Use Date of fresh ground butcher/supermarket beef

[rotuts]

I purchased this pack of ground beef 

 

 

Sunday 6:30 AM

 

I plan to use it tomorrow , as today isn't tomorrow.

 

then it got me thinking about use by dates , from supermarket butchers.

 

I imply nothing about MB , etc , but I do go there

 

and I don't go anywhere ex TJ's  by choice 

 

I have a sense of different levels of retail meat , USA.

 

this meat is fresh ground ( note the pattern ) and packed.

 

I got this off a large rack that had just come out of the

 

meat dept , of which , you can see through the glass

 

that the lengths of the ' Meat Counter '

 

I can easily understand a private firm  ( MB )

 

wanting to be very conservative on the use date

 

now to my question :

 

over all , understanding there are so many variations :

 

how long the meat was in the counter , your hot truck etc 

 

are their '' thought '' full estimates on fresh meat

 

from a butcher that cut it right there

 

are ' perfectly fine , but maybe not tartare '

 

just curious 

[Duvel]

From my perspective (and this is a German one) the „use by“ dates are legally defined.

 

For minced/ground meat it will factor in at least:

 

- Cleaning procedure of the equipment

- condition of the meat

- pretreatment of the meat

- procesing temperatures 

- processing speed 

- gassing

- wrapping

- storage of the processed product 

 

That being said, regardless whether you buy minced/ground meat here in a supermarket or butcher as a loose product (not wrapped) it will be from the same day and is generally safe to consumer raw.

 

I am very fortunate to eat Mett (fatty minced pork) from freshly butchered pigs (you‘d call them heritage breeds) for up to a week after the „preparation date“.

 

For gassed meat products (that do not allow pathogens to thrive) in a proper cooling setup exceeding the „use by“ date by a day is from my point of view not too critical.

I use 2d old „fresh“ mince from a butcher to prepare fully cooked items. And I can also tell you (proud or not) that when the minced meat product exceeds its welcome in your fridge you can easily tell by a simple sniff. Really.

 

 

 

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

44 minutes ago, Duvel said:

...I can also tell you (proud or not) that when the minced meat product exceeds its welcome in your fridge you can easily tell by a simple sniff. Really.
 

Really!   

[heidih]

As was earlier noted - so many factors such as time out of cold case, your car or transport mode, your fridge. My fridge is really cold (occasional ice crystals in top shelf yogurt). In my mind, which factors in non sensiocal icky fear - 3 days from purchase. That said I have not puirchased ground beef in many years but stepmother when in town insists on within 2 days or her mind sends her spinning. Butcher dad just rolls his eyes and mutters "you know they have USDA inspectors..." A former bane of his existence - he thought them wildly over cautious.  but they are in charge

Edited March 10, 2022 by heidih (log)