Smokin-It User Forum!
Alternative Cooking Methods to Go With the Smokin-It Smoker => Dry-Aging Meat => Topic started by: Walt on March 11, 2014, 03:11:41 PM
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Ok Tony, I'll raise you 2 weeks! Just returned from SAMS with a 16.7 lb whole rib eye. I received my UMAI sampler kit last week as well as a Weston Pro 2300 vacuum sealer. Upon my return from SAMS I was ready to get started. This is very simple. Put the whole rib eye in the 12" x 24" UMAI Drybag, position the clean mouth of the bag on the sealer & insert the VacMouse, close the lid & seal. Make sure to massage the bag while sealing to assist in air evacuation. Place on a wire rack in a reliable fridge with good ventilation & wait.
The VacMouse looks like a folded piece of Bounce dryer sheets. It is used to act as an air chamber for removing the air. The 1st picture is the VacMouse.
I have chosen 35 days to age since it will end on my Father-in-law's birthday. I will update with pictures as it progresses.
3.5 days into it. 1/10 of the way done. The 4th picture below is the respective photo. The change from the pure white fatcap to the tinged red is apparent & the bond with the drybag seems to be very good. Only 31.5 days to go.....o
7 days in, 4 weeks to go. See the 5th picture below.
15 days in. 3 weeks to go. See the 6th picture below. That brownish / purpleish color is becoming more dominant. The meat is becoming much firmer. In some places, it looks like due to moisture / weight loss the bag is pulling away. However, the bond is still strong throughout. There has been an 8% reduction in weight due to moisture loss, 1.3 lbs. It is now 15.4lbs.
22 days in 13 days to go. See 7th picture below.
28 days in 7 days to go. See the 8th & 9th pictures below. The pressure is on to celebrate father in law birthday this weekend. I may not make it the full 35. The entire piece is a rich brownish / purpleish color & is firm as a piece of wood. The center is still a little squishy. It now weighs 14.8lbs. A 1.9lb or 12% loss in weight from start. Its a beautiful thing!
Its D Day! Day 37! See final picture. I made a concerted effort to minimize waste while trimming. With a sharp knife in hand and a bit of patience, the trimming was not too difficult. The meat is dark, rich and earthy smelling. Its very stiff and almost feels like wood. As stated earlier the original piece was 16.7lbs. It lost 2.3lbs through evaporation, down to 14.4lbs. After trimming, 13.6lbs turned into 12 very nice steaks. UMAI is everything they advertise. Very simple process that requires very little effort and produces a fantastic result. I highly recommend giving it a try.
Thanks for the inspiration, Tony.
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Good luck, Walt! 21 days was perfect, so I can't imagine it being better to go another 2 weeks! :o I'd probably die if I 1) had to wait that long, and 2) taste that it's actually better! ;D There are people who go 50+ days! 3 weeks is all I can stand!
Make sure you have a really sharp knife when you trim it at the end, and eat your Wheaties! It's some tough work trimming the rind off! ...but SURE worth it!!
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You probably already know, but make sure you put it on a wire rack in the fridge for airflow around it. ;) Hope you don't mind I started a poll for you!! ;D I can pull it down, if you want. lol! For the record, I think you can do it!!
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Put me down for a definate maybe. I'll give it good try to go all 35. It is on a wire rack with plenty of airspace around it. Tic-toc!
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Hang in there, buddy! I must know the results difference with another 14 days!! ;) Just don't look at the pics of my finished steaks before then!! Hahaha!
p.s....Uh oh, how'd THAT picture get there??? LoL!! I'll be testing your willpower along the way, Grasshopper! ;D
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Day 2, Walt...how you holding up, looking at that incredible hunk of meat in the fridge? 33 to go! :D
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Its already apparent a change is occuring. Did you flip the meat at any point, Tony? The brisket in the fridge getting happy is keeping my eyes off the big shiney object....for now!
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I left mine fat-side up the whole time. Not sure if it makes any difference, and I don't think I saw anything on the UMAi website that said to flip it. I think it will be fine, as long as air can get to all sides. I see we have one doubter on the poll! I'm pulling for you, though!
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Looking like it should. The bag is getting sealed to the surface. Yummie!
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It is looking awesome!
How are ya holding up Walt?
Are ya going to be able to wait the full 35 days? ;)
I voted in the poll that you were going to be able to wait the full 35 days. I have faith in ya.
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I'm good. I enjoy the anticipation & watching it develop. I fully expect total satisfaction when done. Such a perfect product to fold right in to this passion of ours.
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Just as a little side note, when I was at the Columbus Deer and Turkey expo last week, UMAI had a booth set up with their products available for purchase. I talked briefly with a very nice young lady and gentleman (I didn't get their names). The one comment she made to me that stuck out, was that the more manual and less automated the vacuum sealer, the better. Looking forward to the final result Walt.
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The Weston Pro 2300 I have was very easy & made a great airtight seal. I could see problems if the machine couldnt pull enough vacuum to get all the air out before an automatic seal initiated. It is a big piece of meat in a large bag & as the machine is working you should help massage the air out. So far, it really has been an easy process to start & completely hands off since. Makes me smile just thinking about it!
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Glad to see you're holding up well after a week, Walt. We'll see how your willpower is 2 weeks from now. LoL! ;D
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Looking good, Walt! Another 7 days, and you'd be in heaven! Can't imagine where you'll be in another 21 days! Not even halfway there! Arghh! I couldn't do it. Hats off to you! The rind is looking great!
On a technical note: Only judging from the picture, it looks like you might not have gotten as much air out as you could have. I know it's tough with the slick bags (no air channels), and it's certainly not like "normal" vacuum sealing with regular bags. I kept massaging mine until I got about as much air out as I could. They say you get better as you go with these bags, so I know my next one will hopefully be better than the first. Good thing is, UMAi says you only need about 70 - 80% surface bonding for great results. It might just be your picture, too. Looks to me like you should be fine. Some of what we're seeing may be shrinkage, too. You're definitely putting that baby on a diet! Hang in there! ;)
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Well I could not take it any longer ordered my bags today. How long does it take to get the bags already excited and I don't even have the meat yet. Will any bag sealer work I know someone that has an older unit maybe 4 or 5 years old.
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I think I read something about the new stand up foodsaver versions not working or working well but the standard style vac sealer works fine useing the vac mouse.
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Looking perfect, Walt! Man, you are in for an incredible treat in another week! Oops... I mean 3 weeks! Argh! I'm not too proud to admit that I couldn't hold out that extra 2 weeks. But, after I see your results, I may have to see if I can! ;)
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As soon as my bags get here I'm planning on doing a 28 day. My wife thinks it won't work with me opening the fridge 12 times aday to check on things much like when I first started smoking. The temptation to look will be unreal. Going to ration myself to one quick look a day.
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Ok, the latest picture / update posted in the original post. 22 days in, 13 to go. The wait hasn't been bad but i have had 5 smokes in the last 22 days to help keep my mind off of it. I have a feeling I am one of very few people looking forward to April 15th. An unintended benefit to temper tax day.
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That's the spirit, Walt! And, Jim - you can easily sneak 2-3 peeks per day with no adverse effects. ;)
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4 week update. See new pictures & note in original text. Getting close!
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I just drooled on my keyboard. :o I can taste the anticipation!! ;D ;D
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By the way, I'm proud of you, buddy Walt! I could not have made it this long! 21 days and I would have been grilling!
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There is a visible difference between 3 & 4 weeks. I can only assume it will translate to taste. Maybe the trick is to cut it in half (or buy 2 if feasable) & pull 1 @ 21 days & the next @ 35. Just sayin.......
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It should, Walt, but I don't know for sure....you in uncharted water. ;)
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Its been a week, Jim. I would expect you should have received your kit by now. Time to start the 50 day ageing. Or 28!
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Its been a week, Jim. I would expect you should have received your kit by now. Time to start the 50 day ageing. Or 28!
50 day?? You're trying to make my head explode, Walt! Hahahaha!! :o
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My kit has been here for a week now just haven't had the time to get started hopefully this weekend!!!!!
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Tomorrow is day 35. The plan is to cook steaks on Thursday, day 37. I will remove the rind & vacpac individual steaks Thursday. Will report back soon.
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Yippie! It's finally here! Hat's off to you, Walt, you did it! 8)
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Going to be cutting the rind off and cooking later today. Been looking @ a few video's in preparation for doing this and learned something. Initially i vacuum sealed and helped manually massage the air out. This gave a pretty good seal but not quite as strong as I would have liked. It is a huge piece of meat and a very large bag. I have seen a couple of examples where right before the vacuum sealer is about to seal, the user stops & restarts the process. This allowed for a much tighter initial seal. Also, some recommend putting inside a panty hose for the 1st 4 to 5 days to assist in the initial bond. However, no more than 5 days so the hose won't bond to the dry bag. I'm not sure if it will really matter much because the meat looks great, even with only 70-80% adhesion.
I will take a few pictures of the process during the trimming. 7 mouths to feed for the birthday festivities. Can't wait!
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Any update yet, Walt?? You know I'm dying to know how they turned out! ;)
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The ribeye was a complete success. The taste was superb. I seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper & granulated garlic & cooked on the grill wide open. Pulled the steaks @ 128 & let rest for 15 minutes. They came out a perfect medium rare with a nice hard sear. I cut the steaks about 1.25 to 1.5" thick. A good sharp knife made trimming the rind fairly easy with minimal loss. The piece originally was 16.7 lbs & lost a total of 2.3lbs from evaporation finishing up @ 14.4lbs prior to trimming. Finished up after trimming @ 13.6lbs with 12 steaks. We ate 5 between the 7 of us. My tablet seems to have died so I will have to figure out how to post pictures another way. Will update soon.
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That's fantastic, Walt! I can't wait to see the pictures (just can't get enough of them ;) ). The taste is incredible, huh? Great job!
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Attached are the final pictures. Sorry for the picture quality. Took them with my phone. I did cut the tails off after that last shot. The meaty shavings left in the bowl were cut into very small pieces. I then bagged up small portions for dog treats. 5 bags of these in the freezer & 1 in the fridge.
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Any ideas or suggestions for the trimmings? The huge hunks of fat are left from the tails. I was wondering if it could all be ground together & used like ground meat / sausage or cooked down (skimmed & strained) into a beef broth. If not, the dogs are sure enjoying it. I get this strange feeling I may be neglecting something that could be seriously tasty.....the shavings look like really nice beef jerky.
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I can definitely see a difference in the 21-day and 37-day. The main thing I see is the depth of the browning in the fat. At 21-days, I didn't have to remove as much fat. Btw, I trimmed the big hunk of fat at the tails (less flareup when cooking). It would be interesting to taste the difference in the two.
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Since your offering, send me one of yours & I'll let you know.:P I cut the fat from the tails right after that photo & the weight loss numbers include removal for the trimming.
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I would if I had any left, Walt! ;) I think I'm going to get another one started this weekend (actually, Monday, when my new bags arrive). We might have to work out a swap!
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I think the next one will go 50 days. Need to try the upper limit for comparison. Next outing to SAMs I will pick up another.I still have 5 left in the freezer for a special occasion.
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Walt, did you ever know that you're my hero? ;D