Bottom Shelf Brisket

[16Adams]

I purchased a select brisket yesterday. I’ve no plans to cook it until at least New Year’s Day. 12# Cryovac is tight. No plans to freeze. Placed bottom shelf My beer fridge where temperature runs consistently 34-36*.

How long to hold this before cooking for max taste/texture?

Packed 12-19-2021
Sell thru 01-02-2022

 

[Ron_L]

I've gone as long as 6 weeks past the pack date wih no issues.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

Looking forward to your cook

 

[thirdeye]

I purchased a select brisket yesterday. I’ve no plans to cook it until at least New Year’s Day. 12# Cryovac is tight. No plans to freeze. Placed bottom shelf My beer fridge where temperature runs consistently 34-36*.

How long to hold this before cooking for max taste/texture?

Packed 12-19-2021
Sell thru 01-02-2022

The only safe answer would be based on the actual pack date which is on the end of the cases. The pack date you see is the day they create a label. Sometimes they have been in the walk-in for 30+ days, or maybe they were packed10 days ago and delivered last week. My Sam's usually has briskets in the back with 3 weeks of wet age on them, so I age them another week or two and they are good to go. Here is my full primer on WET AGING.

 

[NickTheGreat]

Seems to me that the package says you'll be fine. And you know those numbers are conservative anyway . . .

 

[Shadowdog500]

You bought a brisket that was packed yesterday.
Did they process it at the store?

There is commercial butcher near me that also does retail. They have full cows hanging in the back and do all of the processing. They were out of cryovac briskets so he cut me a fresh one while I waited. I smoked it as soon as I got home. The taste wasn’t anywhere as full as normal and texture was different that the cryovac ones. I assume it was because it wasn’t aged.

 

[16Adams]

I'm thinking post 4 explanation applies, however the processor isn't very far

 

[thirdeye]

I'm thinking post 4 explanation applies, however the processor isn't very far

The label information is giving you 14 days to arrive at a "sell by" date which is not a "use or freeze by" date. Typically, when stores create a label they know the product is going from the walk-in to their meat cases, then the buyer is going to take it home to their fridge. Home fridges are usually around 39° or 40°, which is high for wet aging at home.

It's possible that these briskets were a recent arrival from the producer and the store is being a little more generous on the dates printed on the label.

A couple of weeks ago I went shopping for a Prime whole beef tenderloin, and told them I planned on wet aging it, so asked what they had in the walk-in. They had a whole case with 29 days of wet aging on them, so I went a few more days at home then cut steaks and vacuum sealed them.

 

[SmittyJonz]

17.3 Days