The great Wagyu home dry-aging project - Day 4.

On "Good Eats," A.B. stopped the dry-aging process on the fourth day. As you'll see below, I'm following that model in a way.


The steak is now at 13.6oz which is a loss of .5oz from yesterday. From 15.3oz beginning weight to 13.7oz is a loss of roughly 11% in four days. Pretty impressive results, but I am worried about dryness (and ruining a great steak!).


Dark and dense. I hope this experiment doesn't result in a completely dry steak! Hopefully the fat content of the meat will rescue it from such a fate.


I've decided that 13.6oz of concentrated Wagyu beef is probably too much for one portion. Sigh.

I've cut the steak in half (Notice the interesting coloration and all that marbling.) and will wrap one portion in plastic wrap to stop the dry-aging process, but I'll continue the process with the second portion.


Beef two ways.


So this portion, at 6.7oz, will endure at least another day of aging.


The double wrapped portion that's done dry-aging. It's actually about 7oz, but I forgot to take a naked photo.

A note on cooking: You're probably thinking I want to grill this stuff, right? Well I do. But there are two problems with that: 1) Our grills here don't get hot, and 2) the amount of fat in this meat will create an inferno as it drips down on to the gas flames.

As a result of these issues, I'll use the cast iron sear + finish for doneness in the oven method. I'm thinking about 1.5 minutes per side on a hot, hot, hot cast iron for the sear and then into a 400 degree oven for 3-5 minutes. I'm shooting for 120-125 internal temp here, so I'll just keep checking until I get there. I think I'll actually use the perforated pie pan that I'm using for aging as the oven cooking method as well. The pan will catch the fat and suspend the meat on skewers so hot oven air can circulate around it.

A note on side dishes: Irvine Farmer's Market first thing tomorrow for sides! I'm thinking steamed fingerling potatoes and perhaps some kale sauteed with garlic and a little crema mexicana to finish. Since I'm cutting the steak in half, I can add some cream to the kale right?

A note on wine: Northstar Merlot Columbia Valley 2005

A note on a heavy metal icon: I'm dedicating this steak to Ronnie James Dio. Apparently RJD was a veggie avoiding carnivore, which no doubt contributed to his fatal stomach cancer. Let us remember his awesomeness and remind ourselves that red meat is only an occasional treat.