The Original Dry Bag Steak | Make Artisan Dry Age Steak at Home › Forums › UMAi Dry® Sealing › Sealing Tips & Tricks › Smell
- This topic has 13 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 11 months ago by Ron Pratt.
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August 19, 2012 at 4:34 am #1429Myles MacDonaldMember
Doing my second round of dry aging. First time turned out perfectly. Second time I am doing a whole rib again. Sealed it put it in the fridge about 10 days ago. We were away on vacation and just got back. The bag seems to have sealed really well but the meat has almost a honey sweet smell. Anyone else experience this? Is the meat good or bad? Opinions? Thanks for your time.
Myles
August 19, 2012 at 2:28 pm #6199Ron PrattMemberMyles,
First of all welcome to our forum!As for that type of smell that is new to me, but my guess is since you were gone for 10 days the smell has been intensified since the door was never opened to allow an exchange of air. Since you have a good seal I’d say you are just fine!
RonNovember 5, 2014 at 12:55 am #8654JeffMemberWe are also experiencing smells on out 13lb rib roast. Its not honey though! It started smelling at about three days in. It is a very mineraly smell, much like blood sausage if any have been around while its being made. It doesn’t concern me too much but it defiantly turned my wife off to doing any more in the fridge.
Anybody else get these too?
November 5, 2014 at 1:21 am #8655Ron PrattMemberJeff,
It has now been 2 years and 2 month since you posted your initial concern/observation and no one else has chimed in. I wonder if you might not have an extraordinary (gifted) smelling ability…seriously! At this point I suggest you buy a container of activated charcoal commonly sold to absorb odors in refrigerators to see if that works for you.
RonNovember 5, 2014 at 1:34 am #8656JeffMemberThis topic was not mine, I piggybacked onto it after finding it in a search for my question.
Your suggestion of buying activated charcoal is somewhat puzzling to me, if, as you thought, I was the only one in two years to mention an odor, would one not think there is something wrong in my situation?
November 5, 2014 at 2:46 am #8658Ron PrattMemberJeff – I stand corrected. Furthermore my technical source informs me that the smell you have in just 3 days may very well be a problem with the meat itself. Dry aging produces an earthy/nutty smell that typically comes after 2 weeks in the process. Having an objectionable odor after just 3 days is not right and has little to do with dry aging using a UMAi Dry product.
RonNovember 5, 2014 at 9:12 am #8663JeffMemberI dont have an objectionable odor, well maybe the wife thinks so! but one that is very minerally. Its what I would expect with the meat gassing off in the fridge.
The question stands, does your fridge have smell when doing this? Its a full sized frost free model by the way.
November 5, 2014 at 9:44 am #8664Ron PrattMemberJeff, thanks for giving me another shot at answering your question. After 3 days you really should not have an issue other than a very very faint smell that I believe most people could not detect without pulling the sealed, bagged meat out and sniffing it extremely close up. To date I have aged multiple sub-primals purchased from multiple retailers and I have yet to experience the off smell after 3 days that you described. I will go back to my revised stance that there is a chance your meat may have had an issue before it ever went in a UMAi Dry bag. Keep a “nose on it” and after another day or two you might want to decide to return it to your retailer for a replacement.
RonNovember 6, 2014 at 12:24 am #8666JeffMemberIs there a point in time where the smell does become very noticeable?
November 6, 2014 at 12:58 am #8667Ron PrattMemberwell, there are several factors that might make that difficult to answer. For instance if you are using a standard, frost free, properly working refrigerator then is should be cycling regularly meaning it is circulating the air. Also if this is your kitchen refrig then the door is being opened and closed several times also meaning a turnover of air inside. If instead this is a 2nd refrig that is seldom opened or a compact unit then the air can become stale and an odor could become noticeable several days in the future. OTOH even after I have aged meat 45 and 60 days I do not detect an odor – unless I have become so accustomed to it, I suppose. Typically you will notice the earthy/nutty smell after you remove the UMAi Dry bag. Here it is day 4 and if you are still smelling a funky odor I think your meat may have an issue and I still think you should be consider returning it!
RonNovember 11, 2014 at 2:55 am #8686JeffMemberWell shes going in the trash. I don’t have a “funky” smell as I stated earlier but a minerally/blood type smell. You could call it nutty/earthy I supposes but it is very strong. It does not smell putrid or rotten in any way but it is overpowering the fridge in the garage.
Not terribly upset, just wish we would have used a much cheaper piece of meat. I wouldn’t for second consider trying to take it back to the store, what we are doing here is very much outside the norm and the problem lies in our hands, not the butchers. I’m building a proper fermentation and aging fridge to do this under much more controlled conditions. Thanks for the help, I was hoping somebody else may offer opinions as well but does not seem forthcoming.November 11, 2014 at 3:27 am #8687Ron PrattMemberWell Jeff I guess I don’t blame you. I had food poisoning years ago from shrimp and I don’t care to experience that again. Here’s an idea before you start another…find a butcher shop or even a high end grocery store that sells aged beef and either buy some so both you and your wife can get an idea of what it smells like. Ron
December 8, 2014 at 3:43 am #8736sean deversMemberHi Ron, I am using the bags for the first time, keeping two strip loins at a friends house. As of Friday 12/5/14 we have had the meat aging for 1 week. My question/concern is that there seems to still be a considerable amount of blood still in the bag; we have good seals on both bags and they are in contact with the beef, but not “adhering” to the beef in a manner we thought would have been achieved by now. No considerable smells and have consistently opened the fridge to circulate air throughout. We did originally drain the package from the store, but did not wash the cuts prior to sealing with the Umai bags. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Sean
December 8, 2014 at 4:03 am #8737Ron PrattMemberSean, welcome aboard! You said you drained the meat and didn’t rinse it so you did that properly! At just one week you are just now starting to form a bond, but my thoughts are are you handling the bag and that is making you think it is not bonding? Once I seal my meat I place it on a rack and then I don’t move it again until after the aging. By handling you interfere with the bonding and then there is always the risk of a pinhole puncture. Inspect it without moving it say in another week and tell me your assessment of the bonding. Bottom line I think you will be ok! Ron
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