Tried dry aging a ribeye in my home fridge for 14 days, got a funky result

So I've been cutting meat for about 6 years now, mostly at a local shop in Spokane. I figured I knew enough to try dry aging a single ribeye at home. Wrapped it in cheesecloth, put it on a wire rack over a tray, set my fridge to the coldest setting. Checked it every couple days, surface looked fine until day 9, then this weird sour smell hit me. Tossed it on day 12 because the outside turned almost slimy in one spot. Turns out my fridge runs humid, and I didn't have a fan blowing on it. The shop has a dedicated aging cabinet with airflow control, so I guess I was asking for trouble. Has anyone else messed up a home dry age? How do you deal with humidity without buying a $2,000 setup?

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kimr102mo ago

lmao yeah that sour smell is basically your fridge telling you it's not a meat cave, it's just a cold box with bad vibes. I did the same thing with a strip loin a couple years back, ended up with something that smelled like a wet dog that ate a gym sock. The cheesecloth trick only works if you've got airflow, otherwise you're just giving the bacteria a nice cozy blanket to party in. Honestly, your best move without a real setup is to skip the dry age at home and just do a salt crust or a quick uncovered rest in the fridge for a couple days max. Or buy a cheap mini fridge, drill some holes, and stick a USB fan in there, that's like a $50 hack that actually works, way better than crying over a trash bag full of sad beef.

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