Dry aged beef

No

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

Open cryo. Place on a rack over a cookie sheet in the fridge. Done

wait 45 days

slice into steaks and roasts

don't trim (except very ends)

roast the roasts

grill the steaks

no magic, no complications. 

@setdahook
Do exactly what strike/Darby/Justine said above. It's honestly just that simple my friend. 

I don't bag my meat.

SGH said:

 
Not trying to say which way is best or which way is right or wrong. 

Scottie,  so political

DoubleEgger said:

After @bgebrent and I tested bag vs no bag on a 100 day project, the only benefit to having a bag was to hold the shape of the loin while the drying process was taking place. It helped keep the meat from splitting along the main fat lines that run through the loin. No difference in taste or texture. 

This splitting is a good point. 

I have had them split only a couple times, and never had enough awareness of the situation to figure out what was causing it. My thinking was perhaps it was too dry, as it happened on a 65-75 day project once

but i'm pretty sure i had one at 45 days too. 

I am regarded as the most evil anti bag hater on here. But that's incorrect. i have tried to point out their benefits when i see them. And i think i have actually explained their benefits more than those (who see me as a basher have ever done)

There are some benefits beyond placating the wife (which oddly is the ONLY benefit that has ever been promoted here by its users).  

I wouldn't say it is 'all marketing'. But I do think it is plain to see that aging without the extra expense of them is entirely possible. It's the traditional way to age (unwrapped in open air), and so it's pretty well known and manageable

 but they do have their place. Wouldn't say it is all hype or all about playing to the fear of the 'unknown' (i.e. Making things feel safe when they already are).

it's just that's the reason  most seem to give. 

I had some bresaola that collapsed pretty quickly during a dry spell. I had wondered whether the dry bags might help, because they dry a bit more slowly up front in the process than open dry aging does. Which would likely meter things a bit and help keep shape. 

Some people are using them for dry curing. I know nothing about that side of things. 

With dry aging beef, my understanding is that because they initially dry slower than open air, they retain moisture in the meat during the initial period longer than open air. Which implies that at say 28 days, the bagged beef and open air beef are equally aged, but the bagged has more remaining moisture. Which surely is what translates to juiciness on the plate. 

That's 'good' if that's what you want

but the flip side is that part of dry aging is drying. Separate from the aging, this drying is the condensing of flavor by getting rid of flavorless water. This is what gives you the "intense" part of the intense beefiness

i've been told (via relay) that the manufacturer has found that although bagged beef initially dries more slowly, the drying rate evens out fairly soon between bagged and bagless. 

That means, at a certain point the rind of the open air beef has progressed to the point where it slows the drying more than it initially did (drying slows).  

So, at about our sweet spot of 45 days (again, an oft stated 'interne't number i am pretty sure originated in this, or more specifically the original BGE forum), both bagged and bagless will have lost roughly the same amount of weight (flavorless water).  Obviously they have both aged the same amount time. 

So it really becomes a case of:

-know what you want. and try to understand what is happening so that you can get there. 

With or without bags

Dry aging is one of those ghost ship topics that keep roving the sea: Never landing, clouded in fog, disbelieved, argued about, confused by myths and storytelling 

There was clearly more drying/shrinking of the unbagged roast in our project.  And it was significant.  But as mentioned, it didn't affect taste or texture, interestingly.