1/2 Beef Cut Sheet Freezer Spoled
We partnered with the Beef Checkoff to share butcher Cara Nicoletti's best tips for storing beef in the fridge or freezer.
When you're parsing through all the tips, tricks, and instruction for what to exercise with your steaks, burgers, and other cuts of meat, the final affair you're probably thinking of is how but to properly salve it (especially when all you desire to practice is eat it).
Only, it matters: Storing your beef correctly in the fridge or freezer volition salve you lot mis-labeling headaches, cuts that get bad before using them, and multiple trips to the meat counter. And then we asked butcher Cara Nicoletti to fill up u.s.a. in on everything she knows about storing beefiness—and thankfully, she debunks a few myths along the way.
Storing beefiness in the fridge—it'southward all about air.
Food52: What are a few initial things to keep in listen when considering how to store various cuts of beef in the fridge so that they last the longest and the quality stays not bad?
Cara Nicoletti: If y'all buy beef from the retail shelf at the supermarket, information technology generally comes packed with an overwrap of oxygen permeable flick, or what is called "modified temper packaging." The parcel contains a high level of CO2, which is pumped in during the packing procedure to aid slow microbial growth. If you lot break the meat out of this container, y'all lose this extra level of protection, so it'southward best to leave information technology in in that location until you are prepare to cook it. Supermarket meat will have a packing and expiration date on information technology, which gives you a guideline of how long you can keep it before cooking or freezing, but these only apply if your meat has been refrigerated correctly.
F52: How long should meat last once you lot've stashed it in the fridge?
CN: The general dominion for raw beefiness cuts—roasts, chops, and steaks—is that they will last, well-wrapped in your refrigerator, for between three and 5 days. The shelf-life on ground beef is slightly shorter considering the grinding process raises the gamble for cross-contagion. There is also more surface area on each strand of meat, which means more room for harboring harmful leaner, so it's all-time to cook it within one to 2 days. Cooked meat volition generally last in your fridge for 3 to 4 days before you need to toss or freeze information technology.
F52: How might you wrap meat, what temperature is best, and what part of the fridge should you lot store it in?
If y'all bought your meat from a butcher (go you!), it probably came wrapped in newspaper, which doesn't take that extra level of CO2 protection that supermarket meat has. In this case, simply make sure the meat is wrapped tightly, and re-wrap it if necessary. Many butcher shops have cryovac machines, which extend the shelf-life of your meat by removing air from around your meat, thus slowing microbial growth. Ask your butcher if he has 1 and if he would be willing or able to pack your meat in it.
Bacteria thrive and multiply most quickly between 40°F and 140°F, so it's important to make certain your refrigerator stays at 40°F or below. The bottom shelf is mostly the coolest part of the fridge, which makes information technology the best spot in to store meat—and you avoid whatsoever juice dripping onto other items.
F52: What are the signs that refrigerated meat is still okay to melt, or that it has gone past the point of no return? Are the best indicators look, odor, or feel?
CN: First thing's first—bank check the expiration date on the packaging. This should give you lot a general thought of where your beef is at. Meat that you buy from a butcher might not accept an expiration appointment on information technology, so it'south important to ask them how long the beef was in the case before they packed information technology upward for y'all—if it's already on it's 4th day, it would be all-time to cook it that night.
If your beef has "gone off," you will know pretty much equally soon as yous open up the packaging and smell it. Fresh beefiness has a subtle make clean, irony aroma. If your beefiness has gone bad, y'all might smell a slight fishiness, ammonia, or sulfur. Whatever stiff smells in full general are not good!
This rule of thumb doesn't employ, however, if y'all accept a dry-aged steak. A dry-aged steak will have a much stronger smell than non-dry aged beef and can sometimes give off the odour of overripe fruit, or even blue cheese. The fridge at your butcher has sure humidity levels and a build-upwards of good bacteria that your dwelling fridge doesn't have, so it's all-time to cook a dry-aged steak the nighttime you lot get it from your butcher.
The next fashion you can tell if your beef has gone off is by feeling information technology—beef that has gone off volition feel viscous and slimy. This stickiness means that bacteria has started to multiply on the surface of the meat, and so it'due south best to throw it away if information technology has gotten to this point.
When meat is exposed to air, or deprived of air, it tin can turn chocolate-brown grey. Don't worry, this does not mean that the meat has spoiled—it is a natural thing that happens. However, if your beefiness has whatsoever green or black spots on it, that's a no-go.
The freezer is your beefiness's friend—for the long haul.
F52: What are the all-time ways to store beefiness in the freezer?
CN: Wrapping beef properly, temperature, and the location you shop information technology in the freezer, plus freezer strategies, are all helpful, especially if you lot buy a lot and desire to pack information technology up in handy amounts.
The fundamental to making your meat last the longest in the freezer is minimizing the air in your packaging. Inquire your butcher if south/he can freezer-pack or cryovac your meats for you. This removes air from the packaging and will help prevent your meat from getting freezer-burned.
The cardinal to making your meat last the longest in the freezer is minimizing the air in your packaging.
Cara Nicoletti, butcher
If you are piling multiple steaks or burgers into one bundle, be certain to place pieces of parchment or wax paper in between each 1. This makes it easier to carve up the meats from each other without tearing their surface in one case they are partially thawed.
F52: How long can yous freeze meat—and do you have any labeling tips?
CN: If your freezer is at 0°F or below, your meat will technically last indefinitely; however, the quality of the meat will degrade over time, making the flavor and texture less desirable. For maximum enjoyment, store ground beefiness for 3 to 4 months in your freezer, and fresh cuts upwardly to 8 to 12 months.
Labeling tape tin can lose its stickiness in the freezer and go out you with a agglomeration of unlabeled mystery containers afterward a couple of months then it's best to write your label straight on the packaging with a permanent marker earlier putting your meat in the freezer. Coming in contact with loftier or low temperatures while writing tin can make your sharpie's ink less permanent, so write the label before yous fill up the package with hot or cold meat.
F52: How would you defrost meat safely?
CN: The all-time fashion to defrost your meat is by putting information technology in the refrigerator overnight. Go along your meat in its plastic packaging, or put it in a ziplock bag, and place information technology in a bowl or on a plate to prevent meat juices from leaking on other foods in your refrigerator. If you lot defrost this way, yous can expect upwardly to 2 days before cooking your meat. It is safe to re-freeze your meat if yous defrost it this way.
If you don't have time to defrost overnight, the second all-time way to practise it is by running the meat under absurd h2o. Put your frozen meat in a well-sealed plastic purse, and place it in a basin of cool water. Thinner, smaller cuts will defrost within an hour, but larger cuts can take 2 to three hours. Make sure you lot replace the water every thirty minutes to make certain information technology stays cool. If you defrost your meat this way, you should cook information technology as presently as it's thawed, and not re-freeze it.
F52: Can you re-freeze your meat after defrosting?
CN: It is a mutual misconception that you should never, e'er re-freeze your meat later information technology's thawed. It is actually perfectly safety to re-freeze your meat if you have thawed it overnight in the fridge—but exist forewarned that your meat might non exist quite equally tasty if you lot practise this, due to moisture loss during the thawing process. And you lot should never re-freeze raw meat that you have thawed nether cool water.
F52: And can you defrost, cook, and then freeze cooked meat (e.g. leftover steak, chili, etc.)?
CN: Once you cook your defrosted meat, y'all tin can safely freeze your cooked food afterward three to 4 days of refrigeration.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Any tips y'all swear by for storing beefiness in the refrigerator or freezer? Share it with us below!
We teamed upwards with the Beefiness Checkoff to share recipes, tips, and videos all season long, showing you how to prep and cook beef at home like you've been doing it forever.
Source: https://food52.com/blog/17593-our-every-question-on-freezing-and-fridging-steaks-burgers-more-answered
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