How long will steak stay fresh in a refrigerator?

I have a question for the experts. I purchased some braising steak on Saturday with the intention of eating it on Saturday or Sunday, things didn’t work out as planned and it’s still in the refrigerator. I was thinking about cooking it tomorrow – slow cook for about 3 hours. The refrigerator is cold and the meat is well wrapped however I do not know how long the butcher had it. I hate wasting food and am loathed to throw it away but I don’t want to harm anyone. Should I take the chance?

Advice is not legally binding.

Regards,
Simon

Dear Simon,

If I were you, I would use it within 5 days from the time of purchase if it was kept in the fridge with good temperature (< 4^oC) and wrapped well. Anyway, before use it is better to check for any signs of spoilage and it if still looks good then go ahead and cook. If the butcher shop is a regular one which you buy from then you can casually ask them how long do the various meat products stay in their shelf. I also checked with my butcher and he advised me that if the steaks are kept in chiller ( +/-1^oC ) then it can be kept up to 7 days and also suggested a tip to store longer (store the meat items fully covered in corn oil which seals the meat and preserves for as long as 10-13 days in the chiller).

Dear All,

I seem to remember Simon previously telling the forum that he was satisfied if his refrigerator temperature was <= 8degC = worst case scenario.

Does that change yr opinion Jean ?

Rgds / Charles.C

Thanks Jean / Charles. It actually went in the bin (Wife, Executive Decision) so risk removed, but your advice is noted for next time. By the way I would have sniffed it for spoilage, washed it thoroughly and cooked it for a long time.

For info the temperature in the home fridge is more like it should be, the other one I quoted was in a factory one (I think).

Regards,
Simon

Hi Charles,



If the refrigerator was running 8oC then I would surely change my opinion to 24 hours. At home I have set my refrigerator at 4oC. I am glad Simon’s wife has done a very good risk assessment. Discard rather than risking the lives of dear ones.

Dear all,

just for the record: nearly all food can be made safe by heat treatment. Bacteria usually do not survive cooking (listeria, the most hardy of all food pathogens has to be exposed to a temperature of 70ºC for 2 minutes to be effectively controlled), so cooking of foods to 74ºC core temperature will certainly remove all viable pathogenic bacteria from the food. Spores will not be inactivated by this procedure, so it is important not to keep cooked food warm (below 63ºC) for prolonged periods of time.

"Safe" food does not necessarily mean tasty food: if the steak has spoiled (putrid odour or distinctly sour smell), the flavour will be unpleasantly "off".

Beef is usually matured for around seven to 14 days after slaughter to make it tender. So keeping it for a number of days after purchase will not really make a difference (unless intended to be eaten raw, undercooked or for the preparation of minced meat).

Next time, Simon, I think you could be brave and cook the steak, even though I can understand your wife's decision to throw it out: 'If in doubt, throw it out.'

Matt

Hi,

Simon's question is quite funny - and I'm pretty sure that he wanted it as well. As quality managers... do we react in the same way when we are in charge of quality in our pro. life and when we come back in our private life?

Regards,

Emmanuel

Dear Simon,

If you wish to show yr "safer" half an expert assessment (and usually I think a conservative one) can hv a look here -

http://www.foodsafet...g/f01chart.html

Assuming you / yr wife trust the fridge temperature is consistently <=5degC, looks like the opinion was to (just) not throw away. Otherwise, yr wife probably made a good value judgement.

Rgds / Charles.C

added - the article above seems to imply that the "maturing" referred in Matt's post seems to totally ignore safety considerations. I wonder what the scientific justification for this is ??

added(2) - coincidentally, seems the ageing- of- meat topic is currently causing some problems with respect to proposed EC prescriptive process requirements -
http://www.foodprodu...meat-amendments

Thanks everyone. I would have eaten it, but the thought of giving it to my children and making them ill changes my perception massively. So that's my private life. In professional life would I consider my customers as myself or my children? Interesting Penard...

BTW would it be the same for chicken?

Regards,
Simon

Hi I have a question : - 

 

how long can vacuum packed meat be stored in chiller. Would it be safe to store for 2 weeks? Any studies or reports to support the well-known fact that meat can only be stored for around 5 days in the chiller? 

Hi Clover,

There are UK, Food Standard Agency guidelines on the shelf life of vacuum packed meat which basically state that if you want to put a shelf life of more than 10 days from pack then the storage temp has to be 3 degrees or below.

Hi Jacq, 

 

thanks for pointing that out. I'm currently browsing through their website and they've got lotsa good stuff. I forgot to mention that ours is vacuum packed RAW meat, not cooked. I should think that if we are able to prove via microbiological test that our VPR meat can last for more than 10 days (say 14 days is the max), we wouldn't necessarily need to follow that shelf life guide line of 10 days from pack date, am I right ?