity and 1 – 3 degrees Celsius. Before roasting, use a sharp knife to shave off the hard, dried outer layer of the meat.
Season the roast with sea salt and pepper, place on a roasting pan, rib-side down and sear for 15 minutes at 230 degrees Celsius.
“This will caramelize the outside for deep flavour to develop,” said McCallum.
Turn the oven down to 160 degrees Celsius for the rest of the cooking time. Place the tip of an instant-read meat thermometer into the thickest past of the roast, pointing out. Every half hour, baste the cut ends of the roast with the fat accumulated in the roasting pan. Do Not Cover the roast.
After an hour and a half, begin checking the internal temperature. When the internal temperature reaches 125-130 degrees Celsius, the meat is medium-rare. Remove from oven, cover with aluminum foil, and let sit approximately 15 to 20 minutes.