To be clear, there's a big difference between seasoning it the night before (salt) and aging. Though salt does pull moisture in the aging process, then natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle to tenderize. This won't happen overnight and, in my experience, salt does more harm than good. Two ways beef is aged is "Dry" and "Wet" aging. Wet-aging is the by far the most common method used in the U.S. today. Wet-aging involves putting beef in a vacuum-sealed bag to retain its moisture. The reason stores got away from Dry-aging was due TO the loss of moisture which of course it weight/money.
The Rouses by my house has a dry aging chamber out in the middle of the beef dept where you can see the meat. You reserve the piece of meat you want and what date you want it for. Stuff is expensive. About $25/pound for ribeyes, a bit more for filets. I think they age it for 30 days there in the store at a very precise temp and humidity.
I cooked myself a steak yesterday with a nuclear hot cast iron pan on the stove, followed by a few minutes in oven on full NASA hot. It was pretty good
I have heard of an aging process that involves a room where the walls are lined with Himalayan Salt. Never had it but good lord, I would truck a prom queen to get one of those steaks.
Couple minutes. The pan was ultra turbo maniac hot, had to disable the smoke alarm. Total time like 3 minutes searing and 4 more in the blast furnace oven on max. Tasted like victory. Alton brown does it, it aight
Yeah some restaurants still do it. I guess the high price is a lot to do with the shrinkage as well as the quality.
I'm surprised so few of you broil a steak. My Black and Decker toaster oven has a broil setting and comes with a small broiling pan. It sears meat very well. It is perfect for broiling a couple of ribeyes while microwaving some spuds.
