this whole thing is so interesting…i want to do this with a deer backstrap

I just got my UMAI bags in today. With any luck, sometime in the next few weeks I will try a backstrap or maybe a large ham muscle.

i want to know how the blackstrap turns out. I wet age my deer, but I've wanted to try dry aging.

Without question the whole beef slabs I have done have turned out to be awesome. My reservations are now built around the amount of waste from the exterior. I can cut 10 choice steaks or 6 super duper prime aged. I have a few bags so I may try some other cuts.

Keep us posted on the venison. I'm curious how it turns out on such a lean cut.

ditto, want to know about venison

I just wish someone sold the whole ribeye around D/FW at the price Rusty gets it for...

I'm still shaking my head that you can find ribeye, any ribeye for $8.45/lb. Much less a decent one. I can't find anything remotely close to that around here...

Since my first one last year (this post) I've done 3 or 4 boneless and a whole strip. The last one I did I cut a few steaks off the ends to get a more even chunk from the middle and cooked it whole like a prime rib. It was scrumptious! I still prefer about a 2" cut, it gives me the surface area to season and sear. This process is not as esquisite as aging beef in a salt lined temp controlled cave in Chicago, but it's pretty close. The thing that stands out to me on aged beef is the fat. The fat just dissolves in your mouth like butter on hot toast.

Lawdy, Lawdy... Well, I can't get your pricing, nowhere close, but I have one coming tomorrow and will get it started. Going 45 days. It's a good time for me to do this since I am leaving for South Africa Saturday and will be there for a bit. Makes the wait easier.

The one I just did was 52 or 57 days, I can't remember. It was about a week more than the previous ones. I couldn't tell much difference except for the odor when I trimmed it.

Well...I finished my 45 day aging on my 107 whole prime rib....

Here is what it looked like straight out of the bag. Wonderful aroma!




If you use a 107 you'll have a large fat cap. As the roll ages the fat cap will keep the loss of the meat down as it is sealed under the cap. A decent butcher will not charge you for the extra weight of the cap, i.e., he should work with you. This isn't a great pic, but it shows the fat cap being removed. I started with 24 lbs. and had 20 when the aging was done. If you go this way, remember to save the meat in the fat cap. It is excellent!




Here are the steaks I ended up with. Right at 13 lbs. worth.

BOOM!

I'm picking a 107 up Wednesday, supposed to be on the truck today.

It's a little more work, but worth it I think. I'm trying to find another one to get started.

I paid $15 lb for prime ribeyes from HEB last week. Think the 107 is gonna cost me less than $8. They were good, but I'm spoiled with the aged cuts now. They're just beefier and softer to chew, but they stay together and cook right. I enjoy trimming one out.

Yeah, Central Market (HEB) in our area had them on for $9.99/lb. last week. Nice steak! I bought a freezer full.

Seems different folks deliver 107's different. You may have to deal with the chine and feather bones....but it isn't all that hard.

I'm drooling over $8/lb. You're a lucky men...

Whatever you do, don't forget to trim and keep the meet in your fat cap once it is aged. Spinalis Dorsi. Most folks haven't heard of it, but it is the best piece of meat on a cow.

Here is a little write up, but you can Google and find more info:
http://www.broadappetite.com/home/2014/7/12/sous-vide-ribeye-cap

I like spinalis, but I'm not sure it is the best

Here's the new 27 pounder I put in the other day...

Nice! Start sharpening your knife. I like to use a 7" butcher knife to start and finish with a filet knife. How many days you going? You could probably go close to 60 with that much.

I wrote Waco Custom Meat and Seafood through their website. They never returned the contact. The best price I can get around here is $12.99/lb., which makes this an expensive option. I do have a friend that raises half wagyu and half angus just over the border in OK... He offered to feed me one out and estimated a final total cost of $5.00 - $5.50/lb.. Though there is a lot of meat I am not necessarily interested in there, wagyu/angus burgers ain't all bad either.

Waco Custom Meat and Seafood and the Internet are about like Jerry Reed singing with George Michaels. The original owner was bought out about a year ago. They primarily sell to restaurants, but they have a store front for walk ins. Let me know if I can help from here.

I buy whole USDA Prime Ribeye from Costco for $10.99

There's a cattle butcher place in Hamilton that can probably sell it much cheaper

Butcher shop Downtown McKinney TX carry some very high quality certified all organic,
grass fed, grass finished
Angus, Wagyu ... you can taste a big difference ..... give them a try

But that is trimmed and packaged, not a primal cut 107 or 109 like you need for dry aging.

Edit: Which Costco? They all seem to be different.

Yes, I know about them. $500+ for a whole ribeye... I have not seen that wagyu is a value purchase. The meat is very good quality, but I don't feel the taste difference and tenderness is offset enough to warrant the cost difference. That's just me, others may see it different. It is a personal choice. That said, a friend of mine raises half and half wagyu and angus (which is a lot of what the McKinney guys do) and he has just offered to feed me one out for a butchered and delivered price of $5.00/lb., which does add up.

Thanks! I just saw their webpage and figgered they actually responded to it since they bothered to pay to have it...