DRY-AGING
Dry-Aging Meat: An outcome worth waiting for…
Dry Aging – the art of meat maturing
Beef needs aging. And aging needs time.
Dry Aging – translated “to mature dry” – is the traditional way of aging meat to produce an extraordinary tender and intense flavour. A technique, many decades old, through which beef reaches the highest possible grade.
LAVA Dry Aging Bags + Dry Aging Rolls
Do you want to prepare your loved one something special? Something that you do not get served every day at the plate? Then Dry-Aged beef would be perfect, because with the right equipment, the precious meat can be prepared even at home. In a gourmet restaurant you would pay more than $150 per kilo. A lot of money, which you can invest better and above all sustainable.
The solution: Dry aged in vacuum bags!
As basic equipment you need beef (not depended, must be fresh) – ideally a whole back or a big slice of entrecote, sure to grow, as well as a LAVA vacuum sealer and the LAVA A-Vac Bags. Requirements for dry aging would also be a refrigerator at a constant temperature control and some patience.
The dry aging takes place in a LAVA A-Vac bag and leaves the total weight of the beef shrink by up to 20%. The membrane bag must first be evacuated with a vacuum sealer. LAVA recoments as the ideal refrigerator temperature about 0 to +4 ° C. In any case, this temperature range should not be exceeded.
The membrane layer of the vacuum bag will go down in a firm connection with the meat during the aging process. In order not to confuse these processes, the meat must always be in the same place during the aging process. The membrane bags, which are used for aging, are airtight to the outside water vapor permeable and inwardly. This process ultimately results in the weight loss in the flesh. The dry outer layer is truncated after to the aging process of the meat and thus provides a further weight loss. Therefore it must be ensured that the meat outside has a light coat of grease.
After at least 3 weeks (you can also store it up to 4 weeks) comes, after the removing the outer layer, the core high-grade stainless meat to the fore! Now the gourmet meat can be prepared with a delicious marinade on the grill or in a pan. Who once could cost this kind of meat, know that the long wait is worth it.
How to succeed doing Dry-Aged-Beef : Step-by-Step
Choosing the right meat
Choose an intramuscular marbled peace, for example, Ribeye, Entrecote, Roast beef or ideally Heifers meat. Everything between 2 and 8 Kilo is ideal, avoid aging single steaks. The meat should be marbled with a layer of fat, to prevent precious muscle meat loss. The meat should not be wet-aged, (wet aging in a vacuum bag) or stored in a cooling chamber for too long. Please consider that through dry-aging your meat can lose up to 10% on weight per aging week. Further weight loss occurs through skinning the dry crust.
Hygiene
Please always wash your hands before working with fresh meat. Cleanliness is essential to avoid possible contamination.
Preparation
Portion out the suitable amount of meat for the bag. Do not wash or dry the meat before putting it in the bag. Do not remove any meat juice; it is needed for the drying process. Too much tampering increases the risk of germs cultivating and contaminating the meat.
Fill the bag
To ensure a perfect sealing, avoid fluids around the welding area. Flip the fringe of the bag inside out, to avoid any contact with liquids while filling it. When done stuffing, flip the fringe back to the origin and press any excess air out of the bag.
Adjust the bag
Remove excess material down to 8 cm. (3 inches)
Vacuuming & Welding
Since the LAVA Dry-Aging-Bags do not have a structure, we help ourselves out with a gimmick: we have provided structured foil stripes which you place on the top of the fringe, so that the air can get
Important:
After vacuuming and welding, perform a second welding. Cut down the excessive stripe down to the welding suture. Then place the bag on the Welding ledge, not into the vacuuming area.
Start dry aging
Place the vacuumed meat in the fridges coldest area, preferably on a grill shelf. The temperature should be between +1 and max. +4°C. Best results are achieved around +3°C. Make sure to have enough space in your fridge to ensure good air circulation. Avoid the Dry-Aging-Bag is getting in touch with other products in your fridge, do not place anything on top of the Dry-Aging-Bag. We recommend a no-frost fridge to ensure best results. However, conventional refrigerators have delivered excellent results too.
The Dry-Aging process
In the first 3 to 5 days the membrane material in the LAVA A-Vac Dry-Aging-Bag starts to connect with the meat. To ensure the best result, you should avoid any movement of the bag. Depending on your liking, you can age the meat up to 28 days. A longer aging is not needed and only changes the taste marginal. We recommend a maturation period of around 25 days.
Trimming the meat
After the aging has reached the desired maturation, remove the meat out of the bag. The meat should be darker than before and have a hard crust. The scent should not be unpleasant. The crust can be removed before consumption and used for fonds.
To Success!
