New vacuum sealer almost RUINED a whole batch of dry-aged ribeyes

I tried one of those chamber-style sealers for the first time last week and it sucked ALL the moisture out of my steaks before I even noticed - turned 8 prime cuts into leather in under 3 minutes. Anyone else had a machine pull too hard of a vacuum on aged meat?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily5713d ago

@the_wendy makes a good point about surface drying, but the real issue here is that a lot of new chamber sealers are factory set too aggressive for delicate foods like dry-aged steaks. I had this same problem with a batch of duck breast until I found a hidden setting on the machine that lets you dial back the vacuum pressure. A quick test run with a dry towel can save a lot of expensive meat next time.

susan_adams13d ago

8 steaks in 3 minutes - that's an expensive science experiment.

the_wendy13d ago

Oh wow, I gotta say I think the problem is actually with those specific dry-aged ribeyes, not the sealer. Honestly, a chamber sealer is pulling air out because that's what it's designed to do - if your steaks turned to leather in 3 minutes, they were probably way too dry already from the aging process. Tbh, I've done plenty of prime cuts with my chamber sealer and never had moisture sucked out unless the meat was past its prime or had too much surface drying. Maybe try patting them dry less before sealing or give the meat a quick rest at room temp next time.