More dry-aging pron (Umai)

This was an IBP prime grade striploin subprimal that I got from Costco and aged for 64 days in an Umai bag...



At one point I had 5 subprimals aging in my garage fridge, and I noticed a definite "meaty" smell every time I opened up the door to check on the meat. But this subprimal was the last of the cohort and sat alone in the fridge for the last three weeks or so, and I noticed that the meaty smell completely dissapated. Strange. Must be that the refrigerator is not as efficient at circulating air when it is full.

Anyways, here is the subprimal out of the bag...very hard and shiny with no areas of mold or liquefied spots...



Here's a closeup of the endcut...



Slicing it open for the first time is always fun...the knife makes a "cracking" sort of sound when it cuts cleanly through the desiccated meat and fat...



I'm cooking half of the subprimal as a roast in the near future, and the other half I sliced into three 2.5" thick NY strips. I trimmed the outer bark before steaking out...this is easier on a striploin than on a ribeye roast...



I ended up trimming down a lot more of the fat after this pic, but here's a shot of the trimmings...Looks edible, doesn't it?



I've saved up the trimmings in the past but I have yet to utilize them. These trimmings went to my dog for disposal. Talk about living like a king, this dog.

The Umai bags are great. I've gotten some excellent results and lots of great tasting steaks. Highly recommended to all!

You know, I stopped measuring all those stats after the first few subprimals I aged, so I don't have the specifics for this harvest. I found that the average moisture loss as a percentage of original weight tended to be between 15-18% in my refrigerator...and the difference between 45 days and 60 days (and my longest 76 days) was negligible. There is a larger difference between 30 days and 45 days (most moisture lost earlier in the process).

The biggest loss is from trimming...but not the outer crust alone. I have found a large variation in excess fat cap and tail from subprimal to subprimal. Ultimately, I have had yields as low as 60% but usually averaging closer to 70%....30% loss to moisture and trimming.

sknabnoj said:

Stupid question but, I assume you should trim the "crust" off right? Is that safe to eat?

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It's safe to eat but you probably wouldn't want to...it's pretty dry and hard. I've talked to a guy who leaves it on and cooks the steaks as is. He says the crust "mellows" with cooking and he loves eating it "as a snack"...but he admits that it's an acquired taste.

I trim it all off because I don't fancy chewing something that tough, and I like to get a nice sear on all surfaces of my steaks. That's the pile of trimmings that you see in the last picture above. I've saved a few pounds of these trimmings in order to grind in with ground beef for burgers or making stock or to render beef tallow. The concentrated dry-aged super-beefy flavor in these trimmings is really too astounding to throw away outright.

cowgirl said:

Looks amazing James!
I just ran out of my dry aged steak supply. Not sure how I let that happen. :doh:

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Thx Jeanie! Mine seems to just disappear, too! Good stuff!

Smoke Dawg said:

Looks great. My first will be trimmed up this weekend. This post inspires me!

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Enjoy it! The trimming process seems a bit tedious the first go around, but it gets easier. You might try cutting into steaks first and then trimming each individually. That'll give you a better idea of how much to trim.

AussieTitch said:

Good post mate. my first is a few weeks away

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You're gonna love it, Titch! Go ahead and start another hunk, cuz you're gonna finish the current one before you know it!

Big George's BBQ said:

Very Nice I need a new Vac Sealer before I can try this

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Go for it! I always love it when new interests and new projects necessitate NEW TOYS!!!! :thumb:

CakeM1x said:

My first one I did was a prime boneless ribeye from costco. I am thinking maybe a bone in ribeye will have less loss of meat from trimming? What do you think James? Have you done both yet?

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Yes, I've done both...the bone-in ribeyes at Costco are giant compared to the boneless variety there. And because they have the bone, you'll need to cover the pointy bits with some paper/parchment so that the bag doesn't get punctured when you are putting the meat in.

And yes, I believe that there is definitely less trim loss, since the bone side doesn't really have much exposed meat to trim off...just pull the membrane off and you're done (much like prepping pork ribs).

I may have to get the larger bags because I do prefer the size of the bone-in ribeyes and plan on doing them more regularly. The 16"x12" bags are a little snug for the bone-in subprimals from Costco, I think....but perfectly fine if you are super careful (you'll get really good adherence of the meat).