Tried dry-aging a ribeye in my home fridge for 21 days

I rigged up a setup with a small fan and a salt block in my spare fridge at the shop in Portland. After 3 weeks, the outside crust was fine but the meat had this weird ammonia smell I couldnt shake. Learned you really need a dedicated humidity controlled unit or its just not worth the risk. Anyone here ever salvage a batch that went off like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

daniel5521mo ago

Yeah that ammonia smell is a bad sign man. I had the same thing happen with a 28 day strip loin in a mini fridge I tried to convert. The problem is home fridges push too much moisture out and create a weird bacterial situation that makes that smell. Once you get that ammonia smell the meat is basically ruined, there's no bringing it back. I tried trimming deep and cooking it anyways and it still tasted like a dirty gym sock. You'd need a dedicated fridge with humidity control, or at least a frost free fridge thats not opening and closing all the time. Just toss it and start over with a proper setup next time.

cameron6841mo ago

@daniel552, man that sucks. Did you try the bag method at all?