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Wet aging question

Firestarter21
Firestarter21 Posts: 309
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Merry Christmas to all, it has been a while since I have posted.

We are planning to cook for a party on Saturday night. We bought 12 lbs of london broil and put it in a container with a vinaigrette mixture. The only question is, we bought the meet Sunday and put it in the container with marinade the same day. The package had a sell by date of 12/16, today. So, are we worry free for serving this to 30 guests on Saturday night?

TIA

Comments

  • certainly, if you are talking about bacteria. the vinaigrette itself is going to be hostile to the bacteria itself, assuming it truly is acidic.

    but that brings up a critical issue... if it's an acid, your meat may well be mush by then.

    i think everyone tries orange juice as a marinade on ribs at one point in their BBQ exploration. and each one of us finds the pork mushy and grey, even beginning to cook in a way, the next day.

    wet aging is more properly simply keeping the meat sealed in cryovac. in comparison, most shallow foam regular meat trays are sealed in air-permeable plastic, which gets the meat looking pretty and red quickly, but lets it brown quickly thereafter too.

    as for the sell by date... well, no less a foodie and adherant to food safety and science as alton brown readily admits letting his cryovac beef subprimals go as long as six or eight WEEKS in the back of his fridge.

    temp is everything
  • Thanks for the reply. I agree that the acid should offset any bacteria that may have potential to grow. I guess wet aging was the wrong term. I thought we should have waited until today or tomorrow to marinate, the other half thought it would be fine one Sunday. So hopefully the marinade doesn't overwhelm the meat with a vinegar flavor.
  • mkc
    mkc Posts: 544
    I have the same concern as stripsteak.

    I would have a backup plan, just in case, and monitor the texture of the meat this week. I over-marinated a couple of venison steaks once (long story involving a friend's food aversion). After about a week in the marinade they no longer resembled steak, but some kind of weird goo-coated cutlets. :sick: I even threw out the container.
    Egging in Crossville, TN
  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
    You will have no shot at anything but well done meat IMO, as the acids are already cooking the meat. After a week in an acidic marinade....the meat is well done, period. Hate to break it to you.... :( ...you can still try to cook it, but you may want to have a back up plan. :blink: ) Don't try this with pork or poultry, but you can really go quite some time past the sell by date with beef. My advice...pick up a couple more steaks. :pinch: Sorry!! Best wishes to you!
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    I think that you have a problem with the "cooking" in the vinegar too. Why not do a small test cook.
  • i'd be worried about the vinegar actually cooking the meat. it's as much a texture issue as it is flavor.

    might want to take it out and just let it ride.


    with or without the vinegar it would be fine refrigerated at 36 or below (not over 40