refridgerated meat

[nicole]

How long can i keep meat in the refridgerator before it loses nutritional value or goes bad? I keep it at about 40-43 F. I get it the day after it has been cut. Feel free to tell me the dates for different meat such as beef, lamb, and others. Thank you.

[kurite]

Well if you keep it in a sealed glass jar and air it every 3-5 days it will age but remain edible. Not only that but many people believe it has added health benefits when you age meat this way. Its called high meat.

[nicole]

Okay, I should be eating it all within one week. If I keep it wrapped in wax paper will it stay good for that long? I may try the high meat with one sampling. If it loses some blood in the packaging is that a problem?

[RawZi]

Okay, I should be eating it all within one week. If I keep it wrapped in wax paper will it stay good for that long? I may try the high meat with one sampling. If it loses some blood in the packaging is that a problem

    Try it this way.  Get a big enough piece of meat for your whole week.  Put it uncovered into a big glass dish.  Cut off what you need each day for that day.

[sven]

I bought a piece of very fresh meat yesterday and have been eating it(chuck steak)... its extremely tough and hard to chew.  The taste is very fresh and the fat is nice and wet.  I hate it.  I'm gonna age the meat another 5 or 6 days then eat it.  From reading these forums it seems normal that sellers hang them for a while before they sell them to make them softer and easier to eat(while the bacteria breaks down the meat). IMO it loses very little nutrition up until a month as long as it doesn't dry out.  It seems logical, you have the meat in a glass jar/container, where can the nutrition go?

[TylerDurden]

Most newbies cannot handle the taste of any raw meats that are not absolutely fresh. When I first started on this diet, I would refuse to eat any raw meats after they'd been left more than 2 days in the fridge after I'd bought them. Eventually, as I got more and more used to the taste of fresh, raw meats, I became lazier and started eating raw meats left in the fridge for longer until I could easily eat many raw meats as much as 10 or even 14 days later, even if the fridge was not at a very cold setting. I also eventually got used to the taste of  some "high-meat" which is aged for c.1 month or more.

So, raw meat actually never "goes bad" as such(unless you keep it in a permanently non-aerated environment, in which case anaerobic bacteria might flourish in it which some RVAFers claim is harmful.

[Hans89]

I use the technique AV recommends: Put meat in a glass jar, hold my breath for 10+ seconds, exhale into the jar and seal it. It stays fresh for a week or so. The aging will be minor after even two weeks in my experience. But then again I've never had problems with eating (raw) rotten meat. Of course it all depends on what kind of meat. If you have brains or sweetbreads, they will go off quickly and become quite unpleasant. I don't like to store lungs or liver for long either. Muscle meats or hearts on  the other hand store well.

[djr_81]

I use the technique AV recommends: Put meat in a glass jar, hold my breath for 10+ seconds, exhale into the jar and seal it.

That's interesting but seems counterintuitive; you're essentially removing the oxygen (replacing with carbon dioxide) creating an environment hospitable to anaerobic activity with diminished aerobic activity.
FWIW I do the opposite when making high meat. I open the jar and suck as much of the air in it out as possible with my mouth then move the jar around in the air a bit to refill the oxygen.

[Hans89]

Yes, I air my high meat, too. The purpose is different there. All I can say is that it seems to work, the meat and fat seem to stay fresh longer that way.

[miles]

I eat all meat either the day or the day after I've bought it. I keep it on the polystyrene plate it comes on as it doesn't go nasty up against that. I cover with cling-film but loosely if I don't finish it in one, just so that stuff doesn't fall and get stuck in it. I like the meat fresh and moist. Same with the fat. I don't let any pressure be put against the meat whilst it's in the refrigerator either and I handle it carefully like most people treat soft-fruit such as bananas. If any bits of the meat do go nasty I just chuck those bits out, I don't eat them. If you were to hang the meat properly(I don't know if this is the whole animal or the primal cuts) I'm aware it can last a long time without going off.

[RawZi]

... I don't let any pressure be put against the meat whilst it's in the refrigerator either and I handle it carefully like most people treat soft-fruit such as bananas. ....

    I try to not let any pressure on mine either.  Salads may be very good in recipes pressed, but those are vegetables.  It's hard living with other people doing this diet.  My old man with good intention puts heavy thick ceramic bowls of food etc on my meat (wrapped in butcher paper) at times.  He thinks this protects his food from blood.  My meat doesn't drip blood, never has yet, but you know some men, afraid of blood even when it's never been there yet or is long gone.  I can't figure out why else.  You can tell he's not a surgeon.  So, I put it in a glass jar and label it with the date or in a separate refrigerator on a plate.  He says I don't have to, but I feel like I need to protect my food's space.  I don't know, maybe pressing meat is good.  I think it makes it stinky.

[KD]

I really don't see what the difference is with some of this stuff. Meat bought from the store will be wrapped tightly in plastic on the polystyrene, and usually pressed against each other in a cascading fashion on a shelf. Whats the point of moving it into a glass jar or plate or taking any other precautions. Its already been exposed to the plastic and pressure. I guess if its fresh from a butcher counter/fish store and just wrapped in paper than it makes sense to move to a more stable container. But unless the stuff is butchered on site, the meat was probably moved in some kind of container or another without much regard. Once the styrene package is open, its probably good to move to a more airtight container, especially if there is other stuff in the fridge. I prefer containers but don't see how wrapping it loosely would be much damage control at this point. Prior to opening I just stack the styrene packages on top of each other to save space and these don't taste any more off than other times I buy stuff from the store that is close or past expiration.

As for the breathing thing, I don't know all the science about it, but if you are trying not to facilitate bacteria in breaking something down, through exposure to oxygen, than it makes some sense that removing some oxygen (not nec benefit of C02) from the jar will cause possibly less breakdown.