How early is too early to buy meat?

[The Pig's Blanket]

I'm headed to pick up some meat tomorrow and I need a whole rib eye(10-16lbs) to cook on Christmas. Is it too soon to buy it tomorrow? Or will it be fine in the fridge until Wednesday?

[bbqwilly]

If im not going to freeze the meat, I make sure I cook it by the expiration date on the label.

[grillinguy247]

Usually meat will have a "freeze by date" if you pay attention to this then you should be fine.

[HankB]

I bought a 10 lb standing rib roast today. I plan to dry age it and cook on the 26th. (Can't celebrate on the 25th because D-I-L is a nurse and is scheduled to work Christmas day. Or she may be busy delivering our next grandchild which is due any day now. What a trooper!)

[caseydog]

It depends on how it is packed. If it is vacuum sealed in some way when it was first processed, so air can't get to it, oxidation should be minimal in a week. If air gets to it, it should still be plenty safe, but may turn brown on you.

Of course, dry aging is always an option. It reduces the water content of the meat, leaving behind more intense beef flavor. I often do it with my ribeye steaks. You'll want to do some research before trying that. With a whole roast, it is more work than with individual steaks -- you are dry aging for a longer period of time.

Many butchers, even at grocery stores, will let you order a big cut of meat to be picked up on the day of your choosing. You may want to explore that option. Maybe you can order your rib roast tomorrow, and pick it up Monday.

CD

[Maskirovka]

Your timing is totally fine. Have you heard of dry aging? :-D You are perfectly positioned for some very nice results. Here's a poor man's version of what the high end steak houses do. About 4-5 days prior to cooking remove the meat from the wrapper, put it on a rack inside a tray or pan of some kind, lightly wrap it in cheese cloth or paper towels, and park it in the fridge. Change the paper towels daily if they get soaked with liquid. You want airflow and drainage. This process will allow the meat to lose some moisture and concentrate the flavors. It will also tenderize the meat. I do this whenever I do a beef roast.

Yes, the meat will change color on the outside, darkening somewhat. You can lightly trim that off if you want. Or don't. Once you put a rub on it, any surface bacteria will die a salty death in the rub. Heat and will do the rest.

[Grillman]

Ignore the "Use or Freeze By" date on the package, for BEEF only.

I always buy Beef with the plan to cook it 4 or 5 days AFTER the
"use or freeze by" date. This gives the beef a few days to Age and become
more tender and flavorful.

This is only for Beef, Chicken and Pork should be cooked as fresh as
possible.

[tish]

Great thread! I've learned a couple new things here. Thanks! :thumb:

[ShencoSmoke]

Hmmm, how many folks dry age their briskets? Sounds like an option. Does the fridge need to be colder? Not opened much?

[LongTong]

If your roast is cryovaced, you can easily wet age for a month in your fridge with no problems. If you go that long, I would find out the pack date to be sure. One week is no problem. I've also dry-aged in my fridge for a week and it came out awesome but, you have to keep it dry the whole time. The average fridge has too much humidity compared to a purpose built dry ager. Put the roast on a rack in a pan and wrap loosely with cheese cloth or paper towels and change once or twice daily with dry material and flip it over as well. You must monitor frequently to make sure no slime forms and it stays dry. The at home process is definitely not a Ronco Ron Propeil set it and forget it kind of thing...

[BigBellyBBQ]

for tri tip , rib eyes, strips or whole prime rib, I wet age in original cryovac the min of 30 days, perfer 60...
for briskets
In my experience, dry aged briskets just did not slice well for me, flavor was awesome though..even pulled from cooker at internal of 180, the brisket just crumbled when sliced..I tried 2 times dry age for 40 days and 6 times wet age 45 to 60.. AWEsome flavor, a little dry..for briskets I feel 25 to 35 day max wet..for the comps I go about 25 to 30 days then freeze...

[The Pig's Blanket]

Thanks everyone for the options.....I buy my meat from a wholesale distributor and not saying it's not on there but I've never seen a use by or freeze by date on any of their meat. I always just buy it the day before a big cook. (Because normally it's cases of meat and I only have a residential refrigator) again thanks everyone for the reply ;)

[Grimm5577]

Hmmm, how many folks dry age their briskets? Sounds like an option. Does the fridge need to be colder? Not opened much?

I've never done a brisket, but it's optimal if the door doesn't open or close as much. I've used the Umai Dry aging bags, (vacuum sealer is required) and dry aged a primal cut ribeye and strip. The strip was dry aged for 21 days and the ribeye for close to 30. Then sliced up steaks from them and froze them. They are amazing.

[SmittyJonz]

5 am is too early for me to buy meat.

[legendaryhog]

I wouldn't use the "use by" or "freeze by" or "sell by" dates on the package. They are incredibly misleading and often times incorrect. Use your eyes and your nose. If your rib roast still looks and smell fine, it is. An incredible amount of unused food goes to waste in this country due to people throwing it out because of reliance on the "use by," "freeze by," or "sell by" dating. That is no indication of food safety. Check this article out.

http://www.nrdc.org/food/expiration-dates.asp

[dbq]

Ignore the "Use or Freeze By" date on the package, for BEEF only.

I always buy Beef with the plan to cook it 4 or 5 days AFTER the
"use or freeze by" date. This gives the beef a few days to Age and become
more tender and flavorful.

This is only for Beef, Chicken and Pork should be cooked as fresh as
possible.You can buy it already turning green around here, before the use by date. :sick:

[southpaw_1979]

I usually try to buy my meat the day of or the day before I will use it. I mostly use a butcher shop and I'm always happy with the meat I get. It's wrapped in butcher paper with the exception of full packers that are usually still cryovac wrapped

[LongTong]

Thanks everyone for the options.....I buy my meat from a wholesale distributor and not saying it's not on there but I've never seen a use by or freeze by date on any of their meat. I always just buy it the day before a big cook. (Because normally it's cases of meat and I only have a residential refrigator) again thanks everyone for the reply ;)

Hardluck,

Your disty should know the "pack date" for the cryovaced stuff...You'd think there would be a date or code on the case...