Has anyone tried Umai dry bags for aging?

[Steve from GA]

I'll hopefully be bringing home a (dead) cow elk next month. For the hell of it, I purchased some Umai dray age bags after reading very favorable reviews on the internet (mostly related to fattier cuts of beef). While I wouldn't use this method on better elk cuts like backstop, I figured that I would try it on some large hind quarter cuts. I'm thinking of going the 30-45 day route, much like dry aged beef. I probably won't get the intensity of flavor due to the lean nature of elk, but I may get a more tender final product, and the meat loss on hind quarter cuts won't bother me too much.

Has anyone tried this or something similar, going full meteor style?

 

[Azone]

Did you end up aging some elk with these?

 

[Steve from GA]

I haven’t killed my elk yet, but I’m hunting in 2 weeks on a private ranch with a large herd - so I expect to come back with a cow elk. My plan is to take one hind quarter, separate it into large primal cuts, and then age each large roast. After aging, I might steak one of the roasts and see how it turns out, but even if I just end up using the aged roasts for pot roasts or stews, I still think it would be an interesting experiment. I’m not going to age the backstrap or tenderloins.

 

[merrittchristen]

I’ve used the bags on a prime rib they worked great. I used a separate fridge when I did it. Says there could be flavor that gets in or something like that from outside but I wouldn’t know only had the meat in there.


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[Azone]

I’ve used the bags on a prime rib they worked great. I used a separate fridge when I did it. Says there could be flavor that gets in or something like that from outside but I wouldn’t know only had the meat in there.


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How long did you leave your prime rib in the bags?

 

[Whisky]

I did a 45 day choice boneless rib loin once, cut into ribeyes after the aging. I was actually not a fan of the results. I got my notes somewhere with exact numbers, but in the end the % of meat loss to evaporation and trimming was not worth the results. The steaks are tender, but more dense if that makes sense. Completely different texture, and Idid not notice much of a taste difference in the meat. And they seemed to be not nearly as juicy......The fat that I did not trim off tasted exceptional. That was about the only positive.

 

[awasome]

I have done subprimals of Ribeye and Strip Steak both at 45 days. They work great, just make sure to keep them on a tray with a wire rack.

 

[merrittchristen]

How long did you leave your prime rib in the bags?

45 days. Like the other guy said use a wire rack so moisture escapes around the whole roast.

Where dry aging for me is the best is if you’re doing it with a sub optimal grade of meat. Prime is just great but if you take a choice it will upgrade the flavor and texture immensely.

The loss of meat from dry aging is definitely a down side I have to say. But everyone should try dry aging at least once no doubt about it!


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[CB1]

Just stumbled on these and hoping to try out on some venison soon. Fun project but a long time to wait to see if you like it.

I saw that the sausage maker has something similar that doesn’t require a vacuum sealer.

 

[phaetonfalling]

Personally, I would turn it into prosciutto. Remove the aich bone, expose the femur, push/work the blood out of the femoral artery, salt (and seal if using the equilibrium method), allow it to cure, and then hang it in 80% humidity and 55F until it loses 35% of its hanging weight.

The method works great on leaner tougher cuts in part because with the moisture loss, you're going to have a hard-ish salumi product anyway, but that's what you want.

 

[fishslap]

I just received my bags and ingredients for bresaola, along with ingredients and casings for salami. I need to figure out which piece to use from my elk for the bresaola. I have a large flat end section of backstrap, ey of round, and some nice mostly silverskin-less shoulder roasts to pick from. I already steaked all of my good hind quarter pieces.

 

[fish impaler]

I made some deer bresaola from a couple pieces of hindquarter, probably bottom round. Turned out great. Was a small muscle so only 3 weeks of aging for a 35% mass loss. I don’t think the specific cut matters too much