Tried dry aging a whole ribeye in my walk-in for 45 days, ended up with $180 of jerky

Jenny Sanchez · 2026-09-29T20:00:03.816176+00:00

So I got a whole bone-in ribeye from my supplier back in March, paid about $180 for it, and figured I'd try dry aging it myself in the walk-in cooler since I had the space. I rigged up a little fan and a wire rack, put a hygrometer in there, and checked it every couple days like it was a newborn baby. At day 30 it looked and smelled right, that nutty beefy smell, so I was feeling pretty good about myself. By day 45 though the outer crust was so hard I had to take a chisel to it, and once I trimmed all the bark off I was left with maybe 40 percent of the original weight. The steaks I got off it were good, don't get me wrong, but when I ran the numbers I basically paid triple per pound for meat I could've bought already aged from my rep. What I learned is that dry aging at home or in a small shop walk-in is a losing game unless you're doing volume and can sell the trim for burgers or tallow. The humidity swings in a walk-in that's getting opened all day will wreck you. Anybody here actually make dry aging work in a small shop without a dedicated aging fridge, or am I just burning money?

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Tried dry aging a whole ribeye in my walk-in for 45 days, ended up with $180 of jerky | Butchers - Opinions Matter