wet aging brisket -- cryovac question

tjv · January 2008

I stopped by my local Sam's Club last night to ponder briskets for the big game Sunday. The choice grade briskets flats (prefer flats) are cryovac packaged with extended sell-by-dates, dates typically running out a week or so.

Here's the question. If the goal is tender and moist brisket, are we better off to buy a cryovac brisket with an extended sell-by-date and let is sit (wet age) in the fridge for a week or is it better to buy a cryovac brisket with an extended date and cook right away?

thirdeye · January 2008

Tom,

It's my understanding that the folks that wet age are using the packed-on dates that appear on the ends of the cases, and start their 20 to 30 day age cycle from there (of course with the correct refrigerator temperature range). I do know when you purchase a case, the individual briskets are not tagged, so the store assigns a time limit upon breaking up the case, using the pack date and some formula.....I guess what I'm saying is that you may have purchased younger (fresher) briskets at Sam's with a 5 day use-by date or or ones a bit older with the same 5 day limit assigned. According to the butchers I've talked to, they take into account the fact that the temperature of their walk-in is designed for meat storage, where your home fridge is not.

A lot of comp folks use this method, some of the more informative posts I have read on this subject were by Jim Minion.

stike · January 2008

cryovac'ing is designed for extending shelf-life.

"sell-by" isn't "use-by". you can get a brisket on the day it is supposed to be sold (expiring per the sell-by date) and let it go longer. alton brown admits that he will let cryovac'd stuff go another 6 to 8 weeks sometimes.

keep in mind, it is perfectly safe to take, say, a rib-eye roast out of the cryovac and age it (dry) for 6 weeks. as long as you are under 40 and above 34. humidity is not a concern for food safety, but rather food quality. most home fridges are basically dehumidifiers, and "too dry" for extended dry aging. commercial dry aging is done at more humid temps (hence the occasional mold), so that, counter intuitively, it can age longer. the extended aging permitted by a humid environment allows enzymes to do their thing before the beef dries too much.

for WET aging, as you propose, you avoid any issue of the beef drying out too much, and get the full benefit of the enzymes, which still occurs within the cryovac.

if you know what aged beef smells like, and you won't be equivocating when you open it, you could go four weeks easily. maybe try just two, though, for your first time out of the gate. get a package that's tight and firm and you can go two weeks past "sell-by" easily. be ABSOLUTELY sure your fridge is at or between 34-38 degrees. a spare fridge is best, to minimize temp swings from opening

stike · January 2008

"hold for wayne, BBQ guy". hahaha
that's cool.

Builder Chris · January 2008

Tom - Let me know how it turns out. Brisket is one of my favorite meats, but very difficlut to cook right. I smoked a untrimmed Sam's Club brisket for New Years day and I was a little disappointed in it. Could of been my hangover though because nothing tasted good that day!

Also, I assume you found a xl egg to look at since I never heard from you?

wet aging brisket -- cryovac question

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