Bummer...

Black_Badger

A while back (probably 2-3 weeks) I bought a prime packer brisket in a cryovac that I'd been aging in my refrigerator. When i opened it up it smelled really bad. I (perhaps stupidly) decided to try and try the hell out of it and see if I could rescue it.

Trimmed all the fat and all the edges and seasoned it up with Butt Rub. Onto the egg this morning and let it run nice and steady at 250 until this afternoon. When I opened it up to take a peek I could still smell the funk that I had when I opened the cryo. I've now pulled the brisket off the egg, thrown it away and am doing a clean burn.

So, obviously I bummed out. No brisket tonight, plus a fair bit of cash down the drain, but I'm trying to look on the moderately positive side; at least I came to my senses and didn't get anyone sick...

Hoping to learn something from this whole fiasco, so let me ask you guys:

What's the longest I can expect to store a packer brisket in the cryo in a refrigerator?
How is what I was doing different from wet aging (which I KNOW can go longer than I've had this brisket)?

Cheers all -
B_B
 

henapple

Sorry dude...that stinks >:)

Brisket_Fanatic

2 weeks should be no problem, however you never know how long it was sitting in the store or if it had any air leaks. Sounds to me like something happened along the way. Did it get too warm durning transport or anything like that?

Eggcelsior

That's odd. I wonder when it was packed. The ones I get have been packed for 2-3 days and I have left them in the fridge for 6-8 weeks without issue.

Lit

I had one start smelling after a couple weeks once. Not sure what cause it but man it stunk.

Black_Badger

I was wondering myself if the cryo had a pinhole in it or something. I definitely think there were bacteria growing in the package. I don't have any reason to believe it was in the case for long, and I know it went straight from the store to the fridge, so I'm at a bit of a loss as to what caused it.

no fun, any way you slice it...

minniemoh

I feel your pain @Black_Badger. Earlier this year, I had one that I purchased 2 days after the packing date that I aged for a few weeks in the fridge too. When mine went bad, the cryo was still sealed up tight and was inflated like a baloon. When I opened it up, I found a hair inside the cryo that appeared to be from the cow so my guess is that had something to do with the bacteria.  I tried to salvage but NO WAY was the funky smell going to dissipate on that one. It was the nicest prime packer I've had to date and I had to trash it too. At least you didn't make a bunch of people sick from it. 

Little Steven

Man I've had beef in the fridge for months in cryo and months nekkid. Something wrong there....fridge temp?

Monty77

I just had a moment of silence for your loss!  

Eggcelsior

Black_Badger said:

I was wondering myself if the cryo had a pinhole in it or something. I definitely think there were bacteria growing in the package. I don't have any reason to believe it was in the case for long, and I know it went straight from the store to the fridge, so I'm at a bit of a loss as to what caused it.

no fun, any way you slice it...

If your cryo had a hole you would have noticed slack in the packaging. Was there any? Also did you see any bubbling under the wrap?

Black_Badger

The cryo was nice and tight when I bought it, but it was slack today when I pulled it out of the fridge. It wasn't ballooned up, but it wasn't tight either.

I guess sometimes it just happens, and I'll chock it up to a learning experience. i did check the fridge temp and it seems fine. For the rest of the year i'll just age these cuts out in the garage and it'll be colder than the fridge anyway (haha).

B_B

Little Steven

Did you rinse it when you opened it? The liquid will smell a bit but a rinse in cold water will get rid of it in most cases.Not questioning your judgement at all but would like to know.

Legume

I held a packer in the fridge for like three months once - thought for sure I would be tossing it but after a quick cold water rinse it was fine, cooked up fine.

On the other hand, I defrosted a three-slab cryo of bb's from Costco the other day and it stunk to high heaven.  Rinsed and couldn't get rid of it and the color was off so I quickly tossed 'em and ran to Costco.  That bag was slack.  and nasty.

Black_Badger

@ Little Steven - I didn't rinse in this case because I knew how much trimming I was going to do. I essentially trimmed at least a bit off of every part of the surface. Much more aggressive trimming than I would normally do. I thought if it was just some bacteria on the surface I could trim it away and then the cooking process would kill everything else, but I think the meat itself was going rancid. I'd smoked it for ~9 hours and even after that I could smell the stinkiness over the rub and the smoke...

B_B

johnkitchens

Better to toss it before you ate it than toss it after you ate it!

YEMTrey