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Drybag sealing technique that worked

RRP
RRP Posts: 25,880
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Note this is a long post, but I hope a helpful one.

Today I spent over an hour fighting the BRAND X retractable snorkel vacuum that I bought with the Drybags for dry aging primal pieces of meat at home. I had already been tipped off by AZRP that getting the air out like shown in the video is next to impossible and it's easy to burn through the bag. Additionally the snorkel causes the bag to collapse long before all the air is drawn out. To over come that problem I cut 4 pieces of rigid 3/16" OD plastic tubing into 2" lengths. Then super glued them into a raft thus 2" x 3/4" like this. Note the silver snorkel's relative size to my raft.
IMG_0616.jpg
For sanitary reasons I sterilized the raft in boiling water.

Then I proceeded to have the fight with the vacuum. Later out of frustration I got out my Foodsaver and managed to get some seams sealed but kept fighting the Brand X to the extent I had to trim the bags twice and was really having trouble and eliminated the raft (this time). Finally I thought enough was enough - so there's going to be air in it. An hour later I checked the bag and the whole end was open!!!

So I pitched that $5 bag and got out a new one, but practiced on the old one and found the Food Saver made a far better seal than the Brand X. So I did the diagonal seals with the FS but inserted the raft in the throat for the final Brand X air extraction. This time I swear I got all the air out like I was supposed to!!! Just to be safe though since I had the room I sealed the end with the Food Saver again anyway!

Look at the shine on these front and back pictures. The bags are like a new skin on that 12 pound New York Strip primal. I can't wait for 21 days to go by to try the results!
IMG_0618.jpg
IMG_0617.jpg
Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.

Comments

  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    Good job Ron, I was thinking you were going to use a single piece of tubing but the raft idea looks good. -RP
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I was going to until I found this real rigid tiny stuff in my workshop and thought what the heck give it a try. Maybe even a 4 legged splayed design like /ll\ would work though this one sure did the trick.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    hmmm my backward slant doesn't translate here - oh well you get the idea.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Ron,

    I guess I jumped in right in the middle of this conversation. I'm guessing this Sinbo is a commercial packaging tool and is powerful enough to get almost all of the air out of the bag?

    Just curious where you are going to age the beef. Do you have a dedicated fridge for those colder temps? How important is air circulation when the beef is in bags instead of just on the hook?
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    LOL - don't get me started about what I think of that Brand X, BUT it has an essential instantly retractable snorkel and then sealer feature critical to this Drybag so be it! I'm just glad I think I've gotten around some of the rough corners. BTW here's the info - let's see if you become a believer! :laugh: I did! BTW I love dry aged steaks!!!!!!!!!!!
    http://www.drybagsteak.com/
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Rees
    Rees Posts: 12
    Wow--you really went through a lot to get that sealer to work with the Drybags! It took me a lot of playing around with the temperature setting not to melt through, but to melt enough. Seemed like pressing as much air out as possible to get the "second skin" effect before even sealing helped. Also, I found that if I smeared the opening while inserting the meat, the seal was less reliable. I usually fold the bag back a couple inches over the back of my hand, grab the meat, slide it in, then fold the clear edge back in. One more thing, I try to get the snorkel up as close to the meat as I can--but not a juicy spot! If you can't do that, sometimes gently rubbing the top and bottom surfaces of the Drybag together right at the tip of the snorkel allows the air to escape more easily. They're tricky to seal, for sure. I loved hearing of your trials and tribulations! Great story-teller.
  • Rees
    Rees Posts: 12
    Don't seem to need special fridge or special temps as long as you have a good space in your fridge where the air circulation is good. If you can store milk safely, it looks like you can dry age safely with these bags.
  • jagweed
    jagweed Posts: 188
    you can store without the bags, too, for what it's worth.

    bacteria is present whether there are bags or not, and the bags offer nothing as far as food safety.

    still, i'll be interested to see the benefit over aging without the bags. i proposed a side-by-side to RRP, but he's going to try this first found with the bags.

    i'm guessing they'd allow you to go a little longer without too much drying (a risk in a home fridge), and that they'd guard against off flavors (something you can also avoid, but generally requiring a spare fridge)