60-day dry age was done a week ago. Actually, I ended up going 63 days, since that's what worked with my Saturday dinner plans. Upon unwrapping, there was a very slight tackiness here and there on the surface, along with a slightly unpleasant odor. I've seen youtube videos that have mentioned that happening with these umai bags. I kind of wish I had given it a rinse before I trimmed it, since as I trimmed, I was probably transferring the surface smell to the newly trimmed meat. I just tried not to touch the trimmed part with my gloved hand. The meat underneath had a clean pleasant meat odor. And was bright red. I was going to try and do something with the trimmings, like make stock or something, but the trimmings were far too funky for that. So I tossed them.
My roast was bone-in, so after I had all of the crust trimmed off the meat and the bones, I removed the bones, then tied them back onto the roasts, so the bones would function as a rack in the oven. I made two roasts, and 3 steaks. I vac sealed and froze the steaks and one roast. The finished prime rib roast was really delicious. No funky taste. Just a rich beefy taste, maybe just slightly mushroomy, and not cheesy at all. Best of all was the texture. It was tender and moist, but not mushy.
I vacuum sealed the cooked bones from the roast, and put them in the sous vide at 131 for 3 days to tenderize the meat, which is pretty tough between the bones. I have to say I did not care for the bones/meat. The fat definitely had that funky flavor. Probably because the ends of the bones being porous, soaked in some of the funkiness, so as they cooked, they released some of that funk into the surrounding fat and meat. The meat was also kind of stringy, but not too bad if I just avoided the fat. But next time I'd probably not bother and let the dog have it.
I did not get any pictures of the "cooked" prime rib slices. They pretty much looked like the perfect medium-rare prime rib that we've all had. ;D In the end, I will probably go 45 days next time, and see if I can get the same flavor and texture benefits on the inside, without as much funk on the outside. And if there was a smelly, tacky exterior, maybe give it a good rinse before I trim it up.
