Brisket Question

[ks77]

I took some advice (thanks Candice) and got a 17lb brisket from my local Sams club. I bought it on the 11th (last week) with the hope of making it this coming Saturday. Currently it is still in my fridge in the shrink wrap that I purchased it in.



It appears that I won't be making it this Saturday due to a scheduling conflict with some family and friends. Looks like we will be making it to be eaten on the 28th. My question is this, can I leave this in the fridge for another 10 days or would you recommend freezing it and shifting it to the fridge a few before the smoke so it has ample time to thaw out.


Sorry for the noob question, just really not sure.


Thanks a bunch!

[Ron_L]

The answer is "it depends"

You really need to know the date that it was packed, but that ship has sailed

I have taken briskets up to 45 days after the pack date with no issues so you will likely be fine. One thing that you can do is look at the cryo and see if it is tight, with no bubbles, or if there are bubbles forming. The longer the meat is in the cryo, the bigger the bubbles. After 45 days I usually see bubbles that are about the size of a quarter coin.

[thirdeye]

By shrink wrap do mean the heavy duty cryo packaging from the producer?

I wet age briskets in the cryo package for 25 to 30 days in my beer fridge which is 6° cooler than my kitchen fridge. The rule of thumb is to ask the meat cutters about the kill date on the case itself. Then you can extend the sell-by or use-buy date they print on the labels when they leave the walk-on and land in the meat case. It's very likely you will be okay.

[SmittyJonz]

I think it will be fine but if you’re worried about it throw it in the freezer and then thaw it the night before you’re going to cook it.