Short term steak preservation

njl · February 13

I was shopping tonight and looked at the meat selection, not really intending to buy any...but Greenwise bone-in ribeyes were on sale and there were two really nice 1.3/1.4lb ones that followed me home. I already have plans for the next 4 dinners. It seems silly to freeze them, but I'm a little worried about just leaving them in the packaging in the fridge for 5 days. Should I

a) freeze them for 2--3 days
b) do nothing and just cook them Sunday night
c) remove them from the foam trays and put them on a drying/cooling rack in the fridge (does 5 days count as dry aging?)

It's Tuesday now. The sell by date on them is Thursday.

U_tarded · February 13

I vote B. A is an option but your so close to cooking that it shouldn't matter. C will just dry them out a bit but not really enhance flavor at all.

jlsm · February 13

I vote c. And don't ask me how I know. (Nothing like ruining good steak.)

fishlessman · February 13

B would be fine, leave them in the package

MikeP624 · February 13

I would do C. But make sure you salt them. I did this with a whole beef tenderloin for 3 days. Not sure it made much of a difference in taste, but it produced my best sear marks to date. The salt removes the surface moisture so you get better sear marks. Seriouseats.com did an article on the proper way to salt a steak/roast.

Charlie tuna · February 13

(B) -- they may loose a little color, but they will be fine...

Greeno55 · February 13

B - if they get a little slimy or change colours a bit, just wash em in some cold water before you cook.

bccomstock · February 13

D) Cook them now.. Why? Because reasons.

:))

henapple · February 14

I choose E. Buy several packs of micro brews, cook the steaks rare while I'm enjoying your beer on your porch.

nolaegghead · February 14

Any quality non-ground beef just gets better as it ages - wet, dry. Biggest problem is the significant other reading the sell-by date on the label and wondering if it's safe to eat. For that reason, you may want to remove the label. It'll be perfectly safe to cook on Sunday, at least as safe as it would be to eat on the sell-by date. Any bad bacteria would be a product of the slaughterhouse, and not aging.

Charlie tuna · February 14

I was always told about beef - "if you can get past the smell when cooking it-it's fine"..

njl · February 15

The color change is just oxidation and nothing to worry about? I decided to open them up, salt them, and put them back in the fridge on a cooling rack. I'll probably cook them Sunday.

nolaegghead · February 15

Yeah, it's just oxidation

njl · February 15

Interestingly, either the dehumidification of being open in the fridge overnight or the salting has largely reversed the color change process and the non-fat parts are back to almost entirely red.

On a side note, what do you think of those as bone-in ribeyes go? They're Publix Greenwise Choice grade. Like I said, I wasn't even "in the market" for steaks, but I saw these on sale for less per lb. than the regular stuff and they just looked too good to not buy.

burr_baby33 · February 15

love bone in ribeye

U_tarded · February 16

It's my favorite cut, those look solid to me

njl · February 18

I think I ruined them :(

When "dry aging" them in the fridge, was I not supposed to salt them? They came out very salty, and it was almost like the outside was "preserved" almost like it was turning into jerky....just not quite so tough. Next time I find steaks like this, I think I need to either cook them in a reasonable time or freeze them.

jlsm · February 18

If you salt them and keep them in the fridge for hours (or days), it's considered a dry brine. I dry brine a turkey for 24 hours with 1T per 5 lbs. Sounds like you used too much salt.

Eggcelsior · February 18

Check out this

I have also seen stuff on America's Test Kitchen about letting a steak sit out overnight on a rack.

I bet the issue is the amount of time you let the meat salt. It seems like you started to cure it.

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Short term steak preservation

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