How do you store your meat (at home)?

After a recommendation (I think from Chuckles) to buy the River Cottage Meat Book, I bought it and it has me rethinking how I buy meat and store meat. They recommend buying better quality meat (in smaller amounts); taking it out of the packaging; and storing it on a pan, in the fridge, with a towel over it -- and sort of dry aging it. I've been experimenting.

How do you buy and store meat?

k.

I've begun doing the above mentioned method of leaving a piece of meat in the fridge uncovered and it is amazing. I like to purchase untrimmed tenderloins from Costco and break them down and vacuum seal the meat. When I go to make steaks, I will leave them in the fridge uncovered for 1 to 2 days.

stereo.pete said:

I've begun doing the above mentioned method of leaving a piece of meat in the fridge uncovered and it is amazing. I like to purchase untrimmed tenderloins from Costco and break them down and vacuum seal the meat. When I go to make steaks, I will leave them in the fridge uncovered for 1 to 2 days.

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I've done it for 4+ days and the outer meat gets pretty hard. I've also left meat in the original packaging for a week (I forgot about it) and rinsed it off and tenderized it with a Jaccard. That was somehow the best. I served it to myself because I felt the meat may have turned, but even my wife liked it the best and accused me of taking the better meat.

I've thought of dry aging it for 4 days and then marinating it after that to see what happens. In the end, I think I will stick to the 2-day dry (fridge) age that you mention.

k.

I prefer boxer briefs...what?...oh...uh, nevermind:O

mkriggen said:

I prefer boxer briefs...what?...oh...uh, nevermind:O

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No problem bro, but Pete has the recipe for you. What did he say: "I like to purchase untrimmed tenderloins...and break them down and vacuum seal the meat." Be careful where you wear those boxer briefs.

k.

Better meat in smaller amounts??? Hmmmm......sounds similar to the lie my last girlfriend told me.

I've apparently ordered a kilo of double entendre -- trimmed.

k.

mr drinky said:

After a recommendation (I think from Chuckles) to buy the River Cottage Meat Book, I bought it and it has me rethinking how I buy meat and store meat. They recommend buying better quality meat (in smaller amounts); taking it out of the packaging; and storing it on a pan, in the fridge, with a towel over it -- and sort of dry aging it. I've been experimenting.

How do you buy and store meat?

k.

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Costco I dunno.. But a butcher who knows where the meat comes from, makes sense. I've toured a dry aging house locally and it smelled clean, even their ground room. I've seen the other end of it and it makes a difference

17 cubic foot chest freezer. When one buys a side of beef at a time for a family of three there isn't really any other way.

On the other side of the entendre, well guess I shouldn't go there...

Stumblinman said:

Costco I dunno.. But a butcher who knows where the meat comes from, makes sense. I've toured a dry aging house locally and it smelled clean, even their ground room. I've seen the other end of it and it makes a difference

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I cannot always afford going to fancy butchers and Costco's product is actually quite tasty. However, if I stopped spending copious amounts of money on knives I might be able to, we'll see if that happens.

I always dry age meat using a cookie cooling rack in the back of the fridge. Individual steaks go in for 2-3 days if I buy a whole prime rib or the whole NY strip I age those for 2-3 weeks. I love the Costco meat department!! The large cuts usually lose about 15% of their total weight.

I am making about 20pds of chili today and I have dry aged the steaks for 5 days in the garage. It really helps when it's time to brown the meat - you don't get all the water release that makes it so hard to brown. I cut up the steak into 3/4 inch cubes and before I dry aged I just could not get the meat to brown properly.

Bill13 said:

I always dry age meat using a cookie cooling rack in the back of the fridge. Individual steaks go in for 2-3 days if I buy a whole prime rib or the whole NY strip I age those for 2-3 weeks. I love the Costco meat department!! The large cuts usually lose about 15% of their total weight.

I am making about 20pds of chili today and I have dry aged the steaks for 5 days in the garage. It really helps when it's time to brown the meat - you don't get all the water release that makes it so hard to brown. I cut up the steak into 3/4 inch cubes and before I dry aged I just could not get the meat to brown properly.

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I'm going to try this for my next pot of Chili.

Lexington Jim said:

17 cubic foot chest freezer. When one buys a side of beef at a time for a family of three there isn't really any other way....

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25 cubic ft freezer. Side of beef and half a pig. Both raised on my parents farm and processed by us.

I stayed out of this thread because I didn't think I could control myself. Turns out that neither could a few other guys.

As for the meat, I can't remember the last time I actually bought meat for home use. And my other meat, I prefer to hang free..

I like to spend my money on lower end cuts of high quality meat.

Chuck, sirloin, flank, brisket, etc...of even wagyu can be pretty thrifty, especially in comparison to grocers overpriced filets and porterhouse.

Stumblinman said:

Costco I dunno..

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I believe the quality of Costco beef can hold its own against most others, and it used to (and possibly still does) sell prime (and, of course, choice).
http://beefmagazine.com/blog/price-pound-drives-consumer-beef-sales

Our costco meat quality runs circles around everything but the local butcher around us. None of the grocery markets have quality even close.

My friend had a patient who was a meat inspector and she said she bought her meat at Costco. Take it for what you will.

As for the other comments... Entendres are like a shig. I bought a Kato. I'll leave the forums safe for work, men, women, and children. :lol:

Ha like all the love for Costco. Sure they're prolly on the same level as Sysco but they're meat sits out in the public. To put this straight I've never gotten bad meat from them. Fruit and bread is another story. My favorite butcher prefers wet aging for tenderness. Maybe that's the question. Dry or wet. I saw a documentary on the joint in Chicago, i think, that has an awesome dry aging room lined with salt blocks from the sea of the dead, I think, lol. They talk about the percentage of loss from drying and mold. Guess its not like salami.

Honestly I'd love to do it but don't have the fridge room. Duck proscuitto, sounds awesome to me.

Oh and I know chefs that eat at Taco Bell but that don't mean that's real meat......

I have a big freezer and buy a side of beef at a time. Grass fed from a local farm. They also have it dry aged 21days and cut to my specs. It's about $5 to $5.50 a pound after trimming and cutting.

Costco is pretty good. Mine sells prime steaks there too (gold label) at a price no one can match.

Anyone try Drybags to age meat? Seems interesting.