Having Wet Aging Remorse of a Nice Prime Rib

BGE Convert

Wanted to try a long wet aging for a whole prime rib to cook for Christmas Eve Dinner.  Essentially left the primal in the cryovac.  Just opened it up and the smell is intense but the meat looks very normal.  No black/browning or anything.  Outside of the smell you would think by looking at the cut that I had just purchased the primal.  This was over a 6 month wet age.  Will cook at high enough temp to kill all bacteria on the outside. But the intense smell has me rethinking that maybe I should of researched more before doing the wet age.  Dump it or talk me off the ledge???....

Sea2Ski

Does it smell like sulfur?

Rinse it, let it sit for a bit (hour or two) and smell again. Let us know how it is at that point. Make sure you smell it in an area that it was not "breathing" in.  

JustineCaseyFeldown

There is a sour smell. Can't diagnose from here tho

have you done this before, and the smell is new to you?

BGE Convert

@Sea2Ski...I would say the smell is like sulphur...although not to different from other wet agings that I have done...just this time it was really strong...I just rinsed it off and applied a paste per a recipe I am following...so waiting an hour...well that ship has sailed...I guess I could check on the prime rib in an hour as it is in a bag and see if I can still smell the intense smell...doubt I will pick anything up as the paste is S&P, chilli powder, mustard...

nolaegghead

Rinse it, cut off a steak, cook it, eat it.  If you don't get sick after a couple of days it should be fine for people without compromised immune systems.

JustineCaseyFeldown

Sulphur is fine. Longstanding and known issue with cryo vac

six months is a long time for a first foray

BGE Convert

@JustineCaseyFeldown. Not a first foray... bought the prime rib along with some tenderloins and wet aged them all since I got them... cooked the tenderloins in early November and it was good... just that intense sulphuric smell was not as intense when I did the cook in November 

JustineCaseyFeldown

did it clear?

the pork in cryo is especially vulnerable to the sulfur issue.

i had done some looking a long tim ago, and all i could find at the time was a whitepaper discussing using coatings in the back to neutralize it.

apparently had to do with the liquid in the bag and enzymes breaking it down.

wish i could tell you more.

i usually wet age, and so it has been a while since i have had any of that funk.  but even on a fresh hunk of beef you can get some sulfur.

like nola suggested, i would hack off a bit ad cook up a steak to double check.  i haven't gone 6 months myself.  steven has gone a frikkin year i think.  where you at @littlesteven?

nolaegghead

I would think the inside should be fine, the outside has a bit of a disadvantage as compared to dry aging.  If the outside is funky and tastes bad, the inside fine, trim the outside.

Here's some 450 plus day aged steaks:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/11/extreme-aged-steak-meat-with-mould-on-gourmet

Eggcelsior

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

did it clear?

the pork in cryo is especially vulnerable to the sulfur issue.

i had done some looking a long tim ago, and all i could find at the time was a whitepaper discussing using coatings in the back to neutralize it.

apparently had to do with the liquid in the bag and enzymes breaking it down.

wish i could tell you more.

i usually wet age, and so it has been a while since i have had any of that funk.  but even on a fresh hunk of beef you can get some sulfur.

like nola suggested, i would hack off a bit ad cook up a steak to double check.  i haven't gone 6 months myself.  steven has gone a frikkin year i think.  where you at @littlesteven?

The smell is caused by the CO2 and nitrogen injected into the bag which helps force out oxygen, inhibiting bacterial growth. The gases concentrate the sulphuric compounds put off by the meat(typically pork, as stated) to give the rotten egg smell.

Sea2Ski

What all the others said above.   Was this for your holiday meal?  If so, I would suggest switching it up.  You do not want to risk getting others sick because you aged too long (if you did that is). Unfortunately you will not know till it is too late.  Do you want to risk that?

If you lop of the steak and it  and are fine, you can at least still have the rest of it at another time. Steak it up and freeze if necessary. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I let stuff like this sit for an hour or so after a rinse. If the smell goes away or lessens, I generally eat it. Usually, if something is rotten the smell intensifies and fills the home with the wonderful bouquet of rotting meat. 

This is not an endorsement to eat it- just what I use as my "sniff test"
 I've never gotten sick and I've eaten some stuff that cleared the room when I cracked the cryo.

BGE Convert

Thanks guys... the prime rib has been sitting out of the original cryo with a paste...I have opened that up several times and that intense smell has definitely dissipated... gonna roll with it as I cooked up done tenderloins just in november that were aged over 6 months...