Another Umai Dry Aged Beef Humidity Question

[cpanderson]

So I am dry aging a 12 lb ribeye roast in my newly put together temp/humidity controlled fridge. At the moment I do not have anything in the fridge to add humidity back because everything I have read says that I want a low humidity environment. I have a dehumidifier in the fridge set at 50% RH to kick on if the humidity runs higher. I haven't been able to find a thread or an answer that states what the optimal or high/low ends of humidity are that is acceptable. I did find an academic article that stated the bags they used had a certain permeability at 50% Rh, so I have been using that as the upper limit, with it running down to about 35-40% with the freezer cycle on. Does anyone know of the actual standard conditions to use the bags at? It seems weird that everyone says "just stick it in your standard fridge" and I haven't yet seen what a standard state would be considered.

 

[webs05]

I'll take a stab, not an expert and I've just started experimenting with my first brisket a week ago. I've put mine straight in a regular 18.1 cu" fridge/freezer sitting on a wire rack on a pan. I've done no other mods besides keep the fridge stocked with beer and Coke zero.

If I understand what I've read about umai dry age bags, they are a permeable membrane that is engineered to let moisture out but not in and let air breath in and out. This creates favorable dry age conditions. So when people say you just use a standard fridge they mean the bag is made to let out moisture so it doesn't matter if your fridge has excess moisture. Also the manufacturer states you are supposed to use a fridge that gets opened regularly because this forces the fridge to activate (the condenser I think?) which in turn will help circulate air and moisture.

The whole point of these bags is so that you don't have to build a whole rig dedicated to dry aging or buy an expensive dry aging fridge. You just use what you got. In practice does it work well? Dunno. But in about 6 months I'll have experimented the heck out of these bags and I'll know by then. I'm hoping it works as great as on YouTube.

Best of luck to your umai aging. Post some pics of your experiments!