I got in on the 4th of July free shipping special for my starter kit. That was a good deal that saved me over $22 bucks in shipping. My thanks to DrybagSteak for running the free-shipping special.

The kit came with two subprimal bags (one of which is sitting on a rack in my fridge with a 15.5 pound ribeye in it, currently at 14 days and counting), and two smaller roast sized bags.

I plan to use my second subprimal bag on a NY Strip, but I haven't figured out what to use the smaller bags for. What cuts of meat work well in the roast-sized bags, and about what weight should I be looking for?

Those two smaller bags are 10 x 20 and are called roast bags. They allow you to age (obviously) smaller pieces of a cut such as a roast which you would not be cutting up like into steaks, but cooking whole. I've only used one myself and aged a boneless prime rib weighing around 5 pounds as I recall...and it was delicious and WOWED my brother in law!

I thought a boneless prime rib was the same thing as a boneless ribeye, but prime grade. I guess I could just use the smaller bags for smaller ribeye or strip steaks.

How about top sirloin? Has anyone tried drybag aging one?

you're correct in the name - just seems like when a butcher shop sells a solid chunk they refer to it as prime rib when it in fact probably isn't even prime, but choice. Yet in the same meat case when they sell the same meat cut into individual steaks they label them rib eye steaks!

As for aging a top sirloin my opinion is it is a leaner piece of beef with little fat and might not benefit as much, but hey...why not try it and let us know!

RRP wrote:
[quote]you're correct in the name - just seems like when a butcher shop sells a solid chunk they refer to it as prime rib when it in fact probably isn't even prime, but choice. Yet in the same meat case when they sell the same meat cut into individual steaks they label them rib eye steaks!
quote]

So I followed the same rational with this piece of rib eye I aged 45 days. I cut two large pieces which I'll serve as "prime rib" and then 4 steaks that I'll serve as rib eye steaks!



BTW last night we had a couple New York strips I aged back in October for 21 days that I then sealed in Food Saver bags for the freezer and were they delicious! I think your plan for a strip is excellent as it seems to me the thinner sub-primal ages more thoroughly. Good luck!

Those are great looking steaks, RRP. I read in another of your posts that the crusty outer edge cooks up good. I will probably trim that off of mine, but I'll leave one with the "rind" to test the flavor for myself.

I've only ever had dry-aged steaks in restaurants, by the way, and precious few of those in the past two decades. Very few steak restaurants in Dallas dry age their beef. I can only think of two off hand, and they are $$$. So I'm really looking forward to my first home dry-aged steak.

LOL - I thought maybe with the intense heat there in TX that those cows were dry aged on the hoof! Seriously though, I'm not sure which post of mine you are referencing but the reason I leave most of the dry brown aged part on is because I "hot tub" my steaks for an hour sealed in a plastic bag submerged in hot water of no less than 100° getting the internal meat temp up to 100° or close before searing them at 650° to 750° for only 2 to 3 minutes AT MOST in total. This method really transforms the dark aged skin to a tasty delight for some of us!

The Roast bags are good for heart of sirloin, for vein off Subprimals, or for simply running side-by-side tests with two halves of a Subprimal ribeye or strip loin--one for 21 days, one for 28. Just ideas!

Thank you both for the suggestions. I've got some time to scope out local meat options to try to find something suitable. Some kind of sirloin appeals to me.

I posted this in another thread, but then I recalled that I'd started this thread to ask about good cuts for the smaller roast sized bags. I bought a 13.99 pound choice Top Sirloin, and it is now aging. Here's how you fit it in a roast sized bag ... sort of.

carne wrote:
Let me assure anyone in case they are wondering, a 14 pound Top Sirloin will not fit in a "roast" sized bag. It sort of looked like it might fit, so I tried. I split the roast sized bag open on the bottom and side seam trying to stuff that huge hunk of meat in it.

The solution was to cut off a 3 lb chunk (2 lb 14 oz actually). That left about 11 pounds of Top Sirloin, which fit very snugly in the roast sized bag. But it was a close call even at that. I'd suggest nothing larger than 9 or 10 pounds for the smaller roast sized bag. But it also depends on the shape of the meat to some degree. You might fit 11 pounds if the cut were a little longer and smaller in cross section than a Top Sirloin.

It's a nice chunk of meat. I'm going to age it for 28 days.