factor as you’d think, and we’ll find out why soon Selecting Meat to Age Q: What cut of meat should I buy for aging? To age meat properly, you need a large cut that is best cooked with quick-cooking methods This makes the standard steak house cuts—New York strip, rib, and porterhouse—the ideal cuts for aging (see here for more on the four high-end steaks you should know.) The easiest to find whole (and my personal favorite) is the rib Q: What’s the minimum size I’ll need for proper aging? Can I age a single steak? Nope, unfortunately you can’t age individual steaks You could wrap the steaks in cheesecloth or paper towels, set them on a rack, and leave them in the fridge for about a week, but during that time, no detectable texture or flavor changes will occur Try to age them even longer, and (assuming they don’t start rotting) the meat gets so dried out as to be completely inedible After trimming away the desiccated and slightly moldy bits (perfectly normal for dryaged meat), you are left with a sliver of meat about a halfcentimeter thick, impossible to cook to anything lower than well-done, making your effective yield a big fat zero The simple truth is that in order to dry-age, you need large cuts of meat, and you need to age them in open air Q: So, of these larger cuts of meat, what should I look for? Rib sections come in several different forms, each with its own numerical designation • The 103 is the most intact It’s an entire rib section (with ribs through 12 of the steer), along with a significant portion of the short ribs, the chine bone completely intact and a large flap of fat and meat (called “lifter meat,” not to be confused with the coveted spinalis dorsis) covering the meaty side It’s unlikely you’ll find this cut even if you ask the butcher for it • The 107 has been trimmed somewhat, with the short ribs cut short, some (but not all) of the chine bone sawed off, and the outer cartilage removed This is how rib sections are commonly sold to retail butchers and supermarkets, where they can be further broken down • The 109A is considered ready to roast and serve It has had the chine bone nearly completely sawed off and the lifter meat removed The fat cap is then put back in place • The 109 Export is essentially identical to the 109A, except it does not have the fat cap This is the cut you’ll see on your Christmas table or at that fancy-pants hotel buffet The meat on this cut is only minimally protected on the outside I aged a 107, a 109A, and a 109 Export in a mini-fridge (this one from Avanti) set at 40°F, in which I had placed a small computer fan to allow for air circulation (I had to cut a small notch in the sealing strip around the door so the fan’s cord could pass through), simulating a dry-aging room on a small scale I made no attempt to regulate the humidity, which bounced around from 30 and 80 percent (higher at ...own numerical designation • The 103 is the most intact It’s an entire rib section (with ribs through 12 of the steer), along with a significant portion of the short ribs, the chine bone completely intact... where they can be further broken down • The 109A is considered ready to roast and serve It has had the chine bone nearly completely sawed off and the lifter meat removed The fat cap is then put back in place... and a large flap of fat and meat (called “lifter meat,” not to be confused with the coveted spinalis dorsis) covering the meaty side It’s unlikely you’ll find this cut even if you ask the butcher for it • The 107 has been trimmed somewhat, with the short ribs