The Original Dry Bag Steak | Make Artisan Dry Age Steak at Home › Forums › Dry Aging Steak › Dry Aging Steak with UMAi Dry® › Leaking Costco bag – failed UMAi bag seal – what should I do now?
- This topic has 3 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 5 years ago by
Josh Slade.
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December 3, 2019 at 8:30 pm #3639
Josh Slade
MemberThis is my second time dry aging with an UMAi Dry bag. The first time was mostly smooth. I have run into a couple issues and I’m asking for some advise.
1) My FoodSaver v2840’s (I have two) don’t seem to get hot enough during one “Seal” cycle to properly melt the plastic to ensure a solid seal.
It usually take a couple back to back “Seal” button clicks to get it to seal properly. Risking going to far and melting the bag all the way through. Any tips here?2) I bought two top loins from Costco this past week. 1 of the cyrovac bags had a hole which I didn’t discover until I was home. I moved it to an Umai bag, but then had difficulty getting a decent seal. Eventually I messed the bag up and needed to throw out the bag (facepalm moment). Since I had bags on order I carefully/tightly saran wrapped the meat.
My new bags came today and I will get it sealed up. I understand I have opened myself up to contamination. Any advise on transferring to the Umai bag? Should I coat it with a little blood from my other top loin blood to ensure it has some good moisture on it?Thanks all.
December 3, 2019 at 9:25 pm #12746Ron Pratt
MemberYou may have contaminated the meat, but I wouldn’t assume that for sure as long as you were reasonably sure your frig had a clean, safe environment. I would not use any moisture from the other meat however.
Now…On the other hand you don’t even need a sealer as a perfect vacuum is not necessary! In fact what you can do is place the moist meat into the bag and then using your hands press the bag against the meat while forcing out as much air and not leaving any air pockets. Then at the open end insert a drinking straw or a piece of tubing in and then grab the bag tightly around the straw or tubing and finish sucking out as much air as you can. When done quickly remove the straw or tubing and tightly close the end using a bread twisty.
RonDecember 3, 2019 at 9:52 pm #12747Thea
KeymasterI would recommend preparing a sterile surface (a sheet of kitchen parchment or aluminum foil will do the trick), run tap water over the entire piece of meat, then rest it on the surface for several minutes to allow for the myoglobin “goo” to rehydrate. Use disposable gloves if you have them.
Also, keep in mind that, unlike that scary “leaker” vacuum bag you got from Costco, UMAi Dry® is not going to hold a vacuum no matter what. It’s a membrane that adheres to the meat surface, and you only need 75% meat to membrane contact to be assured good results. The bag can release after it begins drying without any need for concern.
You can use the “bread twisty” method if the meat is gooey enough, or you can try the Ballistic BBQ no sealer method demonstrated in this video: umaidry.com/nosealerDecember 4, 2019 at 3:29 am #12748MemberThanks for advice!
I followed your directions baglady for rebagging.
For sealing I wanted to learn how to get a perfect seal. I ended up cutting a 1” end off one of my new bags. Then practiced. I found as long as the sealer element was warmed up (with some preheating cycles), mode set to WET, let it seal for the 9 seconds it is programmed for (dry is 7 seconds) then let it sit for 5 seconds before opening the sealer, it was a perfect seal. This was for a Foodsaver 2840.
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