New to dry Aging – Concerned with the progress.

[Christian Bendix Mau]

Hello everyone

As the title states, I’m new to dry aging. New as in, this is the first time i’ve ever tried this out.

About 2 weeks ago I went to the butcher and got myself a large prime ribeye roast on the bone (about 7kg in total).
As I was waiting for the bags to arrive, I decided to freeze the roast while cleaning out the fridge to make room for it, once i had everything i needed. 2 days later I got the bags, took the roast out of the freezer to thaw the meat. I read on here, from a previous post, that as long as the outer layers weren’t frozen and thus potentially could rip the bags, there was no danger of bagging a partially frozen roast – and so I did.

Now 8 days in, i’m noticing quite a few fluids. The fatcap is clearly drying out, and the top side of the roast is turning a dark red, as i suppose it should. The bottom is however far less “dark red” and has quite a few fluids. This didn’t bother me too much the first 2-3 days, but now approaching the 9th day I’m concerned wether these fluids do pose an issue for the process.

I do have the roast placed on a baking rack allowing for at least 1 inch of clearance all the way around, with 10 inches of clearance on the top. I also placed 2 packets of Silca gel on the shelf to see if that would draw out some of the fluids. As well as turn the roast so its fat cap (and thus the more dried side) down.

Should i be worried? Should i try to transfer the roast to a new bag, leaving the fluids behind? My fridge is fairly high-end and only 1 year old.

Apologies for the wall of text.

Thank you in advance!

[Ron Pratt]

If I were you I would attempt to get as much of that liquid down to one spot and then puncture the bag with a small hole to let the moisture drain out. It doesn’t have to be perfectly dry. Then place a piece of good packing tape over the hole.

Since you said it is a bone in piece be really careful handling it so you don’t create rips or holes. I am assuming you had placed folded up parchment paper or such over the sharp edges of the bones.

Then as long as your refrigerator is a frost free unit in proper working order you do not need that silca gel.

Otherwise your progress sounds Ok to me. Please reply back to tell us how the fluid drains and sealing went.
Ron

[Christian Bendix Mau]

Thanks Ron! I will let you know how it goes.

I did add paper to protect the bag from the bones as per of Umai’s videos. But i’ll still be careful handling it.

Thanks again

[Christian Bendix Mau]

Hey Rob and anyone reading potentially facing similar concerns,

Wanted to give an update now, as I’ve just enjoyed the first steak from the batch.

I decided to rebag the ribeye after 10 days. Made sure everything was as clean as possible, and proceeded to transfer the roast to another bag – leaving the liquid behind.

It immediately sped up the process, and the roast developed a nice pellicle and colour within a week.

Seeing as the first 10 days had been so slow and without much progress, I decided to add 10 days to my initial plan of aging for 30days.

All I can say is, it turned out amazing. Looking exactly like the end product of umai’s YouTube videos, and tasting heavenly.

Thank you so much for your guidance both for me personally but certainly also in the forum in general, Ron.

[peter]

this may seen to basic to ask. Is the sealer NECESSARY since technically the UMAI bag will draw out moisture. I thought i can use the UMAI bag and squeeze out as much air as possible WITHOUT The expense of the sealer. PLEASE ADVISE thank you

[Ron Pratt]

No, you do not need a sealer. Just squeeze well and tie off the end with a “bread twisty”.
Ron

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