Picked up a 21Lb Prime whole packer from my local Costco today. Plan on having it for family Christmas dinner around the 16th of December. So from my reading on other wet aging posts here in the Pit, it will be right in the sweet spot at around 30 days in the cryovac. I am basing this off the packing date. I have it in the meat fridge in the bottom sitting at 39 degrees, shouldn’t be bothered in there at all! Let me know if I am missing any key steps in this process...
Sounds good to me. Try to get that temp down a bit, if you can. I am sure everything will be fine, but look for bloating of the cry-vac. If it does that, Game Over. (It has only happened to me once.)
It will smell a little funky, but not sour or spoiled. Other than that, you should be fine.
Thanks, good catch!
39 is what she is sitting at tonight. I went and turned the fridge down to its coldest setting just now. I am hoping for right at 33-34F. Will get my maverick in there and post an update.
One clarification, the so called "pack date" is the date the store puts a pricing label on the product, it has no correlation to the date is was cryovaced at the packer plant. I bought one a couple of months ago and asked the Costco butcher to check the date on the box they came in. It was almost 2.5 weeks old when I bought it. I therefore set the cook date for three additional weeks or a total wet age of 5.5 weeks.
i know some guys go even longer just don’t be fooled by the label. Mine came out just fine so you should be ok as well. Just a little bit of info.
Weber Kettle -- 22.5" (In-Service Date June 2015)
Slow-n-Sear/Drip-n-Griddle/Grill Grates (In-Service Date March 2016)
Pit Boss 820 (Retired)
GMG Jim Bowie WiFi (In-Service Date April 2017)
Maverick ET-733
Fireboard
Home-brewer
I have one currently aging in the fridge as well... I was planning on doing it for Christmas Eve dinner. I bought it mid-October, hoping for a 60-day(ish) aged product. Man, I sure hope my meat smells acceptable to my company when I whip it out.
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
I checked mine, packing date said Oct 22nd. So... I guess we'll see. I've never done a brisket, I've absolutely GOT to get it right, after I botched most everything I cooked on Thanksgiving!
Well cooked the trimmed wet aged prime packer on a rec-tech I borrowed from a buddy of mine, came out just fantastic. I ended up injecting with Butcher BBQ brisket injection and did a salt and pepper rub about 6 hours prior to cook time. Put it on at midnight on the 16th at 225, by 1pm the next afternoon she was at 157. Wrapped in butcher paper and continued to cook for about 3 more hours. Pulled it at 204 and left in the warming box for an hour. Pictures don’t do it much justice but the 30 guests we had over couldn’t get enough! Gotta love this forum and all the great advice and pointers!
Thanks, yeah so the flag is hanging from my garage doors, so when I am in the shop they are properly hung. I can’t have it both ways. Maybe I hang it with a QD and swap them when they are open. Good eye!
I looked again at my Prime brisket... packing date was 10/15, not 10/22. SELL BY date was 10/22. At this rate, cooking on the 24th, it could be as many as 84 days based on the actual date it was sealed up???
CRIPES!
Well, I had The Wife pick up another Prime brisket at Costco the other day, the packing date on that one is 12/14, so my backup will be 2 weeks to 1 month wet aged, I suppose. The plan is to open up the first and give it the smell test. If it fails, it gets wrapped and frozen until trash day, and I'll move on to the newer one. It won't be as tenderized by wet aging, but definitely will be a better option than sending the whole household to the hospital with food poisoning.
Especially since WORKING in the ER, I would never live that one down!
Wet dreams, um I mean wet aged dreams...
At this rate, cooking on the 24th, it could be as many as 84 days based on the actual date it was sealed up???
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