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It is difficult to bond a cut of meat with the bone in, but the DryAgingBags™ will still provide a protective seal if a few air pockets are present. Just ensure that at least 70 to 80% of the meat is in direct contact with the bag, and make sure that the bone does not puncture the bag.

All of the DryAgingBags™ bags and casings are made of exactly the same material. They only differ in terms of size. If your piece of meat is large, you can cut it into smaller pieces and use the smaller bags. Otherwise, you can simply cut one of the big bags in half, and use it for smaller cuts.

Please note: NEVER try to age two pieces of meat in one bag, as the meat will rot!.

Sometimes, the butcher removes the bone from a bone-in ribeye steak, and then replaces it, in order to make the steaks look more attractive. The air channel that is formed between the meat and the bone as a result, provides a surface of the meat that cannot come into contact with the bag, and which is excluded from the airflow – the meat will therefore rot in this area.

Sometimes meat that is not vacuum packed is needled or Jacquarded – it is subjected to a mechanical tenderizing process, which results in hundreds of little holes being pierced into the meat, all over, which also represent surfaces that do not come into contact with the bag and are excluded from the airflow, therefore the meat will also rot.

A sub-primal or ribeye steak in its original packaging is sterile.

If the meat you purchase has been tied up with string, it will also be contaminated, therefore, it is not suitable for dry aging. String  is never sterile, and the fibers it is woven from are full of bacteria. The dry aging process will give the bacteria the opportunity to infest the meat, and it will also rot.

If the meat has been trimmed or handled by the butcher, it could also be contaminated, resulting in spoilage. 

DryAgingBags™ functions as a membrane, bonding with the moist proteins on the surface of the meat. Do not clean or dry the surface of the meat before inserting it into the DryAgingBags™.

Take special care when sealing the DryAgingBags™ material, so that you achieve and maintain the very important, perfect seal. Remove any visible residues of meat or blood on the inside of the sealing surface – to prevent any residues from getting onto this critical surface, you can fold the opening of the bag outwards when inserting the meat, and fold it back again once the meat is inside. Now, seal the bag roughly 10 cm from the meat.

A vacuum sealer is no absolutely essential if you want to use the DryAgingBags products. You can use the immersion method instead. It is a simple process – fill the kitchen sink, or a deep container with water, then put the meat you want to dry age into an DryAgingBag™. Put a zip-tie loosely around the top of the bag, but leave it open. Now push the DryAgingBag™ with the meat into the water, until the portion containing the meat is submerged – take care not to allow any water to enter the bag.

The pressure exerted by the water will force the air out of the bag, causing it to close around the meat. With your hand, carefully work any remaining air out of the bag. If there are still a few air pockets between the bag and the meat, don’t worry. You want to have as much of the meat as possible in direct contact with the bag, but 70-80% contact is sufficient. Once you have excluded as much air as possible from the bag, close the zip-tie securely and put a second zip-tie a few centimeters above or below the first, to ensure that the bag remains securely closed.

If the bag material melts when sealing, the sealing strip is too hot. Open the sealer cover and allow the strip cool down for at least 20 seconds before trying again. When doing several seals, wait at least 20 seconds between seals.

Creases in the bag, moisture or food residues can result in an imperfect seal, and lead to leaks. If this happens, cut the bag open, straight across the top, directly beneath the seal, then flatten the edge and clean and dry it with a paper towel, before resealing.

The reason why you need to create a vacuum is merely to ensure contact between the meat and the surface of the bag. The required bond forms within the first 5-7 days of the dry-aging process. Small pockets of air will not cause any problems – in fact, they are often unavoidable. But, to ensure safe dry-aging, you must ensure at least 75-80% contact. 

Once you have extracted the air from the bag and sealed it, take care not to tug on the plastic, and don’t carry the full weight of the steak by holding the bag by the edges. Gently place the beef in the sealed bag, on a wire rack somewhere in your refrigerator, where it will be subjected to 360° air circulation, with nothing except the wire rack coming into contact with it. Because the DryAgingBags™ are not like your typical vacuum bag, some parts might seem rather loose, and they will not come into full contact with the meat. As long as 70-80% of the meat surface is in contact with the bag, this is not a problem.

Don’t worry if the DryAgingBags™ releases during the aging process. As the meat dries, it often pulls away and loses its direct contact with the DryAgingBags™. If there was a 75-80% bond in the first week, you can be confident that the environment around the meat is ideal and perfectly protected.

DryAgingBags.com are not vacuum bags, and they are much more permeable to oxygen. Make sure you lay the meat on a wire rack, with the meaty side down and the fatty side up. Don’t worry if your vacuum isn’t perfect, or if there are some air pockets in the corners of the bag or where the bones have been curt from a ribeye, as long as about 70 to 80% of the meat is bonded with the surface.

If you notice that more than 25 to 30% of the meat pulls away from the DryAgingBag in the first few days, you need to reseal the bag with a vacuum sealer. Make sure the meat is moist, in order to achieve the desired bond. As long as you are able to reseal it, you do not need to change the bag, but if the bag was trimmed too close to the meat, and there is not enough material left to seal it adequately, rather use a new bag.

Ideally, you want to buy some vacuum-packed strip loin or rib eye. Make sure that the entire surface of the meat (strip loin, rib eye or top butt/sirloin) remains coated with the sticky protein layer that covers it when you take it out of the vacuum package it comes in. Do not rinse the meat or dry the surface, because if you do, you will not have as much success when it comes to bonding and sealing with the DryAgingBags™ bag. Another important factor is that you could introduce contaminants or bacteria if you try to “clean” the meat before placing it in the bag. 

No, if the meat is not on a rack, there will be insufficient airflow, and the dry-aging results will not be optimal.

The air in your refrigerator is probably not circulating sufficiently. You must use a modern, self-defrosting refrigerator, and you need to ensure frequent air circulation. We recommend that you use a fridge that is in constant use, for dry aging, to ensure frequent and adequate air circulation. A fridge that is seldom opened, or one that is kept in a cool place (temperature below 68°F (20°C)) will not provide adequate circulation. If the air in the fridge does not circulate often, there will not be enough air flow around the meat, and the dry-aging results will be unsatisfactory. 

The ideal temperature range is between 34 and 38°F (1.1 and 3.3°C). Ensure that your refrigerator remains within this range, to ensure proper aging and prevent spoilage.

Most of the professional chefs to whom DryAgingBags.com spoke recommend that the meat be dry aged for between 35 and 45 days. This will ensure that the characteristic “aged” flavor is present, but it will not be overpowering. Aging for longer than 45 days results in a very strong flavor, that many people do not like.

Charcuterie must be dry aged until it reaches the desired weight, (about 30% of the original weight). This can take up to 80 days.

The rate of weight loss sometimes slows down as time goes by, but be patient! The results are worth the wait.

Not really. Although DryAgingBags™ is permeable to smoke, tests have shown that the smoky flavor doesn’t turn out to be particularly good. If you want to smoke the meat, you can do one of the following:

1) add smoke powder or liquid to your recipe, or

2) only smoke the meat once it has reached the required weight.

Yes, you are not limited to beef only! You will also get great results with lamb, pork, venison or salmon.