N00b questions from Germany

[Bernd]

Hi there!

First of all: I am from Germany so sorry if my English is not perfect (neither is your German I suppose 😉 )

In my country, we have a great pork and sausage culture. Beef, however is rather poor. This is because
– we don’t get REALLY aged beef here (as long as you don’t want to buy the imported terribly expansive Argentinian stuff)
– Our BBQ knowledge is more or less “when it is black on both sides, it is done”

Since I come to the USA quite often, I don’t want to live without great beef any more so I decided to buy the BBQ Bible and the Drybag Steak starter kit which I just brought back home from my recent trip to the US.

Before starting, I came across some statements here in the forum for which I would need calrification:

1. “Hot tubbing”: read this a couple of times: does this mean that you put the steak – in the dry bag which you used for aging – in hot water (around 100°F for about an hour)? Is this recommended for all roasts like prime rib or any other type you don’t slice in steaks before BBQing?

2. Trimming: I also read in a couple of posts here that – especially after hot tubbing – the hardened skin was NOT removed? Is this correct and safe? And does it get tender because of the hot tubbing?

3. Before vacuum sealing: do you wash the meat with water or just use a paper towel to clean it slightly and dry it?

Sorry if any of those questions sounds stupid and thank you already now for the answers!

Bernd / Germany

[Ron Pratt]

Bernd,

Welcome aboard!!! Every week it seems like another country is represented here so DrybagSteak is obviously becoming a world wide entity! Congrats to Thea!

As for the questions you asked I’m the guy who started the hot tubbing thread as I firmly believe in that method and I also am a big proponent of light trimming.

Once I have finished aging I discard the Drybag – you’ll know why after you get that far. Then since you will cut the sub-primal into steaks or roasts there’s a good chance you will be freezing them for later use – right? When I begin a hot tub effort I start with a new food safe plastic bag – doesn’t even have to be all that heavy – just not something that will tear either. I also discard that bag when done with it.

Now OTOH if you froze that steak or roast and have thawed it out you certainly can keep it sealed in that bag and hot tub it in it.

As for trimming I always say – why trim off all the dark aged beef back to red meat – why did you bother aging? Granted it’s not for everyone, but I find that the dark rind mellows during the cook and yes it softens in the hot tub process too. My wife doesn’t care for the rind even after cooked, but she knows I love the rich taste so we save it. Tasted when cold the next day it’s like jerky! I would never trim the raw meat and try to cook the trimmings though! It’s just going to be something you should try on your own.

Lastly, about washing and drying before going in the Drgbag – it depends, but I have an aversion of rinsing my raw meat under cold tap water which MAY have contaminents. OTOH the chunk of beef if handled in sanitary ways probably has no more bacteria and it’s probably natural bacteria.

Again Welcome aboard!

Ron

[Ron Pratt]

Begrüßen Sie an Bord!

Ich verwende eine Übersetzungsseite so, wenn meine Antwort gut nicht durchkam, werde ich es wieder versuchen. Obwohl meine großartigen Eltern auf der Seite meiner Mutter aus Deutschland vor 1900 kamen, weiß ich keine deutschen Wörter. OTOH habe ich besessen und vier Autos von Mercedes Benz während der letzten 26 Jahre jetzt geliebt! Mindestens werden wir auch unseren Wunsch nach wunderbar trocken im Alter vom Rindfleisch teilen!

[Anonymous]

To follow up on RRP’s comments…

As for rinsing prior to drybagging:
I haven’t yet and it hasn’t created any problems. I pull the meat from its cryovac bag, let any blood drip off that wants to drip off, then into the drybag. Hasn’t created any problems for me yet…

As for trimming:
As RRP said, you should try it (not trimming). We tried it and neither my wife or myself cared for it, so we’ll be trimming from now on. With that said, my wife’s sister LOVED the cooked rind…I was amazed. She was eating everyone else’s leftover rind. Moral of the story is some people will like it, some won’t. You won’t know which you are until you try it 🙂

Nick

[Bernd]

Thank you very much for the welcome and your detailed answers.
I will start aging my first “German Prime Rib” next week and will try both version (with/without trimming).
Thank you again!

[Author]

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