Unprocessed beef cuts and organs?

[panacea]

Ok, I've never bought beef before and I finally found a place that sells grassfed cow (1.5 hours away). The only issue is that they don't do processing, they just sell you the unprocessed cuts as I'm told (which is a lot cheaper than processed I discovered). So my question is, if I'm going to be eating it raw, why should I process it in the first place? Can't I just store it in the freezer, use a knife and cut some away as I go?

Does unprocessed grassfed meat need to be frozen for any reason prior to thawing/consuming?

Keep in mind, I've never even seen unprocessed meat, so I may not even grasp the concept of how bad it would be to eat (maybe it's covered in blood?).
Also I foresee a problem of storage, since it would be hard to vacuum seal unprocessed meat due to the odd shape and I lack industral vacuum sealing equipment, so maybe that's why processing is a good idea.

[goodsamaritan]

Eating it freshest same day kill is best and tastiest for me.

I put my same day beef in the refrigerator, preferably hung to get maximum air exposure.  Do not cover in tupperware... you want it open to the refrigerator air to gain good bacteria.

[panacea]

Sorry but that just seems wrong to me, leaving it open to refrigerator air to get good bacteria? How do you know what bacteria is in my fridge, your fridge, or anyone's fridge?
I would never consider storing beef in the fridge anyway, I'd put it in the freezer and thaw it with warm water over a plastic bag just enough to chew it and eat it immediately.

[Iguana]

If it's not new, thoroughly clean your fridge, avoid to keep dairy and fish inside that fridge along with meat and after some time it will be seeded with a kind of yeast which may eventually form some delicious white coat on the meat having been hung in for a month or two.

NB: These "Eaton" small things have nothing to do here, they were just left on the table and I neglected to remove it before to take the photo!

[panacea]

So basically, not only do you eat unprocessed raw beef, you store it at fridge temperatures (not freezer temps?) without any plastic wrap..
I'm all for natural beef but there seems nothing natural in coating beef with fridge-bacteria.. regardless of whether or not anyone thinks or feels like it's healthy.
It's interesting though, I guess I'll just buy the unprocessed beef and use a saw to cut it into small enough portions to fit inside some Tupperware for my small freezer.

[LePatron7]

Whatever you do, don't store meat in plastic at fridge temps.

I got sick from that once, soo I switched to glass jars.

I think bbad bacteriia multiply in plastic.

Also, there's nothing to worry about hanging meat. If you haven't heard of it, there's something called high meat. Its meat that siits out at room temp for 30+ day..

[panacea]

plastic doesn't seem like something bacteria can harvest, I don't see any common sense reason why they would like plastic..?
and the insides of most refrigerators/freezers are plastic aren't they?
I can see how the flexible plastic would be worse (like plastic wrap or ziplock bags) health-wise because of the stuff that's in the plastic to make it flexible is toxic and can scrape off into food, unlike firm plastic tupperware. Is the type of plastic you got sick from plastic wrap/ziplock type bags (flexible plastic)? Just curious.

[goodsamaritan]

Panacea,

We are sharing "experience" vs your current hypotheses about "bacteria".

Nice pics from Iguana.  That is the optimal way to do it.

Our taste buds demand it!

[intrigued]

Something that usually pops up right away in a response but for some reason hasn't yet is aerobic vs anaerobic bacteria.  The type of bacteria that forms in a no-air environment quite quickly at above freezing temperatures can be dangerous.  Hanging the meat like Iguana has (I'm jealous of the setup) allows it to age naturally and get the bacteria that aren't harmful (and can be helpful in digestion and gut health).

I can't roll details off the top of my head for glass > plastic, but I certainly trust it more with all the bad stuff that comes out about keeping your food in certain types of plastic (and then when they release some other kind, they find out 3 months later there's something awful in that kind too).  That said, I freeze my meat because I don't have a setup like Iguana's and buying in bulk is the only way that makes sense to me.  It comes in vacuum sealed plastic and I leave it that way in the freezer.  I've done so for months and eaten it raw later and had no problems.  I've seen a lot of other people say it doesn't taste as good after freezing, but I haven't had any problems with it. 

There's also the fact that freezing does reduce available nutrition due to burst cell walls, etc., but the info I've seen on it say it's really not THAT much, and nothing close to what cooking does, so I'm happy doing what I can for now.

[panacea]

I also don't have the storage space to hang meat or a big freezer for that matter, but the place I'm buying beef from doesn't vacuum seal in plastic, so can I just store it in tupperware in the freezer? Bacteria won't multiply in the freezer for 30 days or less to a noticeable degree right?

[intrigued]

YMMV, always go by how you feel.  I can't tell you what to do, but I can say that I, personally, wouldn't hesitate to freeze in tupperware and continue eating from that for a few months at least.  I couldn't justify the prices if I wasn't buying in bulk, and I just don't have open air fridge space to store 50-100lbs of meat.

Others on here would likely tell you to stay away from freezing.  I was just telling you what my situation was, I'm not actually FOR vacuum sealing/freezing, it's just extremely convenient for me.  If I had the setup and was fully committed to RPD, I would love to do it exactly like Iguana does.  Until then, I live with someone and we're phasing back and forth between SAD/cooked paleo with me doing some RPD as well.

[LePatron7]

plastic doesn't seem like something bacteria can harvest, I don't see any common sense reason why they would like plastic..?
and the insides of most refrigerators/freezers are plastic aren't they?
I can see how the flexible plastic would be worse (like plastic wrap or ziplock bags) health-wise because of the stuff that's in the plastic to make it flexible is toxic and can scrape off into food, unlike firm plastic tupperware. Is the type of plastic you got sick from plastic wrap/ziplock type bags (flexible plastic)? Just curious.

I was referring to plastic wrap/zip loc bags.

[LePatron7]

If it's not new, thoroughly clean your fridge, avoid to keep dairy and fish inside that fridge along with meat and after some time it will be seeded with a kind of yeast which may eventually form some delicious white coat on the meat having been hung in for a month or two.

NB: These "Eaton" small things have nothing to do here, they were just left on the table and I neglected to remove it before to take the photo!

Iguana, what's that green looking stuff on the top pic?

[Iguana]

It's a kind of good, tasty mold.

[LePatron7]

It's a kind of good, tasty mold.

It looks gross. Lol

I've made high meat, and I've let it sit in my car in the brutal south florida heat. And its never looked like that.

[Iguana]

You've got to seed your car with that particular kind of mold! A good place to hang the chunks of meat is the rear view mirror 

It looks like a joke but I did it when I was away for some time - although without having seeded the car. 

[LePatron7]

You've got to seed your car with that particular kind of mold! A good place to hang the chunks of meat is the rear view mirror 

It looks like a joke but I did it when I was away for some time - although without having seeded the car. 

What do you mean, seeding? Like putting some kind of mold there, then hanging the meat?

[Iguana]

Yeah, but I don't know where you could buy or gather such specific mold... I think a little bit of it is there sometimes on the meat and it slowly multiplies in the fridge. It takes a long time till a fridge is properly seeded, though.

[eveheart]

My fridge looks like Iguana's, with my large cuts of meat hanging on hooks from the shelves. I use the refrigerator because it is fly-proof. Refrigeration and freezing of meats is a relatively modern practice (except in polar regions). Meat has been hung for millenia. The kind of mold for meat is right and good for meat (like the kind of mold for cheese is right for cheese). Storing your food in the manner that is natural for that food makes a lot of sense. As mentioned, air circulation is necessary for the right bacteria to thrive.

Thinking about the term "unprocessed" meats, I think you are talking about what butchers call "primal" cuts - the muscles before they are cut for market into 1 - 3 pound steaks and roasts. I watched a lot of youtube butchering videos to get informed about the meat I now buy.

I think it is preferable to buy whole muscles, not steaks or roasts... and I never buy ground or frozen meats. There can be no contamination if the muscle is whole, and it is easier to store whole muscles - a steak or roast dries out too fast.

[ys]

i buy half a steer, cut it into smaller chunks the same day, and stuff it all into 2 freezers.  5cu feet chest I got for about $150 and 12cu feet for about $400.  works well for me.  i do not notice any difference between fresh meat and 9-months old frozen meat.

[cherimoya_kid]

Beef processors will often age meat at above-freezing temps for several weeks, to improve the flavor.

So fears about aging beef in the fridge are a result of ignorance.

[Bio-shell Avatar]

i have some questions for the experts. hope you can help me.

assuming you store meat in a clean fridge that's turned off (or broken) in a cellar at, say, 12-15°C (54-59°F), which you open at regular intervals to get in fresh oxygen, how long does it keep? or perhaps i should ask, how long before it turns from regular meat into high meat or before it starts to smell?

and then, same setting but in a garage which may have up to about 25°C (77°F) during summer - the smell won't be much of an issue here but how long can it be stored and eaten as regular/aged meat in normal amounts of a pound or so (i understand high meat is usually eaten in smaller amounts. i haven't tried it myself yet so i don't know if the reason is its taste).

[cherimoya_kid]

i have some questions for the experts. hope you can help me.

assuming you store meat in a clean fridge that's turned off (or broken) in a cellar at, say, 12-15°C (54-59°F), which you open at regular intervals to get in fresh oxygen, how long does it keep? or perhaps i should ask, how long before it turns from regular meat into high meat or before it starts to smell?

and then, same setting but in a garage which may have up to about 25°C (77°F) during summer - the smell won't be much of an issue here but how long can it be stored and eaten as regular/aged meat in normal amounts of a pound or so (i understand high meat is usually eaten in smaller amounts. i haven't tried it myself yet so i don't know if the reason is its taste).

Assuming it's getting oxygen regularly, I don't think there's any upper limit on the time.  If it gets too dry it will pretty much stop fermenting, though.