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Scott Mark.
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April 24, 2012 at 2:58 am #1397
Scott Mark
MemberToday I shopped at Sam’s Club and brought home two Top Sirloin sub-primals and a Ribeye sub-primal. *grumble* the Top Sirloin was much more than I paid the last time. This time I had to pay $3.86/lb for top sirloin and $6.97/lb for the ribeye. They are both listed as “Angus” choice, but I’ve learned that the word “Angus” means (hopefully) that the breed is Angus, and says nothing about the quality of the meat.
I removed the “rump cover” / “culotte” / “picanha” from one of the top sirloins, and drybagged both parts. They fit easily into two sub-primal bags and I was able to use the chamber sealer for those two. I always feel more confident about the seal when I can use the chamber sealer.
The other top sirloin I did not separate, and finally got it into a sub-primal bag. I will have to remember to get the smallest one next time, rather than the largest. It was quite a chore to get all the air out, because the meat was so tight to the bag, but eventually the Sinbo and I were able to get the air out and I thought I got a pretty decent seal.
The ribeye was no trouble. However, I thought back to the last ribeye that I did — there’s the fat side that is smooth, and then there is this wavy side because of the bones. And there are usually some cuts and dry-aging kinda works on the surface and so — I decided that I would try trimming those cuts off before drybagging, Also, on the ribeye there’s the major eye of meat, and there’s a pretty substantial triangle that is almost all fat except for one bit of muscle that’s about thumb-size in diameter, running the length of the sub-primal. As an experiment, I removed about half the length of it, to see if it’s better to use as-is, or if there’s enough of it left after aging to justify waiting.
Of course, I’m going to be sampling the non-aged stuff in the next day or so, and the aged stuff in 30-45 days or so. Which means that I’m going to have to rely on (har, har!) MUSCLE MEMORY to try and compare the non-aged stuff with the aged stuff. (har, har)
So I’ve got a somewhat sleekified ribeye aging, and I’ve got a small vacuum bag with some “trimmings” that will get 45 minutes in the ‘hot tub’ at 129F, a quick sear, and a bed of greens for lunch Tuesday.
YUM.
The Sinbo needs a serious cleanout, so I’ll be taking it completely apart in the next few days. I printed an article some time ago about how to clean it. It’ll be some work, but I think the results will be worth the effort.
I had some time to read last week, and I went through most of the book “A Butcher’s Guide to Well Raised Meat” — I can’t recommend it enough. We are the ones who are seeking tenderness and flavor. Some of that is from the aging, and some of that is from the animal. I’m learning more about the impact of the animal.
April 24, 2012 at 10:32 pm #6054Ron Pratt
MemberWe will await your test results with much-o interest!
BTW Scott, in your last paragraph it’s very understandable that the diet, treatment and even terrain of the animal would have great impact,. OTOH unless you raise your own or know someone who can be a reasonable source we are all at the mercy of the corporate beef producers and packing operations so it remains a crap shoot for most of us!
April 24, 2012 at 10:42 pm #6055MemberI agree completely. If we plan ahead and do things right, we can get beef from a known source, etc, etc. But most of us are going to have to pick a sub-primal from Sam’s Club or CostCo or similar, so I think it’s a more realistic experiment to pull from the generally available supply.
May 1, 2012 at 9:08 pm #6068Allen
Memberi just finished a 30 day NY and i would have to say it was excellent.. i also just started a ribeye that ill let go for 40/45 days this is my first ribeye, and ribeyes are my favorit! so im really looking foward to this and to see the difference. is 40/45 days a good target ? its a 14.25 pounder
May 1, 2012 at 11:01 pm #6069MemberGlad to hear of your success, Allen! You’re hooked like the rest of us! If you liked that NY I’ll guarantee you’ll be pleased with the rib eye results! I have yet another rib eye aging right now myself…as it seems :whistle: somebody and his wife :whistle: love them and keep depleting the inventory!
Ron
May 3, 2012 at 12:52 am #6070Barry
MemberJust put another ribeye in also. It’s good to keep more than one aging. It’s way too easy to go through a whole one!
This is a good thing to be hooked on!May 8, 2012 at 6:44 pm #6083ron iwamiya
MemberI’m new to this drybag process but just completed a 30 day NY strip. We found it much more tender than a non-aged strip steak and the flavor was very good. I ended up smoking it for a hour on a Mak pellet grill using some mesquite pellets, than finished it with a sear using some grill grates on my gas grill. I just started a 19lb ribeye steak. I use a vacmaster chamber sealer so I cut the ribeye in two. I still had problems fitting that beast into the subprimal bags. I plan on taking one to 30 days and the other to 45 days. If you have a restaurant depot store close to you, they have their own label superior angus beef top sirloin butts for $3.69 a pound this month. I almost bought this one too but I’ll wait for your outcome.
Ron
May 9, 2012 at 1:28 am #6084MemberWelcome, Ron! Sounds like you are getting off to a delicious start.
May 12, 2012 at 4:07 am #6085MemberI got the pics (GREAT) through the E-mail. But this posting shows up empty on the drybagsteak forum.
May 24, 2012 at 4:00 am #6118Member(What’s up with the restriction on Subject length?
Tomorrow, the ending starts!)Thursday, after 30 days, I’ll cut the Top Sirloin and the Ribeye into steaks. I’ll be doing an experiment with SMALL cuts of Top Sirloin to test 2, 4, 6 hours in the hot tub at 129F, to see which is tender, more tender, or raggish (unappealing).
Saturday, I’ve got about 30 people coming for dinner to compare Top Sirloin -vs- Ribeye. Regardless of the beef, that’s a lot of sides and so forth to handle. I’m more than a bit nervous.
May 25, 2012 at 5:40 am #6121MemberTonight we did a preamble, Top Sirloin -vs- Top Sirloin, to make the best competitor against ribeye.
We did top sirloin of 6 1/2 hours, 4 1/2 hours, and 2 1/2 hours. All at 129F. Then we finished with some seasoned salt (Lawry’s) over a _magnificently_ hot fire to create a crust, and then we served.
Big winner was the 2 1/2 hour Top Sirloin. Nobody was shy about finishing the other time-length steaks. But the 2 1/2 hour Top Sirloin was the clear winner.
Saturday we compare Top Sirloin to Ribeye. But I’ll say that the Top Sirloin Thursday was good enough for me. Wow.
May 26, 2012 at 2:31 am #6122Membertoasty wrote:
quote :Saturday, I’ve got about 30 people coming for dinner to compare Top Sirloin -vs- Ribeye. Regardless of the beef, that’s a lot of sides and so forth to handle. I’m more than a bit nervous.Scott (toasty) I have to admire you for the challenges you take on! Are these 30 people some fraternal or family thing? I’m not sure at my age I even know 30 people who I want in my home much less preparing a sit-down dinner for them!
Ron :laugh:
May 26, 2012 at 2:56 am #6123MemberRRP wrote:
quote :toasty wrote:quote :Saturday, I’ve got about 30 people coming for dinner to compare Top Sirloin -vs- Ribeye. Regardless of the beef, that’s a lot of sides and so forth to handle. I’m more than a bit nervous.Scott (toasty) I have to admire you for the challenges you take on! Are these 30 people some fraternal or family thing? I’m not sure at my age I even know 30 people who I want in my home much less preparing a sit-down dinner for them!
Ron :laugh:
Yes, this is a big one. For my 40th birthday, I served a 7-course sit-down, with alternates, for 17 people at my house. That was probably bigger and the food much fancier. This is just going to be beef and lots of it, potatoes, simple sides. No seafood or poultry courses.
The group is probably a 50-50 split of families from my son’s chess team, and friends and relatives that we have over often for meals.
May 27, 2012 at 7:24 pm #6124MemberScott,
I’m sure I can speaking for many of us here…anxious to hear a report about last night. OTOH that was a big task and you need some rest – soooooo when you do have time we are all ears! BTW Happy Belated Birthday!
RonMay 27, 2012 at 7:44 pm #6125MemberEr, THAT birthday was over six years ago!
I’ve got lots of pictures, that need to be resized and uploaded,etc. before I can use them.
We had 22 diners, four did not eat beef. We didn’t get 18 ballots, but we got at least a dozen, and all but three preferred sirloin to ribeye. Considering the economics of the thing, I know which way I’m going to go.
There’s one thing about sirloin that continues to make me nervous. At this point, I’ve dry-aged four top sirloins. The first came out great. The second one was horribly scented, weeping liquid, spoiled, and I pitched the whole thing. The third one was processed Thursday three days ago and came out great.
The one I processed Saturday morning — I don’t know. This one I had separated the rump cover from the rest of the top sirloin, and drybagged them separately. The rump cover was fine, but there was a noticeable wet spot in the main part of the top sirloin, as if the meat was weeping in that spot. I smelled it (fine) wiped it dry, and smelled it again (still fine. Beefy. Nothing else this time).
I kept it, probably cooked some of it yesterday, but it makes me nervous that top sirloin has had this weeping problem two times of four. I’m going to be doing MORE top sirloin, and I’ll let you know what I learn.
The party itself was a raging success. Steak, mushroom and bernaise sauces, beets, zucchini and squash and tomato “salad”, homemade bread, baked potatoes, a couple other things… Everybody seemed to have a good time.
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