First Aged Beef

[SmokyMose]

Meijer had rib roast at $5.99 # for Easter, so of course I had to buy 3. Froze one for future, sliced one into 4 nice steaks and decided to try aging with a UMAI bag. Meijer cuts the bones off and ties them to the roast, so I got a bonus 3 racks of beef ribs :-)

I used the smallest (about 4#) for the aging trial. I say trial because I'd never had aged steak, let alone made it. The bag I had was too big but worked.

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

I let it hang out in the fridge for 21 days.

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

Trimmed the dry stuff off the outside as well as possible, cut into steaks and vac sealed with salt & pepper.

One pack went into the freezer and one went into Sous Vide for 5 hrs.

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

Seared them on the baby Weber and served with mushrooms and salad.

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

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• SmokyMose
• May 9, 2017

The Mrs doesn't like rare, so I did the Sous Vide at 131 instead of 129, figuring the 5 hrs would keep them tender. I was right.

Definitely more flavor.

Next sale I'll probably get 4!

I'm not sure why they look so brown in the pics. They had more color in "real life"....

I'm loving these UMAi bags!

Dan

 

[shyzabrau]

For a quality steak that thickness, 1 hour is plenty. 4 is too much. You start to lose some of that steak "chew" after 2 or 3 hours.

 

[crankybuzzard]

That looks great Dan!  So, going to go 21 days again or let it ride a bit longer on the next one?

I still haven't gotten the nerve up to do a whole one!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Looks tasty! I like going 36-40 days.

 

[SmokyMose]

That looks great Dan!  So, going to go 21 days again or let it ride a bit longer on the next one?

I still haven't gotten the nerve up to do a whole one!

I can't see risking that many $ either! I looked at one site where they did a whole one for 50 days. The UMAI site did a whole one for 21. I was afraid my little one might dry out if I went too long, but it didn't really shrink at all. I might go another week. It breaks your heart to do all that trimming...

 

[SmokyMose]

For a quality steak that thickness, 1 hour is plenty. 4 is too much. You start to lose some of that steak "chew" after 2 or 3 hours.

Never heard of steak chew before, but no matter. Sounds like personal preference. We like our ribs FOTB and our PP without a thick bark. Tired old teeth, I guess. At 5 hrs it still had to be chewed...

 

[crankybuzzard]

It breaks your heart to do all that trimming...

On a FB group I belong to, I've seen a couple of people use the pellicle, after grinding fine, for adding to ground to burgers and sausage. Could be an experiment.

 

[crankybuzzard]

Never heard of steak chew before, but no matter. Sounds like personal preference. We like our ribs FOTB and our PP without a thick bark. Tired old teeth, I guess. At 5 hrs it still had to be chewed...

Went straight over my head as well...

 

[crazymoon]

SM, Fine looking steaks ! Point!

 

[SmokyMose]

It breaks your heart to do all that trimming...

On a FB group I belong to, I've seen a couple of people use the pellicle, after grinding fine, for adding to ground to burgers and sausage. Could be an experiment.

That's an idea. It seems like such a waste....

 

[SmokyMose]

SM, Fine looking steaks ! Point!

Thank you, Crazy!

 

[shyzabrau]

Went straight over my head as well...

I just meant that it still has some "bite" and not too soft.

 

[radioguy]

I did a whole 7.6 pound for 45 days...lost a lot of moisture. Sliced into some thick steaks. It was a bit of a challenge grilling them...not the usual oozzing juices. Instant read thermo was my guide.

RG

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• radioguy
• May 10, 2017

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• radioguy
• May 10, 2017

 

[SmokinAl]

Good looking steaks.

We let ours age for 45 days, I really don't think you get much flavor change until at least 30 days.

But yours sure look delicious!

Al

 

[jokensmoken]

Looks mighty fine steaks from here...I doing an aged full 7 bone rib roast for my daughters 35th birthday in September. Going to go 45 days based in the two prior ones...one aged for 25 days...one aged for 32 days...the 32 day one definitely had more flavor so based on research and advice from folks on here gonna go 45 on the next one.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Good on ya SM! Nothing ventured-nothing gained, and it looks like a success to me! Point!

 

[dls1]

Very nice job, SM. The steaks look great.

I've dry aged a lot of roasts for several years in the traditional manner, meaning open, without doing so in a bag, with excellent results. The shortest time I've ever gone was 28 days, and the longest was 62 days. My "Sweet Spot" for the best results is around 45 days, but that's subjective and personal.

In your original post you said "I'm loving these UMAi bags", and I have to ask "Why?". I've given consideration to trying the UMAi bags, but I haven't found any information on what benefit they provide over dry aging without using them. Any input you can provide would be appreciated.

BTW, what was your shrinkage in weight from the beginning to the end of the dry aging process?

 

[jokensmoken]

Agreed about the trimming.
That's why some say get a full 7 bone untrimmed rib roast for aging...the claim is then alot of your needed trimming is done boning and trimming fat that you'd be trimming anyway.
I'll find out as I'm aging one for my daughter's 35th BD in September.
Walt

 

[SmokyMose]

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Very nice job, SM. The steaks look great.

I've dry aged a lot of roasts for several years in the traditional manner, meaning open, without doing so in a bag, with excellent results. The shortest time I've ever gone was 28 days, and the longest was 62 days. My "Sweet Spot" for the best results is around 45 days, but that's subjective and personal.

In your original post you said "I'm loving these UMAi bags", and I have to ask "Why?". I've given consideration to trying the UMAi bags, but I haven't found any information on what benefit they provide over dry aging without using them. Any input you can provide would be appreciated.

BTW, what was your shrinkage in weight from the beginning to the end of the dry aging process?

Lots of good questions, dis!
I'm brand new to dry aging. I don't have a conventional drying setup, so the bags are a way to make things like Soppressata, Pancetta, Cappicola, etc. I guess I just assumed I'd need a UMAi bag to dry age steak....
When you dry age, do you just let it sit openly in the fridge? I'm curious because those bags ain't cheap.
I'm sorry, but I didn't keep track of weight loss because it didn't seem to be a factor. Judging by the way the bag stuck to the meat, there was very little, if any, weight loss in the 3 weeks.

 

[myownidaho]

Looks great, Dan! This is in my list, but I have to get a couple of other uMAI projects out of the way before I'll have the room in the fridge.