Excellent Bond = Optimal Dry Aging
Optimal UMAi Dry® aging requires an excellent bond between the UMAi Dry® material and the entire surface of the meat. The best way to get a good bond is to vacuum seal the bag so that meat remains in contact with the bag. Within the first few days of aging, the proteins coating the surface of the beef and the UMAi Dry® material will unite forming a perfectly transparent shield that both protects your beautifully aging steak and enables it to release moisture in the surrounding environment. A vacuum sealer is necessary to pull out the air and heat seal the opening to start the formation of this membrane-like bond.
With practice and patience, generally any chamber or retractable snorkel sealer suitable for standard vacuum bags will work with UMAi Dry® material. Our extensive tests with channel sealers (which require specially embossed bags) have yielded the development of the UMAi VacMouse® vacuum aide. With VacMouse®, you can apply UMAi Dry® successfully with the FoodSaver model 2000-series and similar models.
Scroll down for a video of UMAi VacMouse® being used to seal with FoodSaver model 2000-series sealer.
UMAi Dry® offers Dry Aging Starter Kits which includes a channel vacuum sealer, FoodSaver V2000-series.
This is how a well-formed bond will perform over a 21-day aging period:
