Tried dry-aging a ribeye in my home fridge for 21 days and got mold instead of flavor

I had this idea to dry-age a prime ribeye at home after watching a guy do it on YouTube... sealed it in cheesecloth and set it on a wire rack in my fridge. Checked on day 10 and saw green fuzzy spots, not the good kind. Turns out my fridge is too humid and I didn't have enough airflow. Threw away a $45 steak and learned the hard way that you need a dedicated setup with controlled humidity. Has anyone here built a cheap dry-aging chamber out of a mini fridge without breaking the bank?

2 comments

2 Comments

scott.alex4d ago

Dude I did the exact same thing with a strip steak last year, saw that same YouTube video and thought I was gonna be some sort of steak genius. Mine turned green on day 12 and I swear my whole fridge smelled like a barn for a week after I threw it out. That $45 lesson stung but at least now I know better than to trust a random video without checking my humidity first.

sanchez.julia4d ago

Trusting a random video without checking my humidity first" - yep, that's exactly what got me too. I followed the same tutorial, wrapped my steak in cheesecloth, put it on a wire rack in the back of the fridge. By day 8 I noticed this weird smell, kind of like damp socks. Pulled it out on day 10 and it had this greenish fuzz that looked like it belonged on a science experiment. I tried scraping it off like an idiot, realized the meat underneath was already slimy and wrong. Had to toss the whole thing and my wife gave me that look, the one that says "I told you not to watch cooking videos at 2 AM.