The Secret in Great Steakhouses is Dry Aging. There is simply nothing like it. It adds unmatched flavor and tenderness that marinating just can’t touch. The problem is that there has not been an affordable and safe way to do it at home, so we decided to create The SteakAger.
You don’t want to dedicate an entire fridge to aging a piece of beef (way too costly and space consuming), and you surely don’t want a NY Strip hanging out on a plate with all the other stuff in there, so the SteakAger isolates your beef, while aging it safely and perfectly. All you need to do is buy a cut of beef at your local grocery store, load it in The SteakAger, let it age, take it out and enjoy the best steak you have ever eaten.
Dry Aging is the process of taking a Primal cut of beef (think Whole NY Strip, not individual steaks) driving out the moisture and allowing the enzymes to tenderize the meat and the fat to oxidize so it creates incredible flavor. If your eyes have not glazed over with that, the truth is that it is a process that all the really great steakhouses use to produce an outstanding steak. Check this out from one of the best steakhouses in the US:
Some of the cuts used:
Until NOW, the Dry Aging process was relegated to the high end steakhouses, and to some online butcher shops that sell steaks from $35 per pound. We created the SteakAger so that anybody can go to their local grocery store, buy a nice cut of beef from $4 to $12 a lb put it in the SteakAger and Dry Age it for 12-70 days depending on your taste.
What you will get using the SteakAger is a super tender and delicious steak that rivals any great steakhouse anywhere. This is an 11 lb bone in Prime Rib that we Dry Aged in theSteakAger for 22 days, prior to carving: This baby cost us just $8.99 a lb at the local market.
Once we carved it you can see the gorgeous steaks we were able to get. The fat becomes like butter and the beef is super tender. A far superior product in both look and taste than unaged.
Our Dry Aging box is made of high density food grade cutting board material. It sits right on your fridge shelf and is powered by a tiny 12 volt DC power pack you plug in to a wall outlet. It duplicates the environment of the walk in dry aging fridges in the great steakhouses.
We gave it a circulating fan for the drying process, a Himalayan Salt Satchel to add flavor and aid in drying. We put in a germicidal UVC lamp for safety, a humidistat and exhaust fan to control humidity and an activated carbon filter, so there is zero smell inside the fridge.
Then we added a controller and proprietary software to perfectly control the Dry Aging environment.
All you have to do is place a cut of beef in the box, slide The SteakAger into the fridge, plug it into a wall outlet and wait. That’s it, it’s really that simple. Age your beef for a minimum of 12 days to however adventurous you are.
We set out to create a very affordable way for people to dry age beef right in their home fridge. So for only $159 you will be able to replicate the awesome steaks you would get at a high end steakhouse.
Before we got all hung up on a beautiful design, we had to do the grunt work and create a few prototypes we could test.
As you can see, the first one was not pretty, but boy did she work.
We inserted an 11 lb T-Bone in the SteakAger, put the box in our garage fridge (you know the one where you keep beer, water and Gatorade) plugged it in and began to wait a full 30 days.
The changes we began to see were remarkable. Real Dry Aging just like in the walk-in fridges at the best steakhouses in the country.
We pulled it out periodically to weight it and see texture and smell, being careful not to pull out the wires or electrocute ourselves.
It was about day 17 we knew our idea was a winner. So at day 30 we pulled it out, carved it and realized that we had created a perfectly aged T-Bone from our garage beer fridge, only using 1 small shelf. A steak that would cost $50 plus at a restaurant for less than $10. Winner Winner Steak Dinner!
See how beautiful the meat looks and how creamy the fat has become! We had to throw it on the grill and get a taste.
It was truly amazing!
Super tender and flavorful with no pool of juice on the plate. The dry aging had created an awesome steak that melted in our mouths.
To make sure we just didnt get “Lucky” we did it again, this time with a Prime Rib. Hokey Smokey another home run.
It was then that we knew we had to produce The SteakAger for all the good hard working people out there that want to eat an amazing Dry Aged Steak, straight from their fridge, easily, safely and on a budget. All our cuts came straight from the grocery store, not a fancy butcher. We created a journal of our journey, check it out on Facebook.
We have redesigned the prototype to get rid of all the wires and gizmos hanging off the side (that’s what happens when you create a prototype) and make it something beautiful to put in your fridge to let people create amazing Dry Aged Steaks. Now we need money to finish producing it beyond the prototype level.
To thank you for your support we have put together a nice set of rewards for your contribution (See Above). Our team is committed to creating a premium product at a reasonable cost that will allow people everywhere to enjoy delicious Dry Aged Beef at home with cuts directly from their grocery store.
You don’t need to find a spot for a whole new fridge, just a spot in the fridge you already own. We are in the final innings, all the hard work has been done, now we just need to polish it and make it shine.
Help us bring true Dry Aged Beef to the masses Your contribution will change the way people look at beef from the supermarket.
We understand if the SteakAger is not for you, but we also know there is someone in your life who loves a great steak: Dad, Brother, Mom, BFF
Share our campaign in an email, a tweet, or Facebook post. Kickstarter makes it easy for you to share. Help the worlds steak lovers unite, for a delicious Dry Aged Steak from The SteakAger.