Make Dry-Aged Steak Even More Luxurious With This Unexpectedly Sweet Technique

When you sit down to a nice, juicy steak at a good restaurant, you've probably noticed that it's better than the average piece of meat grilled up at home. You certainly pay a lot more for it. However, the difference in quality between a restaurant steak and a homemade one isn't in the price of the cut of beef. The secret to a more flavorful and tender steak lies in dry-aging. Dry-aging involves taking large cuts of meat and letting them age for weeks or even months in a low-temperature, low-humidity environment. This reduces the meat's moisture content, creating a more concentrated flavor and allowing the enzymes to break down the tougher tissue. 

Due to the space and control needed to keep the beef at a consistently low and safe temperature, dry-aging is typically done by professionals and not home chefs. But one TikToker has discovered an unusual — yet undeniably luxurious — way to age meat from the comfort of one's own home: Curing your steak in pure honey. As the TikToker explains, the result is sweet but not overly so, resulting in a taste reminiscent of Chinese spare ribs or Korean short ribs. If you're unable to try traditional dry-aging techniques yourself, then this may be the perfect way to enhance the quality and flavor of your steak, all for a much more reasonable price than a restaurant cut of meat.

Though the TikToker doesn't provide specific instructions for honey-based aging, there is not much to the technique. First, season the steak with salt and pepper to help balance the sweetness before immersing the whole thing in honey. Leave the meat in the fridge for a week. You'll need a lot of honey to completely cover the meat, so add that to your cost comparison for eating at a steakhouse. Once the time is up, wipe the aged meat clean of honey, season it again, and grill to get a nice, caramelized sear on your steak.

One could argue that, because the beef isn't exposed to air during the process, this is actually a form of wet-aging — a technique where pre-portioned steaks are secured tightly in vacuum-sealed bags. While the honey curing also prevents oxygen from reaching the meat, it differs slightly from classic forms of wet-aging. Honey is hygroscopic, meaning it retains moisture, giving you a juicier steak, especially with leaner cuts. Additionally, raw honey tenderizes meat due to its natural enzymes.

Aging your steak in honey may not provide you with the same concentrated beef flavor as dry-aging, but it's a more flexible (and accessible) option for home use. It's especially suitable for smaller cuts of meat. During typical dry-aging, the outer layer of meat breaks down to the point where it's not suitable for consumption. This is why larger cuts of meat are generally used. Thankfully, by curing in honey, you won't need to trim off any portion of the outer layer, leaving you with more steak to enjoy.