Went by Restaurant Depot yesterday and picked up 3 choice packers and 2 pork butts to cook for my daughter's charity event planned for October 20th. The oldest packer was packed on September 5th and the other 2 on September 11th. The briskets will be kept in a seldom opened 34º-37º refrigerator. October 20th will be 45 days after the pack date for the oldest packer. There is no visible "bubbles" in any of the cryovacs. Is it OK to keep these under refrigeration for the next 2 weeks, or is freezing until a few days before cooking recommended? BTW, the butts are in the freezer already.
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Beef will be fine in the fridge. -
From my experience with briskets from Costco the pack date on the label does not reflect the actual kill date. Their pack date was when they pulled them from cases to put in the meat case. I had noticed this when I asked to see some others from their cooler and the butcher printed labels with that date as pack date. I had asked for the kill date or Pack Date that is on the side of the case. From my experience there was any where from 2-4 weeks prior with 2 being the norm. You may be able to call to ask about pack date on case vs pack date on label. I have gotten into the habit of asking for case pack date and they have been happy to go check.Comment
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For what it's worth, the September 11th pack date was the date on the cardboard case that I took two briskets out of. The date on the label that the RD worker put on them was day number 254 which agrees with Sept 11. I did not see the case that the other brisket came out of, but I would assume that the label date also would agree.
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