Bag size

[Omar]

I am about to buy my first Umai Bags. I’m forgoing the sampler and will be going for the commercial bags (pack of 25). due to cost savings and probably frequency of drying meat.
I have five (maybe 6) questions…
1-Is there a shelf life for the bags?
2-Is ok to ‘season’ the meat prior to placing in the Umai bag?
3-If I’m looking at buying a Vacuum Pak’ of a tenderloin, ribeye, or even a sirloin tip, what size do you recommend? I’m thinking the larger…I can’t really go wrong…right?
4-I’m going to buy my own food saver. I believe I have read in some forums NOT to get automatic types. Is this true and if so, what is the best model number to get that is not fully automatic? I want the best I can get, not just a rinky dink bare bones food server.
5. If there is a good sale and some nice looking steaks, can I put pre-cut steaks (as many as will fit per bag as long as not on top of each other) in the Umai bag? or better to buy the vacuum paks?

[Thea]

Hello, Quidmaker.
We look forward to serving you. If purchasing the commercial bundle, we only recommend that you choose the right size for what you plan to do. If dry aging striploins or boneless ribeye, the Commercial Standard (aka Ribeye/Striploin 300 x 600mm / 12 x 24 in) is perfect. Don’t forget to purchase a bundle of VacMouse® vacuum aid strips as well. These are not paired with the UMAi Dry® bags with commercial bundles simply because many B2B customers apply UMAi Dry® with chamber vacuum sealers.
Now onto the rest of your questions:
1-Is there a shelf life for the bags? Yes, and no. We recommend using within three years, but the bags will perform well beyond that if stored in a dark, dry place inside of the heavy mil resealable bag in which you receive them.
2-Is ok to ‘season’ the meat prior to placing in the Umai bag? No. You want to dry age meat that has not been touched by any potential contaminant. Check out the “Clean Transfer” instructional video for appropriate transfer from processor packaging into UMAi Dry®.
3-If I’m looking at buying a Vacuum Pak’ of a tenderloin, ribeye, or even a sirloin tip, what size do you recommend? I’m thinking the larger…I can’t really go wrong…right? We would suggest you start with a boneless ribeye for most impressive results, and yes, a full sub primal is recommended as you will lose about 15% to trim loss. We do not recommend dry aging tenderloin a full 4-6 weeks as the cut is too lean and too tender to improve significantly with long dry aging–and the trim loss is very, very expensive. 4-5 days is our recommendation for deepening the flavor of the cut, without waste or averaging.
4-I’m going to buy my own food saver. I believe I have read in some forums NOT to get automatic types. Is this true and if so, what is the best model number to get that is not fully automatic? I want the best I can get, not just a rinky dink bare bones food server. We recommend manual lid-and-latch models such as an FM 2100 or any V2000 series FoodSaver. You can find a link to our recommendations on our site, “Not All Sealers are Alike.”
5. If there is a good sale and some nice looking steaks, can I put pre-cut steaks (as many as will fit per bag as long as not on top of each other) in the Umai bag? or better to buy the vacuum paks? Never dry age an individual steak. During drying, the meat is going to dry and form a hard outer crust that you will want to trim after aging. The proportion of “bark” to edible meat is simply far to imbalanced to make individual steak dry aging practical. Truly dry age the full sub primal, or an untrimmed roast cut no less than 5-8 lb. After 4-6 weeks, trim off the “bark,” and steak out. These individual steaks can be vacuum sealed and frozen very successfully to extend the enjoyment of your dry aged results for up to a year.

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