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I want to dry age some beef at home - which I know is not ideal. I've heard that the UMAi bags are a good way to dry age at home. However, I keep seeing mixed reviews with no clear conclusion.

So, are UMAi bags a good endeavor for dry aged steaks?

Any past experiences would be helpful. I do not know what I cut will be using but I am looking to age the meat between 45 - 90 days.

J Houseman
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It is not a substitute for standard dry aging technique according to this: The UMAi dry bags are not Oxygen permeable, which is a critical part of the dry-aging process. Depending on your goals, it may or may not be appropriate.

Nat Bowman
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  • UMAi Dry bags are most certainly oxygen permeable. If they were not, how would you get genuine dry aged results? Look for genuine research (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22062568), not misinformed opinions (golbsalt.com). – Ted Aug 17 '19 at 07:55
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I've never used the UMAi bags because I was confident I could reproduce dry-aging conditions at home. Everything I read about the bags convinced me not to use them. I have successfully dry aged beef in a spare refrigerator. The temperature was set to maintain 35 to 40 F (2 - 5C). I also placed a small (5 inch) fan inside to keep the air circulating. I basically followed these directions. I used "prime" rated beef. There are other questions on Seasoned Advice that provide inaccurate and/or incomplete information on the potential for dry aging at home. It is certainly something that can be done.

Below are photos of my 45 day, home dry aged beef. One in fridge, then, at 45 days before butchering, then during butchering (the fat ends were trimmed...dry aged beef fat has some excellent uses). It was delicious and I would do it again.

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moscafj
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  • Looks delicious. I'm curious - did you do any monitoring of the humidity? I see the article did, and didn't find any real differences between the trials. Looks like you monitored the temp though. I guess that's the key bit? – bob1 Aug 18 '19 at 16:06
  • At the time, I did have a monitor for humidity. By chance, I guess, the fridge was within the parameters suggested. I have since rigged it with temperature and humidity control to create a curing chamber for salumi curing. So, now, I have more precise control. – moscafj Aug 18 '19 at 16:22
  • Thanks. I'm thinking about having a go myself, just have to convince the wife to let me have a small fridge and some $$$ for meat... – bob1 Aug 18 '19 at 16:26