Has anyone tried UMAi?

Possibly the best steak I ever made at home was a choice ribeye, dry aged 28 days by our local Fred Meyer. I looked around the internet and decided to try UMAi bags with a Costco USDA Prime rib roast.

https://umaidry.com

Has anyone tried these? I'll report in a month or so.

So I aged a USDA Prime boneless ribeye, started at about 14 lbs. Definitely worthwhile, harvested 11 steaks. I now think the Fred Meyer aged 28 days was actually aged for 35, and will adjust next time.

We are eating our way through them now, really good from the freezer; I think the dryer meat is not affected by the freezing and thawing as much as the non-dry aged.

I decided to go ahead and start again, as steak may be hard to find in a couple months. Another Costco Prime ribeye, this one just under 20 lbs. It seems that the ratio of meat to fat is much better on the larger one.

This is an experiment I would encourage any omnivore foodie to try. If you are interested, buy the beef now while you can, it can spend a few days in the fridge till your UMAi bags arrive. If you can't get Prime, not to worry, the Fred Meyer 28 was Choice.

Jim, sounds like an amazing experiment. I’ve only had proper dry aged rib once and it was wonderful.
I looked at UMAI website and watched the video.
What was confused about was the cost of the bags, is the price for one or possibly three or am I misreading.
Well done for going the whole 9 yards glad it is paying off in the results. Thanks for the report.

Barb, I bought three bags for $27; I got the largest size, as I ordered before deciding which cut of meat to buy; I'd get one size smaller for a rib eye or NY strip.

[Jenise]

Okay, you have my attention, Jim. Must look into this--you cite good reasons for the future. Once again, I really really really wish I had a stand-alone freezer.

The forum at UMAi's website has great information for newbys - https://www.drybagsteak.com/forum

Some of the most important points I've found:

1. Don't use meat that has been mechanically "tenderized", it will rot.

2. Best bet is still in the cryo bag; you can drain the liquid, but don't wipe it down; you want the surface wet.

3. I don't understand why, but it is impossible to get nearly as much air out of these as regular FoodSaver bags. The forum has discussions and photos of what is acceptable.

4. There is some disagreement in the literature about turning it once in a while; I have come down in the "fat side down, don't touch it" camp.

My own recent innovation is using a couple cups of sugar in ziplock bags to weigh down the bag for a couple days to encourage the bag to stick. They will be removed to allow the membrane to function properly.

"Fat side down" makes sense to me. The fat provides a seal to prevent gravity from pulling juices out of the meat.

-Paul W.

This year I discovered a new company. They also sell the same bags as Umai These guys can be found: https://www.dryagedbags.com They also work great.