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[Morrey Thomas]

I have never dry aged beef before, but am very interested in trying my hand at this. I recently bought a dry aged NY Strip steak and thought it was beyond wonderful. Of course this steak had a premium price of $25 per lb. at an upper end supermarket.

I have researched dry aging online and see a variety of ideas and techniques. One technique is to age in a rack over a bed of sea salt, another method is to put a small fan in the fridge to promote air circulation. (Had to cut a gap in the fridge seal for the fan’s cord) Seems I am most attracted to this bag method.

My biggest question….Does the Umai Drybag seal out unwanted flavors and smells in the refrigerator? I suppose it lets moisture out but not outside flavors in? Most normal refrigerators have many other products all sharing the same space, so its not hard to figure on unwanted flavors getting into the steak.

Last question……I am a hunter and enjoy venison. Many of my friends talk about hanging deer in the walk-in for several weeks but I forsee potential contamination problems. How would a venison loin do in a dry aging bag?

As you can tell I am a dry againg rookie, so thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

[Ron Pratt]

Welcome to our forum, Morrey! As you experienced yourself $25 a pound for commercially dry aged beef is why most people would rather age it themselves for far cheaper. That way enjoying great aged steaks at home can be an affordable and therefore frequent occurence! As for the aging methods you mentioned reading about you could actually take many days and read thousands of pages on aging or you could do like we have learned…just trust the DrybagSteak product to work its magic. Yes it keeps out the other smells etc commonly found in the kitchen refrig. As for vension yes it too can be aged, but typically it is very lean and you may decide you lose more to triming than you get from the effort. OTOH its your deer and your time so why not try it yourself and report back to the forum. Ron

[Drew Hawkins]

Welcome to the site,

When you are ready to try this order extra bags and practice, practice, practice.

Research the older threads for lots of good info.

[Morrey Thomas]

Ron,

Thanks for the reply and the additional information. I remain interested in ordering the dry aging bag from UMAi, but with reservations.

My concerns are the comments that I see that states practice, practice, practice. I am a veteran user of Foodsaver sealing systems having used various Foodsavers for a number of years. When I see the practice, practice, practice quote, I immediately recoil at the thought of “practicing” with bags costing as much as they cost. If there is that much of a risk that users have getting it to seal correctly, I am having second thoughts.

Morrey

[Ron Pratt]

Morrey, you misunderstood…you should take ONE bag and practice sealing it 7 or 8 times if need be…not practice on 7 or 8 bags! There is a very good chance you can still even use that first bag for your first dry aging attempt! Different FS models have variable settings allowing you to alter the time and temp and wet or dry etc. Ron

[Dr. Frederick Howard]

Hi Morrey,

Again, welcome to the site where you will find tons of information and you will be able to share your experiences with the rest of us. First I sense your reservation on buying bags just to practice with, could be expensive. However a couple of things regarding the bags, I suggest that you purchase the Sampler Packet as it comes with a couple of practice bags. That way you don’t ruin any bags that you will need for dry aging the primals. You can also use the very large size bag to practice with, I’m thinking the bags used for bone-in prime rib roast. It will have several inches of excess material to practice with and still leave you with ample space to dry age a large primal. As far as the “ruining of bags” worries, that was probably shared by all at the beginning, myself included. The Bag Ladies suggested using a wet towel to approximate the wetness of the meat and it worked for me. I only practiced just a few times and I believe that I got it right. Ron was right on about using the same bag for your first dry aging attempt – success for all is the goal here. I am on my 6th primal as we speak, and I’ve got 6 Tri-Tips perking along as well. I have a definite weakness for Prime chunks of cow at less than $9 lb. – Ron and others can verify this (they just leap into my cart).

Doc

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