Sam's Club Brisket

[The Pickled Pig]

I was picking up a few briskets at Sam's earlier today and had the butcher show me the case with the packing date. The briskets he was getting ready to put out had a packing date of August 10 and a Sam's "sell by" date of September 8th on the label.

Do you think it's safe to assume that Sam's always adds 30 days to the packing date to determine their "sell by" date? And is that a policy for all Sam's? I'm hoping someone with inside knowledge might actually know.

I've grown suspect of butchers. Whether out of ignorance or a zeal to make a sale, I've learned not to trust most help at most meat counters. I need to see the packing date and grading stamp to be confident and I don't always have time to go through that hassle.

[Big Tom]

Many that are working at the meat counters, don't know jack about butchering. (a truly dying breed in todays "super center" society) That is just the job/department they work in.

Always a good idea to find the pack date on the case or item to really gauge the freshness.

[tkuehn5410]

If its a little older, it means its aged, which I think is a good thing.

[Sawdustguy]

Originally Posted by The Pickled Pig

I was picking up a few briskets at Sam's earlier today and had the butcher show me the case with the packing date. The briskets he was getting ready to put out had a packing date of August 10 and a Sam's "sell by" date of September 8th on the label.

Do you think it's safe to assume that Sam's always adds 30 days to the packing date to determine their "sell by" date? And is that a policy for all Sam's? I'm hoping someone with inside knowledge might actually know.

I've grown suspect of butchers. Whether out of ignorance or a zeal to make a sale, I've learned not to trust most help at most meat counters. I need to see the packing date and grading stamp to be confident and I don't always have time to go through that hassle.

If the packing date was August 10th. The briskets are probably at their best right about now. I usually wet age my briskets about 2 weeks from the packing date in my fridge.

[The Pickled Pig]

I have a preferred ageing target in mind but am just trying to find an easy way to determine the age without seeing the packing date on the case. Can I just assume that the packing date at Sam's is their "Sell By" date minus 30 days? That way, I could just calculate the wet age of the brisket by using a formula like Age=[Today's Date] - ([Sell By Date]-30 days).

I know many of the top cooks buy brisket by the case and the packing date is readily available but I don't cook enough to support buying in case volume. And I've found plenty of meat shops that claim I can special order a brisket of a specific grade and age but as stated earlier I don't trust them. And even if I did trust them, I wouldn't get to choose a brisket from 12+ sitting on the shelf.

[Sawdustguy]

Originally Posted by The Pickled Pig

I have a preferred ageing target in mind but am just trying to find an easy way to determine the age without seeing the packing date on the case. Can I just assume that the packing date at Sam's is their "Sell By" date minus 30 days? That way, I could just calculate the wet age of the brisket by using a formula like Age=[Today's Date] - ([Sell By Date]-30 days).

I know many of the top cooks buy brisket by the case and the packing date is readily available but I don't cook enough to support buying in case volume. And I've found plenty of meat shops that claim I can special order a brisket of a specific grade and age but as stated earlier I don't trust them. And even if I did trust them, I wouldn't get to choose a brisket from 12+ sitting on the shelf.

If I am not mistaken the packing date reflects the date the animal was slaughtered on. What we did is make friends with the butcher at Resturant Depot. We call ahead for briskets close to the packing date we want so we can wet age the meat. Brisket is best about 2 weeks after slaughter. Beyond that the meat is not as good. So far he has accomodated us but there are no guarranties.