Just bagged up a 13.9 lb boneless ribeye and set down in the refrigerator. Bagging went very smoothly, especially with an extra set of hands from my wife. Umai's videos were spot on. 42 days.... that will
be April 15. For once I'll actually be looking forward to that day.
Thanks for the input! That settles it, I'm going for the whole rib sub-primal for a family get together we're hosting over the Memorial Day weekend this year. The entire clan can't make it and knowing that the extra meat can be preserved is a great source of comfort. I'll be heading to Costco to but the meat on Monday.
Last edited by OneEyedJack; May 30, 2018, 01:52 PM.
Woke up this morning like it was Christmas Day - my dry aging boneless ribeye roast has reached the 42 day mark! Pulled it out of the fridge and weighed it. Started with a 13.9 lb roast. Down to 10.1 lbs after aging.
Ready for trimming. Removed about 2.0 lbs of pellicle and fat. BTW, that pellicle is the best tasting, albeit unseasoned, beef jerky I've ever had!
Got 11 beautiful 10-13 oz steaks. Would have sliced them larger, but wanted them to be no more than 2 inches thick for cooking. Vacuum sealed 9 of them and put into the freezer. Saving two for the wood burner tonight. Will post pictures on Show Us What Your Cooking.
Excellent barelfly. We've tried them both reverse seared over a wood fire and sous-vide then seared. We prefer the grilling over wood much more. Seems the lack of moisture in the meat doesn't lend itself so well to sous-vide.
Looks great. I've gotten to try to leave as much of the pellicle on as possible. But it makes an awfully great addition to stocks. And dogs love it too! We're waiting to see some of those babies cooked. 45 for me next time!
I'd like to add a personal note about my experience using these dry age bags. The process is not as bullet proof or as easy as they would have you believe. I just tried to seal a 15 lb. boneless prime rib using a Food Saver V2244. It has been near impossible to get a decent weld seal on the bag, let alone pulling a vacuum on the bag to get the proper meat to membrane contact. I get it that the dry bags are not a true vacuum bag, but the bag needs to be drawn in close contact to the meat in order to work properly. I have been in contact with a moderator on their website and was informed that it was too bad that I didn't experiment more with a meatless bag to determine how my sealer would behave. Seems to me that would have been a good instruction to add to the recommended procedures! I will try again today to make this thing work, but I'm looking at a $200 experiment gone wrong. Worst case is that I'll just steak out the meat and freeze them for future use and forget about the dry age process.
UPDATE:
I went with a smaller bag and used a 3X burn without moving the bag to get a proper seal. The vacuum process went well and again did the 3X burn to seal. The posted photo shows the bag now in good contact with the subject meat, which is 15.4 lbs. of boneless, prime grade rib eye roast. Target date for cooking steaks is May 26th. Will maybe post a photo or two as the process continues.
UPDATE #2:
Following is a summary of my 40 days dry aged prime-prime rib experiment:
Pulled the meat from the fridge on 5/26. It looked kind of funky, but there was no odor whatsoever so I'm feeling good about not poisoning my guests.
The fat cap side
The rib side
The meat lost exactly 3 lbs. of weight during the drying process. Now the trimming starts and then cutting the steaks.
I cut the steaks to 1.5 inches to be set up for a reverse sear. I got 11 full sized steaks and one thinner one out of the roast. They weighed about 12 to 14 oz. BTW, I trimmed about 3 lbs. of fat and discolored meat.
There was enough real estate on my 26" Weber to fit all 8 steaks without crowding. I set up my 22" Weber to be the searing part of the process. This is a crappy photo of the end results. No interior meat shot, but they were wall-to-wall medium rare as desired.
We served the meat with wedge salad and choice of blue cheese or Thousand Island dressing. Bacon and blue cheese crumbles, of course. The other side dish was potatoes gratin. Dessert was lemon tart. Oh yeah, there was some wine making the rounds on the table, too.
The meat flavor was very good and the texture reminded me of a tender New York strip. However, me and Mrs. Jack couldn't really identify a punch of flavor that we were expecting. Don't get me wrong, these were excellent steaks, but so are ones that I dry brine for 2 - 3 days in the fridge. The theatre of the dry aging process makes it a very special occasion for the guests, but I really can't say the whole process was worth the time involved.
Special note: without adding any oil to the meat surface for searing, there was huge fire created by just the fat in the meat rendering. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR GRILL FOR ANY REASON!
Last edited by OneEyedJack; May 30, 2018, 01:56 PM.
Looks great! Will yoy try a different cut next time or done with the process? Or even try a longer aging period o get some of the cheese smell/flavors I’ve read about. I did get some different flavors but, perhaps cooking method can mask those flavors based on the way you go.
I do have a smaller roast I’m going to smoke, interested in that.
I have not done any charcoal on these, and I don’t believe they have seen the grill either. I believe I’ve only Sous Vide and cast iron seared the ones I’ve cooked so far. I’ll have to try different ways to compare.
Really sorry to hear about your bad experience OneEyedJack . I can only relate our experience, which was good. Must admit that I studied the tutorial videos pretty compulsively, but was still nervous on the first try.
I don't think it is at all reasonable to expect you to practice on "meatless" bags. At close to $10/bag that's a pretty darn expensive proposition.
I've found that having used vacuum sealers for many years and having a sound appreciation for how they work has been very helpful in using UMai bags and their ridiculous "vac mouse"! Good luck!
This thread encouraged me to go all in on a new process--exciting. Once I get the Umai bags I will purchase some "big meat" and give it go. Thanks to everybody on this thread; it certainly answers all the questions. Plus I liked the process rigor. Good stuff!
There is a moderator at the dry bag website that is very responsive, if you have any questions or problems. Good luck and be sure to post photos and relay your experiences.
Smokin-It 3D
Weber Kettle with an SNS
Masterbuilt kettle that I call the $30 wonder grill
Bullet by Bull Grills gasser
Anova WiFi sous vide machine
Thermoworks Thermapen and Chef Alarm
I have done one in the past and love it. They turn out great and I have found the process simple. Just follow the directions and watch the videos multiple time. It will help with the process and adhesion. Plus the steak pric is a bit cheaper and you are getting a nice dry aged cut.
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