Official OS BBQ/Grilling Thread

[slickdtc]

Re: Official OS BBQ/Grilling Thread

I would love a black stone or any type of flat top, but I just don’t have the space in my kitchen or out back to accommodate one and it starts to become appliance overload. I didn’t know they came with an air fryer option too, that’s pretty cool.

Good luck with the BGE. I’m still stuck on my Traeger going on 3.5 years now. We use it regularly year round. Honestly cooking fish or chicken on there as a convection oven has been its biggest use. You can only smoke large hunks of meat every so often!

[Scott]

Re: Official OS BBQ/Grilling Thread

We recently got a Blackstone to go with our Traeger, all that's missing now is a Pizza Oven

[Blzer]

Has anyone tried dry-aged steaks?

I might try it at a restaurant first before I take an entire portion of a cow to do it myself (plus I need the right refrigeration/circulation and such, and there's a time factor), but I can't tell if it's something I'd like or not.

People describe the taste difference as possibly funky, nutty, umami... and I just can't get a gist of what that's like.

Just curious if there are some out there who think, "Do it. Once you try it, you won't go back." Or like, if I like it would I then assume that if I fed my friends and family they'd immediately like it too? Like it's the way steak was meant to be tasted and has now been unlocked, or something?

Curious on others' thoughts. Thanks.

[KSUowls]

Never had it, but sounds interesting.

Got a Big Green Egg last year and just did my first brisket a couple of weeks ago. I used a home made spicy korean rub that I found online. The bark on one side came out a bit crunchy, but the rest of it was super soft and delicious.

[pietasterp]

Has anyone tried dry-aged steaks?

I might try it at a restaurant first before I take an entire portion of a cow to do it myself (plus I need the right refrigeration/circulation and such, and there's a time factor), but I can't tell if it's something I'd like or not.

People describe the taste difference as possibly funky, nutty, umami... and I just can't get a gist of what that's like.

Just curious if there are some out there who think, "Do it. Once you try it, you won't go back." Or like, if I like it would I then assume that if I fed my friends and family they'd immediately like it too? Like it's the way steak was meant to be tasted and has now been unlocked, or something?

Curious on others' thoughts. Thanks.

Dry-aged steaks are great - you may well have had one (or many) at a steakhouse before and not even realized it. I think I can describe the taste as kind of a more 'intense' beefy flavor - like concentrated beef flavor. Some people say it borders on a strong cheese in terms of funk-factor, but I have not noticed that.

I think dry-aged steaks are good but some people might not even notice the difference. I think the difference would be stark if you gave people 2 bites of steak back-to-back and had them compare the dry-aged vs non-dry-aged, but if you just give someone a dry-aged steak, I don't think they'd immediately notice 'hey, was this dry-aged?'.

It's also kind of a pain to do (you need essentially a whole refrigerator just for that purpose) and you end up wasting a lot of the meat in the process (which is why they're so expensive at a restaurant - because they're throwing away 30% of their primal cut to the dry-aging process). As you probably already know, you basically let the outside of the meat get moldy in a controlled/non-rancid way, and the meat gets slightly de-hydrated and concentrated. Then, after however many days, you end up hacking off all of the moldy parts (essentially the entire 1+ inches off of the outside of the primal cut) and then make your steaks from what's left.

I'd say if you have the opportunity to give it a shot, it would be a fun experiment. If it turns out really well, you can keep doing it. If it's 'meh' or underwhelming, at least you know! Personally, I just let the steakhouses do the dry-aging and then pay them a premium for the trouble.

[Blzer]

Dry-aged steaks are great - you may well have had one (or many) at a steakhouse before and not even realized it. I think I can describe the taste as kind of a more 'intense' beefy flavor - like concentrated beef flavor. Some people say it borders on a strong cheese in terms of funk-factor, but I have not noticed that.

I think dry-aged steaks are good but some people might not even notice the difference. I think the difference would be stark if you gave people 2 bites of steak back-to-back and had them compare the dry-aged vs non-dry-aged, but if you just give someone a dry-aged steak, I don't think they'd immediately notice 'hey, was this dry-aged?'.

It's also kind of a pain to do (you need essentially a whole refrigerator just for that purpose) and you end up wasting a lot of the meat in the process (which is why they're so expensive at a restaurant - because they're throwing away 30% of their primal cut to the dry-aging process). As you probably already know, you basically let the outside of the meat get moldy in a controlled/non-rancid way, and the meat gets slightly de-hydrated and concentrated. Then, after however many days, you end up hacking off all of the moldy parts (essentially the entire 1+ inches off of the outside of the primal cut) and then make your steaks from what's left.

I'd say if you have the opportunity to give it a shot, it would be a fun experiment. If it turns out really well, you can keep doing it. If it's 'meh' or underwhelming, at least you know! Personally, I just let the steakhouses do the dry-aging and then pay them a premium for the trouble.

Thanks! Yep, I've definitely seen a lot of videos on how to do it. I'd have no problem with the "wait," because I always create a set of 7-10 steaks waiting in the freezer for about three months of usage. They get dry-brined, vacuum-sealed, and then preserved for sous vide when I'm ready. What I truly need, as you said, is the proper refrigerator and such.

It's possible that I've had a steak that is dry-aged, but I tried to look up which locations do it near me up here in Sacramento, and it's not too many. Given that the only "steakhouse" I grew up frequenting was Outback, it's also possible that I haven't had it either.

The thing that gives me cautious about that cheese funk description is if it tastes anything like lactobacillus, which I'm not a fan of. It makes me think that meat is spoiled, even though it's totally edible, has health benefits, and some people prefer that taste (including and especially in their cheeses).

Obviously I'm far removed from ever giving this a go, but that's why I said perhaps I try it at a restaurant first before doing it myself. I'd love for this part to be the X factor that was missing in my steaks all this time though, like I unlocked something that nobody else around me could possibly provide, and it's almost unanimously accepted among steak lovers to be a championed process.

[KSUowls]

My brother told me a couple months ago about "pork belly cinnamon rolls". Well, here they are. I didn't do them perfectly, but the flavor is amazing.