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Dry Aging via "Drybag"

upnsmoke
upnsmoke Posts: 60
edited December 2011 in EggHead Forum
I just picked up a sampler pack of "drybags" from drybagsteak.com... Has anyone tried their method? Kinda wish i had asked before i bought them but after cooking a dry aged steak (done by a butcher) on the egg last night i may have a new eggdiction.

Just curious before I stick a $100 piece of meat in my fridge for 2 or 3 weeks. Yes I will probably cut it in 1/2 the first time I try it 8)


Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    they are perfectly serviceable.

    i do not use them, but they are very popular with many folks.

    i personally do not believe they offer any safety bonus (bacteria-wise) versus just leaving the meat exposed to air as is traditional.  but they do provide a sort of 'relief' to those who prefer to wrap their meat before storing it in the fridge. psychological benefit a plus, especially for the wife, who usually looks at this stuff sideways (rotting meat in a fridge, i mean).

    there's a likely benefit from excluding any potential off odors, but you should always try to minimize off odors in your fridge anyway. i do not use them, but have never had an off-flavor (due to picking up stray odors from stuff like garlic, etc.) on my dry aged meat.  i also use a spare (beer) fridge.  no odors in there from food anyway.

    when aging for longer periods (say 45 days?), you'd find that going commando dries quicker in the beginning, dry bags quicker at the end.  the bag slows drying initially, where the commando version is exposed to air and dries a little faster.  at long aging periods, the rind of the commando version slows down drying, where the thinner rind as a result of the bags (i'm told) allows it to be faster.  sounds like a wash.

    i frankly do not know why they are needed, but i haven't heard anyone that did not like the product after using it.  seems a bit, to me though, like suspenders when i already have a belt.

    RRP is a pro w/r/t to the dry bags.  seek him out on the original forum.  there's also a dry-bag forum.

    you can't ruin the meat if that is your question.

    i always advise people to buy an expensive dry aged steak (raw, not at a steak house, but a butcher's) to see if they even like it first. 99% of the crowd would probably not eat it if it was in the case at the butcher's, because of the way it looks.

    would you eat this if you had it in your fridge? 

    image

    if no, then don't bother aging.  because that's what you are aiming for.  and don't trim, or you will have wasted all the dry aged beef you waited so long to create
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    ...oh.  and ron (RRP) has a video on how to use the dry-bags with a regular foodsaver, so that you don't need to buy the proprietary sealer, saving you some ca$h.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytQGVYuHHKg


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • thank you for the quick reply... i love dry-aged and did it once in the fridge v/s buying it from the butcher. you are correct, the wife was not happy with my little experiment especially as it was being conducted next to the baby food 8)

    i saw their forum but seeking advice from a board not moderated by the folks trying to sell the bags.

    thanks again, now i am not so worried about sticking a hunk-o-prime in the fridge.

    AWESOME on the vid.... A food saver is what i have...


  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    let me know if you see a benefit over going commando.  until you, i hadn't found someone who did commando aging before buying the bags.  my gut is that the bags are about satisfying that desire to 'wrap' things that are in the fridge, more than actually doing the job better than simply the traditional way. but i would love an informed opinion.  mine is just guessing


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante

  • i will let you know... 
    i just ran across and interesting blog that pitted the method against a pro http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/08/dry-aging-steaks-at-home-final-chapter.html and got really rave reviews. 
    if wrapping wins the wife's approval and i get exceptional flavor it will be a win all around. 

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    @upinsmoke:  isn't his comparison between store-bought and dry-age bags?

    i'm hoping for a comparison between bags vs. no bags (both at home).

    my guess is the bags are basically to placate the wife and settle any heebie jeebies, rather than that they do anything better. but would be good to know
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • should be a comparison between a "prime" dry aged steak purchased from a reputable butcher (no bag) and a "choice" steak they did in the drybag and cooked side by side.

    my apologies if i posted the wrong link (it is the right site but there are 100s of vids on it and i can not get to it right now to verify) but i am 99% sure the article was addressing the comparison you are looking for.


  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i dunno. 

    looking for the one human on earth who has purchased two rib eyes, and aged them both AT HOME, side-by-side, one in the dry bags, and one done traditionally.

    i have asked the dry-bag users to explain to me the benefits of the dry-bag versus commando, and no one has.

    i'm not asking for a comp between butcher-purchased and dry-bag.

    choice vs. choice or prime vs. prime would be equal.

    forget it, man... i started trying to explain what i understood about the dry bag vs. commando.  that was all.  not butchers involved, and choice-vs-choice. 

    if you have done the commando version (no bag) and are now doing ddry-bag, and wanna let us know any differences, that'd be great.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    ...i just reread.  he aged his steaks only in the bag (not commando). and he compared them to restaurant aged. so yeah, sure it is as good as restaurant aging.  it's impossible to screw up.  like comparing restaurant boiled water to home-boiled.

    the trimming, though.  what logic is there in trimming it?  ever see those people's faces on tv when they tell them their chippendal dresser would be worth 1$100k if they hadn't refinished it?  hahaha  forgive them, for they know not what they do.


    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • i will let you know... i have cooked pro aged, ones i aged myself (no bag), and will have a bag aged in a few weeks. 
    my butcher has some of the best meat in town and i just went to make sure he would have me a whole roast and told him what i was doing... guess what, the meat he sells is at least 21 day's wet aged (who knew).  now i need to not only dry-bag i need to try dry-baging and already wet aged steak lmao....

    ...but i am a trimmer to so you may not like my comparison 8)

     
  • dont make my steak political just because is better than the 99% lol
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited December 2011
    if you trim, try wet aging.  i'm not kidding when i say that what you trim off is what has been dry aged, leaving you with a wet aged core. 

    you will have better yield, and will not be throwing away the dry aged part.  dry aging is actually drying+aging.  aging takes place whether you dry it or not.  the drying is condensing of the beef, and that doesn't occur uniformly.  the exterior IS the dry aged part.  seriously.  skip the drying part altogether.  you aren't eating it, why bother?

    i wet age and dry age.  similar things, but different results.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Better a dry bagger than a tea bagger.
    LOL or it's better to give then receive!  :-B
    I'm ashamed of what I did for a Klondike Bar.
  • EPIC FAIL!

    The bags I was able to remove the air from simply melted v/s sealing. They are a real POS and I would not recommend unless you want to buy one of their sealers.

    Thanks for the video, but does not work with the bigger food savers...

    errrrrr....
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Just lose the beef condom and go natural

    The drybags are not required
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • lwrehm
    lwrehm Posts: 381

    I hate to bring this topic back to the top again, but I'm going to give it a shot.  My question is, after aging a slab o'beef and cutting into steaks if I only cook 2 of them can the rest be frozen without trashing them?

  • Or you can just cut off a couple and leave the rest to age longer

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Yes they can be frozen (according to the butcher). Many of the online boutiques flash freeze.Whether that means they use super cold temps like Omaha or flash freezing also refers to freezing before putting something in to the packaging i.e. vacuum sealed bag. dunno... you will find studies that show folks can not tell the difference between unfrozen and flash frozen...

    i did break down and order another vacuum sealer for the dry bags (not happy especially since the folks at dry bag never responded to my e-mail)... hopefully i am not throwing good money after bad... 

    ...but i digress. i will let you know how they freeze once i finally get the garbage i mean dry bags to work.

  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    FWIW, the esteemed Harold McGee has some recent comments on dry aging at:

    http://gizmodo.com/5866754/the-science-of-taste-or-why-dry+aged-meat-is-so-damned-delicious

    His comments imply that having a 'fridge doing nothing except cooling dry-aging meats is a good way to go.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    @gdenby:

    but what would you say when the wife says 'no'?
    hahahaha
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante