Best method to store raw meat a few extra days without freezing

duncan303

Hi everyone,

does anybody have any thoughts on this, a suggestion has been proposed that the joint (in this case a brisket) should have any plastic packaging removed and the joint sealed in foil and then kept in the bottom of the fridge. I keep my fridge compartment at 4 deg

any thoughts on the foil reacting with the meat?

How about just hanging it in the larder maybe in muslin?

Many thanks for any input

rgds

hotcookie101

I would unwrap from plastic, and place in coldest part of fridge, covered with clean towel/muslin. I wouldn't use foil and I wouldn't leave in the larder (Although I know it used to be done) as long as its not starting to turn should be fine. I usually remove beef from fridge the morning of the day i'm going to cook it (but thats to cook a great big joint rare-and I don't like cold centres to my joints!)

Can't guarantee that this will work-obviously I don't know when it was bought/where was bought from/quality of meat etc etc etc

ragz_2

My butcher told me to always remove meat from plastic when I get home and wrap in greaseproof paper.

hotcookie101

Greaseproof paper-THATS what I was thinking off, not cloth! D'OH!

thriftyminx13

It's not a joint but my butcher said to prolong the shelf life of bacon put it in tinfoil and it'll keep it fresh.

freezspirit

ragz wrote: »

My butcher told me to always remove meat from plastic when I get home and wrap in greaseproof paper.

I was also told to use kitchen towel on the joint to get rid of excess blood/water before wrapping it in greaseproof paper.

Penelope_Penguin

thriftyminx13 wrote: »

It's not a joint but my butcher said to prolong the shelf life of bacon put it in tinfoil and it'll keep it fresh.

Definitelty don;t put bacon in foil :eek: The chemicals used to cure the pork will react with the aluminiun, drawing aluminium compounds into the meat.

Penny. x

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'd unwrap it, pat it dry, then wrap in greaseproof then place in bowl/casserole dish in fridge. When you think how long meat can be aged safely in dry cool conditions, it makes sense to recreate what you can in the fridge, rather than leave it in plastic to sweat, smell sour and go off (which would actually suit supermarkets). When it got to roasting day, I'd pop it in the larder to come up to temperature and cook better.

So pretty much everyone on this post is right, IMO!

[Deleted User]

I wrap my celery in tinfoil as a whole celery can last me quite awhile, and it keeps beautifully in the fridge and doesn't get 'bendy'
I live alone and like celery, but not every day.It lasts for at least a couple of weeks if kept wrapped and I just take a couple of sticks off at a time.

Debt_Free_Chick

I would be wary of storing meat bought from a supermarket as you don't know how long it had been in the packaging before you bought it. You need only to think of the food chain (abbatoir, processing plant, distribution centre and then supermarket shelf) to see how it could have been packaged three or four days ago :eek: And it could have been on the supermarket shelf for two or three days more :eek:

Give it a try, but inspect it very closely before you cook it.

duncan303

Hi and thanks everyone.


Some time ago a joint was cold marinated with a lime pickle and had a light covering of standard kitchen foil and placed in the fridge overnight.

the next day the foil had completely disintegrated, essentially melted all over the joint,

this was a bit of a disaster and we cut all the affected meat away thoroughly.
From that point on I have always thought twice about using foil for food storage. Sandwiches keep much better in foil in my experience as long as there is nothing acidic or too salty in the filling.

I wondered if anybody had come across a version of aluminium foil that is resistant to chemical degradation.

Greaseproof paper sounds as if it is just the ticket for raw meat, so thanks to you all.

I agree that the history of the meat is very important, I have always tended to smell meat to see if it is ok. The supermarkets give no real option for this and i suspect that they interfere with the natural oxidation of the newly cut red meat especially. All the red meat is such a bright bright colour, it makes me wonder. Sweaty meat just released from plastic sealed packs can smell awful initially but will tend to settle down after a few hours.

I used to have a hound that was a very fussy eater and I would use her to provide a best before date but only for red meat, she would eat the worst decayed fish that you could imagine which she found on the beach at the seaside. Unfortunately she is no longer with me but she was very reliable.

Bacon will last a very a long time if it is dried out, a bit like parma ham. I did call round to a friends house some years ago unannounced and he had streaky bacon laid out and drying on the radiators! Not something you see everyday I must admit. I didn't ask if it was smoked or not, it seemed a bit irrelevant at the time.

I store bacon on a kitchen towel, in the fridge. I feel that meat should be able to breath, but i guess there may be some hoorible toxic whitener used in kitchen towel production. Probably much much worse than eating the odd section of aluminium foil.


Anyway greaseproof paper for me now, ill keep the foil for cooking fish, unless there are any further thoughts on that.


Thanks again everyone




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