Got a fridge with wire racks for shelves (my mother's old one I took when I bought her Christmas fridge this year) and some umai bags. I want to dry age a ribeye primal. What tips and findings have y'all experienced when doing this yourself? I know several members here ( Troutman & lonnie mac come to mind) do this on a regular basis. I am looking to replicate Peter Lugars (yes I read the recent review, but that has not been my experience) steaks. I did a search and found a TON of stuff, but figured it would be easier to ask here as well as read each of your own journeys. Thanks in advance amigos.
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Last edited by texastweeter; December 26, 2019, 10:07 AM. -
I did it once a few years ago and it was nearly foolproof of you follow the Umai Instructions. I agreed for about 6 weeks, IIRC. The only tricky part I remember was getting the roast in the bag without contaminating the inside of the bag or dirtying the opening area. -
Just follow the direction texastweeter on the bags. It's a little tricky getting them to seal sometimes, it's not like a regular sealer bag. Just try to get as much air out of the bag as you can, you want as much contact as possible. I like going 28 days but others will go longer. I don't like the results of going much more than a month, the meat gets too dense and tastes funky to me.
Oh and forget about getting Peter Lugar like. Sorry to say the Umai bag is a good way to go but doesn't replace conditioned temperature and humidity of an actual aging vault. Good luck !!!
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Get a glass or steel oven pan. Fill it with 1 inch of salt. Place a wire rack on top. Place the meat on the wire rack. This setup accomplishes a few things:
1. The meat is suspended in air, meaning the whole surface (including the bottom) gets the same treatment. No need to turn/flip
2. The salt absorbs moisture
3. It's dirt cheap and easy to do
Maintain pristine hygiene and you're good. Do 20 days, 30 days and see which one you prefer. That tells you if you want to go longer next time, or stick with 20 or 30 days.
I think the beef turns out so much better. I usually do 30 days, no longer. As one butcher once said: "I want to taste the beef, not the age". This is just a personal preference, to each his own. But that's how I roll.
Good luck!Last edited by Henrik; December 26, 2019, 11:37 AM.Comment
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No, something like this:
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The purpose of the pan is twofold:
A) hold salt to absorb moisture
B) suspend the meat in the air (via the rack)Comment
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Henrik Uncovered in the fridge? That sounds too easy to "contaminate" can it be covered?
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My local butcher was running a holiday special on choice rib roasts and I asked him for advice on dry aging. He said to tell him how big of a roast I wanted and that he'd hang it in his meat locker for as long as I wanted. I have a 7 rib quietly whiling away the time for the next 3 weeks and he's just charging me the wet weight. Gotta love my small town!Comment
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texastweeter Ah! This reminds me of that virtual tour of his dry age room I posted a few years ago. Dive into this link and watch your mouth water!
Like noted, the bags can be a bit of a challenge but nothing hard. You will defiantly need to use the supplied vac mouse pads that come with the bags. These bags are not pleated on one side like your regular bags. Both sides are slick, so no air can be vacuumed without the mouse. You will need a good vacuum sealer. I am sure you already have one. Ideally you will want one that does not have the auto heat seal function. It can take a while to get the air out of these things. On mine, I have to vac just up until it try's to auto seal, turn it off and re hit the vac button. But it works like a charm.
I have gone 30, 35, 45 and 65 days. I think for me I like the 45 day. I have not done a rib roast. I always do up a nice huge NY strip-loin.
This reminds me...
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You will enjoy these bags! I’ve also used their charcuterie bags and made some amazing stuff! Pepperoni, salami, chorizo, to name a few.
Others have gicen great great advice for you...just take your time, watch some of the videos and get your countdown ready! The instructions say this I think but make sure to turn the opening of the bag inside out when you put the roast ina Dan then clean it well. It will help with sealing and not allow moisture up tinpot the vac mouse. As for time, I’ve always gone 42 days with my rib roasts, I enjoy the flavor profile it provides. My next dry age I think I’m goring to try strip loin to try something different.
But I highly recommend the charcuterie kits, even more so than the steak bags. It was a fun project and excellent results! I’ve posted on all my projects, so a sear should bring them up for you. Here’s a fun picture when I had three different projects going at once!
Have fun!Last edited by barelfly; December 27, 2019, 09:10 AM.Comment
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To Oak Smoke and Murdy - I may have read the question wrong, I thought you wanted to skip the bags and do ‘real’ dry aging. If that is the case, then do as I suggested. On the other hand, if you want to use bags, then all I did is to place it on a wire rack (my fridge has glass shelves only). This way the air gets underneath it so it doesn’t need turning. No salt or anything else needed. Let me know if you have more questions.
Below you can see an example of the oven pan + salt + wire rack setup.
Last edited by Henrik; December 27, 2019, 08:43 AM.Comment
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I did a 20 minute YouTube video explaining the details of dry aging with bags that you can find here:
Yes, I speak Swedish in this one, but I subtittled the whole thing in the hopes that it might help.Comment
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I do it Henrik’s way. My frig has low humidity, so the external surface dries out (like a scab). If my frig had high humidity, then the surface would probably grow some mold. But either way the meat loses about 30% moisture and you just cut away the dried or moldy surface, then grill/smoke and enjoy.Comment
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Check out the Hardcore Carnivore's article on dry aging beef. Lots of good info there (and would make me think twice about doing it
)
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finally got the humidity, circulation, and temperature to hold right in my meat ageing fridge. My first big conundrum... Which beef? I'm tossed up between 3:
CAB choice grad 1 or 2
Prime (either CAB or HEB prime 1)
Texas waygu
I'm leaning towards the prime. Does the waygu have TOO much fat? Will there be a noticeable difference in the choice CAB and prime after dry ageing? I say I am leaning towards the prime since most of the dry aged beef served at top steakhouses are prime, but I noticed the move a lot of choice CAB that's been aged at Fresh. I wonder if cost is the reason Fresh sells so much more of the choice than the prime. They don't even sell the Waugh or Aikiashi aged. Thoughts?Comment
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So you haven’t tried yet? Is there much of a difference in cost between prime and CAB? You could start with the cheaper cut just in case. I’ve dry aged both choice and prime grade rib primals but I don’t remember what the difference was because they were done at different times. But, I do know both were good! Last nights ribeye was a chipoice grade, 42 day dry aged cut. Yummy!Comment
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