Dry Aged Prime Rib of Beef Experiment

[Fawkes007]

Hey gang!

I am a total dry-aged beef freak. It is how beef should be. That said, I was tired of paying OUTRAGEOUS prices for dry-aged CHOICE grade steaks and even higher prices for PRIME grade.

So...

I got on YouTube, found this dude Guga, who turned me on to UMAi dry aging bags. Armed with my trusty vacuum sealer, and carefully following the directions...on my second try, I was able to achieve the desired results. I purchased a 4 rib prime grade rib eye from my local butcher right off the loin, and told him to leave the fat.

The first pic is from July 9th, when it went into the frig. The second is from today, 21 days later. I'm shooting for a 35 day dry age.

 

[martym]

Gorgeous!
Looking forward to hearing the outcome.

 

[Sinnbad11]

I followed gugas advice with ribeye. Turned out great, I'm sure yours will be delicious.

 

[razorboi]

I'm not sure vacuum-sealing equates with dry-ageing but I am interested in hearing your opinion of the outcome.

 

[Chef455]

Looks great @Fawkes007 ! My compliments on seeking a greater depth of flavor. I do have to side with @razorboi 's nitpicking in stating that if it's sealed in a bag it is "wet aged", not dry.

 

[Sinnbad11]

Looks great @Fawkes007 ! My compliments on seeking a greater depth of flavor. I do have to side with @razorboi 's nitpicking in stating that if it's sealed in a bag it is "wet aged", not dry.

I've used similar and it's actually semi-permeable plastic, it allows moisture and air to escape, but doesn't allow less-than-friendly stuff back in. Turns out very similar to true dry ageing.

 

[Fawkes007]

I'm not sure vacuum-sealing equates with dry-ageing but I am interested in hearing your opinion of the outcome.

It's all about reverse osmosis - moisture gets out, but nothing gets in - therefore, it's not a complete "vacuum seal." The bag is a membrane. The process has been really cool to witness.

 

[Chef455]

I've used similar and it's actually semi-permeable plastic, it allows moisture and air to escape, but doesn't allow less-than-friendly stuff back in. Turns out very similar to true dry ageing.

There you go. My snootieness debunked and I have learned something new. Enjoy those steaks!

 

[cleanshaved]

A true vacuum packed meat will still be very close to the colour of when it was packed fresh even aged at 100 days. That piece of meat at 21 days looks like it is dry aging nicely.
I'm very interested in your taste test feedback.
Did you weigh it before bagging? It will be interesting to see how much weight loss it has when aged.

 

[kelbro]

My buddy has started doing this and raves about it. I would consider trying to do it but I would like to sample a dry-aged steak first. My buddy is not close enough to provide me with any samples.

 

[vacman]

Where I used to live, I had a butcher shop which would take a side of beef or a strip of steaks and age it before cutting it up. Best beef I ever had. These pictures look great. Unfortunately, I don't have the refrigeration space to do this but it does make me think about my heated garage which I can set for 40 degrees in the winter. Would that work? I can just picture the hanging tennis ball which hits the windshield when the car is in the right position replaced with a side of beef! LOL

 

[razorboi]

I once worked at a steak-house that cut and hung their own steaks from sides of beef.
The dry-ageing process took about three weeks and the steaks shrank somewhat from loss of moisture.
The result was a steak that was more intense in flavour but a little trickier to cook.
I found the punters were divided as which was better.
Seems it's a kind of trade-off and ultimately a matter of taste.

 

[Doc4]

The result was a steak that was ... a little trickier to cook.

How so?

Any tips for cooking success?

 

[jesseix]

I remember being really intrigued by the dry aging bags when I first saw them. They seem kindof expensive for a single-use item, but as mentioned in the original post still cheaper than paying the premium for aged beef.
I do wonder if there would be a way to re-use them, without any sanitation issues... down the google rabbit hole I go

 

[DoctorShavegood]

Okay...please show a cooked steak...please.

 

[Fawkes007]

I do wonder if there would be a way to re-use them, without any sanitation issues... down the google rabbit hole I go

You cannot re-use these bags.

 

[Fawkes007]

Okay...please show a cooked steak...please.

August 13th, most likely. That will make it a 35 day dry age.

 

[jesseix]

You cannot re-use these bags.

Oh I know that the manufacturer sells them as single-use bags, and I have no doubt that that's the best way to do it. I just remember seeing lots of questions from people earlier on about why couldn't the be reused if they're sufficiently cleaned, sterilized, etc... I don't know enough about them to know if the performance of the bag would change once its been used. At $10+ for a single bag, and lots of them being ripped while they're being loaded (if I remember correctly from earlier readings), it doesn't surprise me that consumers would look for a way to utilize them more than once.

 

[razorboi]

How so?

Any tips for cooking success?

With some of the moisture removed by evaporation, one must be careful not to dry the steak out whilst cooking it.
For steaks with sufficient fat-veins (marbling), there's no problem.
But if marbling is sparse, the surface must be protected by (herb) butter or strips of fat cut from the sides.

 

[Fawkes007]

We had the unveiling today, which marks Day 35 of the Dry Age. Will be cooking one of these up soon.