How long can you safely wet age a brisket in the fridge?


 
T

Tom Raveret

TVWBB Pro
Last month I bought a 9lb choice packer brisket from Costco, It is sealed in the bag with a pack date of 3/17/2024 and a sell by date or 3/17/2024.

Is it still safe to cook? what are the rules around how long you can wet age?


Thanks
 
When in doubt throw it out, give it a rinse with water real well before you throw it out, no food is worth making somebody sick.
 
Taste/smell and safety are two different things. Your nose is an indicator of taste and smell, not safety. There is no indicator for that.

Spoilage bacteria are easily killed by cooking.... It should be safe to eat. If well cooked because we take briskets to 200F.
In raw meat the spoilage bacteria outcompete pathogenic bacteria and that's why we can age meat...

It might taste funny and you might not want to bother with it though due to changes in the meat and fat.

The meat is rinsed with an anti-bacterial rinse before being packed and that's why it lasts as long as it does anyway in good shape... Several weeks at least. Whereas fresh meat starts going brown in a few days.

Safety issues start after the food is cooked. That's when the pathogenic bacteria grow, after the spoilage bacterias are killed off. Or when some meat is undercooked.
 
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You should be OK you have only gone a little over 2 weeks over on the Costco Best Before date, I don't know how Costco determines these BB dates. It should be determined by the (kill date )processing date marked on the meat establishment's beef box. If I buy a whole striploin etc. from Costco I will take it home and wet age the product for another 1-2 weeks depending on the appearance of the product so that's roughly a total of 4-6 weeks total wet aging. We have cut wet-aged beef when I was meat manager in the stores which was approx 50 -60 days but it loses its bloom and shell life very quickly unless it is packaged and frozen or cooked right away. Storing the meat in your home refrigerator should be not less than 38F for optimal aging on cryovac beef. As everyone has mentioned above the only real test is the smell test, but when you do open the brisket up and find it is ok I would advise you to cook it that day, as it starts to discolor very quickly and may take on an off taste the longer it is out of the package.
 
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great info above, here's a couple more tibits

I keep my cryopack meats in the beer fridge kept just above 0 (32) rather than the main fridge. It gets opened way less, -especially- since I don't drink any more 😁. In a busy house the main fridge can be a lot warmer, constantly trying to recover temp so the second fridge is a better choice for storage if you have one. If no second fridge stuff it in the bottom back.

If the cryopack puffs up it's gas from spoilage bacteria, just pitch it don't even bother opening. Once it takes hold you can't rinse the stink off and no seasoning or sauce will cover it up.

I recall forgetting about a beef roast for several months one time. It didn't stink or puff up, but the texture just seemed off. Soft, jiggly. Didn't cook it because it was unappealling, just pitched it.

Did you cook it up?
 
Shawn W said:
If the cryopack puffs up it's gas from spoilage bacteria, just pitch it don't even bother opening. Once it takes hold you can't rinse the stink off and no seasoning or sauce will cover it up.
Click to expand...
That's what happened to me with a prime brisket I had in the beer fridge for over a month.
It must of had a pinhole or two. I made the mistake of opening it,, my wife was upstairs and said what the heck just died.
 
timothy said:
That's what happened to me with a prime brisket I had in the beer fridge for over a month.
It must of had a pinhole or two. I made the mistake of opening it,, my wife was upstairs and said what the heck just died.
Click to expand...
RIP prime brisket
 
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