Steakager
Every once in a while I get an email from a follower of this blog asking me about a product. I had never heard of Steakager, a very recent and successful Kickstarter project. However, as I have been dry aging beef at home for over 10 years, I just had to investigate.
The Steakager is an absolutely brilliant invention. A dedicated chamber that you place in your fridge that allows you to age beef in a very similar manner to the finer butcher shops. All the little details have been worked out too, a UV light to eliminate harmful bacteria, carbon filter to filter air returning to the fridge, humidity and temperature LCD display, day counter to keep track of your aging progress, upper and lower racks for aging your meats and bluetooth connectivity to your device (soon to be released). A salt sachet and dedicated space for a himalayan salt block if you choose to age with salt. This is a well thought out and well engineered product.
Over the years I have used many different methods to age beef: cheese cloth, Umai dry age bag, climate controlling the fridge with computer fans, and himalayan salt, and now, the Steakager.
When I initially started to dry age I used cheesecloths and a pretty in depth process of changing the cheese cloth every few days and really having to tend to it regularly. This method worked however, it was cumbersome.
I then discovered the Umai dry age bag. The bags were finicky and a pain to seal with the snorkel vac they provided with the kit I got. However lately they have made some adapters so that it can work with a foodsaver vacuum. The principle behind these bags is that they let moisture out but prevent moisture from entering the bag, thus drying out the meat. As much as I liked the tidiness and the low maintenance of this method, the dry aged flavour was not the same as the cheese cloth method. There was also the continued cost of having to purchase bags which run at around $7 and up per bag. After playing around with this method for about 8 months, I decided to go back to aging my beef the more traditional way.
I had now resorted to using fans in the fridge door and himalayan salts to age my beef. This method produced the results and flavour of dry aged beef that I loved so much. Here you see about 50 pounds of awesome beef aging with the himalayan salt. The problem with this method is that you have really got to monitor what you are doing and know how to age properly. This is not an easy task in your regular home fridge. I would not recommend this method for someone new to aging beef.I have now transitioned into using the Steakager. This steak aging chamber brings everything I want in dry aging into a simple to use, user friendly, home fridge environment. I did a test run with a couple bone in ribs, and was just blown away with the outstanding results for home dry aging.
If you love steaks and dry aged beef, the Steakager is a must. Dry aged beef sells for 3 to 4 times as much as regular beef. With the Steakager you buy good quality sub primal beef cuts and transform it into dry aged beef easily and simply. For the more adventurous, the possibilities exist to age pork, lamb and even create a pellicle for smoking salmon in the Steakager.
The Steakager is designed to fit into most fridges. However, if I had a wish list for the Steakager it would be to have a bigger model size that would be able to fit a sub primal cut. The current size is ideal for all home use, but will not fit a sub primal without cutting it.
***There are plans for larger Steakager units in the working that would be able to accommodate a whole sub primal*** This would be suited for enthusiasts, and larger families.
My final impression of the Steakager is that this thing is friggin' awesome. It is a must have for the foodie and steak lover in you. Well done Steakager however I prefer medium rare !
I will save the pellicle for stock.
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