The Original Dry Bag Steak | Make Artisan Dry Age Steak at Home › Forums › Dry Aging Steak › Dry Aging Steak with UMAi Dry® › First test run.
- This topic has 24 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 7 months ago by
Chad Hayden.
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March 5, 2011 at 12:20 am #1230
Chad Hayden
MemberFirst off, RRP, thanks for the help 2 weeks ago !.. I know you put up with a lot of silly questions and newbie comments and I can appreciate your patience for sure !
I bought a nicely marbled strip at Costco, and cut 2 steaks off of it and my wife and I ate those. Then, I dry bagged the other 2. As some of you may know, I had some issues. I have (well, had) 2 halves of a strip in the fridge.. one seal took great, the other one did not..
I trimmed up the one that did not.. I figured at 14 days, I wanted to see the difference the time made. There was quite a bit to trim off, but still, the finished product looked great.. I got 3 decent sized steaks out of it…
I grilled one tonight on the BGE.. There was a substantial difference in this steak versus 2 weeks ago !! 🙂 .. the tenderness wasn’t quite where I know it could be, but the beefy-ness and all around better meat was certainly evident !!.. after 2 weeks of waiting.. I probably ate that peice of meat in about a minute and a half. So, right now I see the Drybag system as a success, even if my sealing was not..
Looking forward next week !!
March 5, 2011 at 1:56 am #4619Ron Pratt
MemberChad – yours were no silly questions, but I really will challenge to you aging your meat longer than 14 days! My best NY strip to date has been 35 days and my best rib eye 45 days. I also challenge you and others to not trim your aged meat back to what you recognize as “red meat display case steaks”! At least try some after cooking one steak and see if you like it! You go to all the effort to dry age it and then throw the best part away just makes no sense to me!
Do you like GOOD beef jerky? Well the cooked aged portion when enjoyed cold is far superior to jerky! Trust me! Here’s the “rind end cap” that some people gasp when they see it and just throw it away! I don’t – I cherish it as a reward for my efforts!
March 5, 2011 at 1:26 pm #4620MemberI didn’t realize you could save/cook/eat the part that’s trimmed.
I stuck to may game plan. I wanted to try the 14 day one, since it was the one that the seal didn’t take good, and I wanted to get a sense of what progress was made at the 14 day point, especially since I’m still new to this and want the experience. I still have the other half sitting in the fridge, looking nice, and will cut into it at the 28 day mark. We have a small party that day and I’m saving it for that. If it wasn’t for that, I’d wait until the 35 day mark like you suggested.
I’m gonna order some more bags next week and get a 35 day strip started. I was at costco the other night, and they had a USDA prime whole sirloin for about $35. I’d like to try one of those out too for the heck of it.
I’ve seen mention on here about dry aging briskets. Since I cook competition briskets, it’s got me thinking about it. But I have a decent brisket right now and I don’t know if I want to mess with that.
April 8, 2011 at 8:54 pm #4698MemberBack at it AGAIN !… 🙂
I just received 9 subprimal bags in the mail today. I think this will last me for months for the amount of steak I could potentially eat, and bought a few more so I can practice more on getting a great vacuum and seal. Even though it doesn’t take extra bags to do so, I just did it to be more careful.
I’m going to pick up a Prime sirloin tomorrow. When I was in Vegas a few years ago, I had dry aged sirloin and it was awesome, so hoping to duplicate that !. (hey, RRP, any help as far as days I should age would be appreciated !) .. If all works well, I want to get another strip and shoot for 35 days.
Just another exciting time to dry age !
April 8, 2011 at 9:27 pm #4699MemberPrime sirloin – man, am I jealous! :laugh: BTW how heavy of a piece will that sirloin sub-primal be?
While I personally have never aged a sirloin I’d be inclined to go at least 21 days, but probably not more than 28.
By all means be sure to report back on your opinion of how it comes out!
April 9, 2011 at 5:00 pm #4700MemberJust got back with the Sirloin. USDA Prime, 12.70 pounds @ $6.99/lb. Creekstone Farms. From what I can tell, marbling is amazing ! (bought at Costco.)
I had a couple of those dinner sized bags left, and have been practicing on my seal a few times. I’ve been trying on setting 3 and 4 and not much luck yet. I’ve been carefull not to let the material buckle up, etc. I’ve been vacuum sealing small, round, smooth objects so I can see when it loses it’s vacuum pressure. Still not much luck. I do have 9 bags total, and I hope to only have to use upwards of two bags until I get the hang of doing it right.
Going to seal it up this afternoon.
My fridge has been going as low as 30-32 here lately. So, I got to tweek it a bit I think. Johnson Controls makes a contraption that you can plug your fridge into, that will send power on/off to a set-point, and will fuctuate just 2 degrees either way.. I think I’ll invest in that.
Update: I think the seal took after about an hour. I used the pantyhose trick too. Now, I need patience.. “28 days until Christmas” !
April 9, 2011 at 7:44 pm #4701Memberyou do have a Sinbo- right? If so are you pressing the bar down with both hands with equal pressure plus holding it down until the unit beeps? I use the 4 setting and have yet to ever melt a seal. Also after the first seal I move the bag out like 1/4″ and seal it again. I know you don’t have to but I say why not?
April 9, 2011 at 8:05 pm #4702Memberyes, I have a Sinbo. I also carefully apply even pressure across the bar, I’ve tried hard pressure and easy pressure..Right now I just use just enough pressure to where i think it’ll get the job done… I use the 4 setting. As soon as it beeps the first time, I let go. I wait a few seconds and carefully open the sinbo and take the seal off the strip. I think my Sinbo and I just need a bit more practice and working things out before I can really get things dialed in.
But to be honest, if a bag like this that is designed to let the moisture out, it’s bound to lose the vacuum eventually but I could be wrong. (air being thinner than the water that escapes).. Right now I thinking I just need to make sure the meat gets great contact to the material, so the material can do its job efficiently and create its bond to the meat.
April 9, 2011 at 9:52 pm #4703MemberI was thinking over your response while working in my yard and then it hit me. You said you release after the first beep – I hold it until it beeps 3 times – granted those beeps come quickly, but I wonder if that small amount of extra time is the reason I’ve never had a sealing problem.
As for your idea that the bag will lose it’s vacuum over time I agree, but by then the bag should have adhered properly to the meat and that’s all you were wanting the vacuum for in the first place. Same reason that a person using a straw and a bread twisty can have success.
April 10, 2011 at 8:30 pm #4712MemberI used the one beep method because I saw someone else on here say the same thing. I’ve seen youtube videos of someone waiting about 8 beeps. I think that’s the key, is to know which beep to let go of it. So, for that sirloin, I let go at one beep (almost 2 beeps, they beep pretty fast !).. and put panty hose over the meat.. this morning I had 100% great seal !!.. hard to imagine when all the tests I’ve done the past 2 days didn’t hold..But so far so good !.. I’ve thought that maybe I could take the hose off today, but gonna wait the full 3 days first.. I reckon it can’t hurt.
April 10, 2011 at 8:39 pm #4713MemberGlad to hear you had better luck when it was no longer testing time, but the real deal! I’m not sure about 3 days with the hose – has someone said they had had luck that long and the bonding didn’t also include a grabbing of the hose? Assuming your meat had some natural moisture then it is already starting to seep and bond with the bag – hopefully not the hose too.
April 10, 2011 at 9:12 pm #4714MemberThat’s a good point about the hose !.. I’ll check it daily and see how it does, and will post when i take it off.. I pealed it back some today to check the seal/vacuum and all looked well with no seepage/bonding to the hose yet. But, I did not check the bottom, which i have sitting on a cookie drying rack. Gravity should cause the most seepage I would think. Also, I believe a cookie drying rack will work well to move the meat around without touching the meat itself. also, the tighter grid layout of a cookie rack might help with the material staying in constant, better contact than just the typical refridge. rack.
April 11, 2011 at 1:46 am #4715MemberThat cookie rack is a good idea! – I assume you have it elevated somewhat off the shelf for sake of air flow underneath. My cookie rack only has 4 dimple bends raising it only 1/2″.
April 12, 2011 at 2:16 am #4716MemberMy fridge shelves are grates, not solid like glass. The cookie cooling rack is just for transport, and to keep the legs from getting caught in the grates of the fridge, i have it turned upside-down.
I’ve checked the panty hose on the meat, and there’s no seepage or grabbing. Dry as a bone. It’s been 2 days and the seal looks fine, meat is starting to take color, and everything looks great.. Going to take the hose of tomorrow.
April 30, 2011 at 12:14 am #4724MemberGot that sirloin trimmed up, and part of it is in my belly !! 🙂
I was at first going to wait 28 days like RRP had suggested.. That’d put me at next Sunday (day 29).. Thinking about it, I have a Rib invitational contest to do next friday and a full blown bbq contest too, I figured I’d be too wore out to want to even mess with cooking on that Sunday. (pizza usually after a contest !!).. so, I went ahead and trimmed it up..
Well, all in all, it was a great test !!.. the tenderness barely improved from a typical sirloin. The flavor though was outstanding !!.. but it’s been so long since I’ve had a sirloin, it’s hard to really judge the outcome of the tenderness vs. aged. Anyway, I’ll try it again and go longer, but can’t really see how a week or two extra would make a difference in tenderness, but I could be wrong.
Thanks again RRP for the help and inspiration !!.. BTW, RRP, my rib inviational, we are cooking on BGE’s.. I have one at home, and have been practicing. If there is any suggestions or tips on ribs, let me know.. please !! 🙂
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