freeze or refrigerate whole ribeye for xmas day

glaudds · Dec 13, 2014

I just bought a 16lb whole boneless ribeye in the cryovac at Costco today. I plan to roast most of it for Christmas dinner. The pack date is 12/13/14 and the sell date is 12/20/14 (as per the label). Is it safe to leave it in the fridge until 12/25?

I plan to squeeze it into the meat drawer where it cooler and the temperature is more stable. I searched and googled "wet aging" and I'm not sure if there is enough time for that process to happen or if it is safe to keep the meat in the fridge that long. Thanks in advance!

don24 · Dec 13, 2014

beef in the cryo stays good for a good amount of time. the actual use by date was on the case it came in and that little sticker is a store opinion that is used on everything. I may be wrong but I would have let it sit a full month for aging so the week and a half till xmas wont hurt and may help.

Ribeye Republic · Dec 13, 2014

Let it stay cold in the fridge and age a bit. Unless you have access to a flash freezer. If you were to freeze it in an ordinary freezer you would risk "slow freezing" which would rupture the muscle cells.

IamMadMan · Dec 13, 2014

I've never been one to push dates, so I can't comment on the wet aging.

el_matt · Dec 13, 2014

You should probably just ship it to me, and I'll dispose of it for you. If you don't want to do that, shove it in the drawer, then cook it on Christmas, it'll be fine.

Matt

glaudds · Dec 14, 2014

el_matt said:
You should probably just ship it to me, and I'll dispose of it for you. If you don't want to do that, shove it in the drawer, then cook it on Christmas, it'll be fine.

Matt

lol...I'll take my chances. Thanks for all the replies, into the meat drawer it goes!

TropicDad · Dec 14, 2014

I plan on picking one up this week and leaving it in the fridge until Christmas eve dinner. A couple of weeks is fine.

Ron_L · Dec 14, 2014

don24 said:
beef in the cryo stays good for a good amount of time. the actual use by date was on the case it came in and that little sticker is a store opinion that is used on everything. I may be wrong but I would have let it sit a full month for aging so the week and a half till xmas wont hurt and may help.

The pack date was on the case from the packer. The Use By date is added by the store.

You're fine to keep it in the fridge until Christmas. I age briskets up to 45 days past the pack date regularly.

Bama Ron · Dec 14, 2014

Beef can be wet aged beyond the use by date as long as the cryovac seal is still good and tight. Exposure to oxygen will spoil the meat quickly, but refreezing it will do great damage also. I routinely and on purpose age cryovac beef beyond its date with no problems and great results. I never do this with chicken, pork, or seafood.

glaudds · Dec 15, 2014

Thanks for all the replies. Just out of curiosity, I was wondering how this whole process works from the packer to the store shelf. Since I purchased this on 12/13 and the pack date was reportedly the same, does that mean it was cryovaced (sp?) at the packer that day and made it to the shelf that quickly? Also, what is the time frame from slaughter, to butchering, to packing?

freeze or refrigerate whole ribeye for xmas day

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