Search Results for 'brown meat after aging'

[Thea]

Chris,
First question: Did you purchase this piece of meat in original processor cryovac packaging? Too many customers buy butcher packed meat at this time of year. If the meat has been handled, touched and trimmed, it may have been jaccarded, or blade tenderized. This meats the the interior of the meat is not longer intact and sterile, so must be immediately cooked. It is unsuitable for dry aging.
If you purchased a processor packed subprimal, as is recommended, and you transferred it untouched, untrimmed into UMAi Dry, then you should be good to go.
The meat will begin to darken to a mahogany brown, and harden gradually over the first several weeks. For best bond, you want to start the dry aging meat side down, fat cap up, then flip carefully after 7-10 days.
The best indication of spoilage is to sniff the meat surface through the UMAi Dry membrane and trust your nose. We are well programmed to distinguish between the forest-y, blue cheese-y funk of dry aging and just plain rotting meat.
In terms of color, grey or greenish-blueish coloration is a bad sign. However, if you are following all the recommendations, you should not have that problem.
Don’t worry about air pockets, or release as the meat ages and shrinks away from the membrane. UMAi Dry is still providing the necessary protected dry aging environment. Just be sure to age in a regularly used modern frost free kitchen refrigerator located in a room temperature environment.
For further help, check out our Help Center: umaidry.com/help or the great Facebook UMAi® Salami, Charcuterie and Dry Aged Steak group.

[Mitch]

Hi All,

Having some troubles which the meat looking like its spoiling. This is my second attempt at dry aging some meat, first attempt turned green also.

First attempt i bagged a 4.5kg whole scotch fillet using the immersion method. After 9 days the meat was starting to brown at the front but noticed the meat turning green in the back corner so chucked it.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmPIRLzKmVdlgaoescgW16TaUmb-bw

Second attempt i bought a sealer and bagged a 3kg whole scotch fillet using the vacmouse. After 18 hours, this is how the meat is looking:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmPIRLzKmVdlgao-93m_wOw7N4bhVA

All cryo bags have been washed, all countertops washed and meat is never handled directly (only through the original bag or umai bag). Fridge is kept at 2 degrees C and elevated on wire rack.

Are they going bad or is this normal?

Cheers!

[Ron Pratt]

No problem! Even if you wanted to freeze it for a week and then thaw and start aging it is not an issue. More often than not that sell by date is because after that the meat naturally has bloomed and starts turning brown. That discoloration makes it more difficult to sell to snooty ol’ blue haired ladies!
Ron

[Danny]

So, I updated the pictures in the opening post, it was not frozen in the umai dry. The process I took was 45 days dry aging, then slicing into individual steaks. I vacuum sealed it in the foodsaver bags and threw it into the freezer. After two weeks have elapsed, the steaks are completely brown. I am not sure if freezer burn happens for vacuum seal, but lets just say that might be the case. What should I do for future to prevent this? oxidation of meat causing it to brown typically is reduced significantly in a vacuum seal, so not sure why mines completely browned. I don’t know if there are specifications to freezing which I was not aware of?

[Ron Pratt]

Personally I like to cut the aged meat into individual steaks and then trim each – but only the outer most hard rind. That will leave a definite brown area – which is the most taste rewarding part as it becomes mellow and rich! The same with the fat.

If you trim clear back to what I call “grocery store red” then why did you bother aging it?

As for freezing afterward – that is fine and since the water content in the cells have been greatly reduced they freeze better and quicker. Freezer burn is also more unlikely since it is drier as well.
Ron

[Danny]

I am curious after 45 days of dry aging, I trimmed all of the bark/pellicle, there was surrounding parts of the meat that was brown. There is no foul or rotting smell, just not sure if I was suppose to trim all of it.

Complete Browning 2 weeks after staying in freezer vacuum sealed.

First day from vacuum, bright red.

[Danny]

Curious about a few things. My 45 day dry age has came and the meat smells fantastic, no off putting / rotting smell.
My question is whether or not after trimming the pellicle/bark that I notice browning of the perimeter of the meat. Is this still edible or should it be tossed? Images below…

And also my new bag dry aging barely 4 days I am noticing something different than the first time, but could be due to it being brisket instead of initial ribeye. These white specks are fat thats just happening from cold fridge? Or is this formation of mold already? It is not fuzzy at all but i was hoping to not see any until bark has formed. Suggestions on continuing? Image below

[Gabriel Gliori]

Hello,

So almost two weeks ago I bought a 3.8 kilo (=8.5 lbs), top-quality ribeye to dry age with the UMAI bag for approximately 30-35 days. Now 11 days into the process there are white/green spots (mold?) on the meat, as well as some dark red/brown moist on the outside and inside of the bag.

This is first time I’m doing this, so I am a bit concerned as I have no experience about how it should look, hence I’m asking here.

I’ve added some pictures below:

Green/white spots and marks from rack as there was moist on the outside of the bag

Gree/white (mold?) spots

Gree/white (mold?) spots – does not look good

Mold?

As you can see, blood/meat juice on the inside and outside of the bag


This is how I store it. I was wondering if this space is too tight? Do I need more room for air to circulate?

Some things to add.

• I did not wear gloves when I transferred the meat to the bag, which I’ve read afterwards that you should. However, I made sure to thoroughly clean my hands.
• As you can see I wasn’t able to get the bag entirely tight against the meat on all places. But as I understood it this is okay as long as you have around 80% coverage on the meat? There’s no air leakage.
• The refrigerator is at 7 degrees celsius (=44.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Is this too warm?
• …. Or am I just too worried and the meat is fine? Can I just trime away the bad parts when the process is finished? I don’t feel any bad smell.

Thank you in advance for your help! I really hope the meat is fine.

// Worried Beginner on dry aging

[Ron Pratt]

The commercial material the markets use is similar to Saran Wrap like we use in our homes. However in wide use nowadays the wrapping machine they use also adds a small amount of a gas which actually causes the meat to “bloom” meaning it turns red for the days until the best sold date. After that the meat will start to turn brown.

Just two more points while we are on this subject since you said you are a newbie…the Food Saver material is “solid” and therefore it can extract the air by creating a vacuum. In that condition the meat or contents can be frozen without fear of freezer burn.

And the other topic is the UMAi Dry® bag is unlike the Food Saver material in that it breathes allowing the moisture in the meat cells to be released during the aging.
Ron

[john moran]

quote RRP” post=9974:

Do you recall where you purchased that roast as well as the grade? If it was from a grocery store there is EVERY chance in the world the red color you saw at purchase was the artificially red colored meat on the surface allowed by USDA! If so then the brown meat, lacking reddish explains yourI issue.

Ron

Crickey…I’m a long time meat lover and did not know that artificially red colored meat was a thing. I agree on the size thing. My first one was a huge bone-in rib roast so percentage-wise I didn’t chuck that much in the can after trimming. I vacuum pack everything and the ones I froze a few months ago still have a rich color…mmm…think I might have to have one this weekend.

I did recently do a smaller boneless ribeye roast but it was super-cheap on sale so I thought what-the-heck? Made for some nice quick-to-thaw steaks in the freezer. Next up I think I’m going to get a full-on boneless ribeye roast…hopefully still wet in the shrink-wrap.

Cheers!! HJ

[Ron Pratt]

Your link doesn’t work. I wasn’t even even aware that Amazon offers a picture hosting site..but since you say they do then try to find a link there which starts with (let me post this first and then edit it).

We are all different with the message our nose orifice sends to our brain. Many people relate the smell of aged meat to that of “an earthy or nutty smell”. Your comment about a smell of wine is on target for other people as well, but less common from my experience on this forum.

You still have not mentioned whether or not you have grilled your 45 day steaks yet. If so then how did they come out? If not, then why not?

Do you recall where you purchased that roast as well as the grade? If it was from a grocery store there is EVERY chance in the world the red color you saw at purchase was the artificially red colored meat on the surface allowed by USDA! If so then the brown meat, lacking reddish explains your issue.

One last point – a 4.88# roast is not a good one to dry age for 45 days – most times people
choose to dry age a full sub-primal which will range from say 12 to 18 pounds. With a 4.88 after you trim off the sides you really have lost a lot of meat. Excuse me for not getting on my soap box tonight about NOT trimming away the BEST PART of a dry aged piece of meat!

Ron

[Ron Pratt]

Dan,
I personally skim off the outermost harder, waxy-like surface, which reveals the darker brown layer underneath. To some folks that is an acquired taste, but it’s really what truly aged meat is meant to taste like. That layer BTW is rich and instead of being hard after grilling becomes very mellow and tasty. Besides if a family member doesn’t care for it after grilling they can always cut it off then. I’m just of the school that asks if you trim your dry aged meat back to “grocery store red” then why bother aging as you really are missing the best part!
Ron

[Thea]

Hello, Olly.

First of all, thank you for the fearlessly thorough, honest description of your process. You are certainly very persistent and creative in trying to make this work with the fridge you’ve got. It is safe to say this is NOT an appropriate environment for dry aging or dry curing the precious meat you are aging in UMAi Dry®.

There are two simple rules for UMAi Dry®-appropriate refrigerator choice:
1) The temp must remain consistently between 1-4C (34-38F), or safe for holding milk for 7-10 days.
2) The freezer attached to the fridge (not sure whether you indicated your appliance has a freezer or not), must remain frost free.

A third (often surprising) guideline is that the fridge should be regularly opened and closed. We have designed the UMAi Dry® application to be best suited to everyone’s kitchen fridge. This is VERY different advice to most dry aging advice (i.e. “commando”) or curing chambers.

Onto you REAL question: Is this meat safe? Obviously, we cannot see or smell the results, so we can only offer there guidelines.

Is the color fairly evenly mahogany brown (not grey or bluish tint)? Is the texture of the ‘bark’ more or less firm all the way around the piece (‘hard, solid plastic,’ as you have described it)?

The TRUE TEST of whether you process has failed or not is the sniff test. As the meat scientists tell us time after time, “The nose knows.” If you sniff the surface of the meat through the UMAi Dry® and detect a ‘pleasant, forest-y, funky’ aroma, you are probably good to remove the UMAi Dry®, trim the ‘bark,’ cut into steaks and cook as appropriate for a steak.

If, however, you smell what strikes you as ‘rotten flesh,’ trust your instincts and do not plan to eat. We would suggest going ahead and “unwrapping” the meat to as to study the color and texture of both bark and inner meat. We would certainly like to learn from your experience–freezing and thawing and overheating the meat such as your refrigerator has done during this dry aging process.

Before you go on to another project, make sure you have some space in a modern, frost free fridge. Using stackable racks can make it easier to use your kitchen fridge.

Hope this helps!!

Maureen

[Robert Bacci]

I have my first Rib eye roast aging, it’s been in the fridge for two weeks. When I first vac’d the roast I was unable to get all the air out of the bag, even after several attempts. Now the roast has been resting, untouched and there is a strong meaty smell. It reminds me of when I worked in a grocery store when you would walk into the meat cooler but more intense. It’s not a rotten smell, I know what that is. My wife gags whenever she smells it but I’m ok with it. Fortunately the fridge is in the garage. It’s getting that brown crust and no sign of rot or mold. Is it OK?

[Gary DeMarco]

Well after a few Month’s of dry aging the copacola we sliced and tasted and it came out very nice we made two and the first one didn’t turn out the way we wanted it was too mushy so we let it age longer until it was nice and firm then we sliced and packaged so we could have it any time we wanted , then with a fresh baguette some provolone cheese our home made Mezaluna red dry wine we were ready to eat and boy it was good, we followed recipes we found on the dry dag web page and followed the instructions and the results we better then we expected. We hope you all enjoy our story’s and pictures next month we will slice the prosciutto it will be ready the end of February .its is nice and firm I hope it turns out ok.
It looks brown around the outer edge that is because of the paprika we used there is nothing wrong with the meat.