sca-cooks Re: [ck] freshness of meat

[Philip W. Troy]

LYN M PARKINSON wrote:

> Adamantius, did you really mean three *weeks* instead of three days, for
> hung meat to relax?

In some cases, yes. Choice beef, such as you find in the supermarket, is
aged for about five days to a week, if I remember correctly. Prime beef,
particularly cuts like the short loin, whence Porterhouse steaks come,
are often aged as much as 21 days or more. This is, of course, assuming
proper temperature and humidity controls, and on the meat either being
properly wrapped (some meat is aged as primary or secondary cuts,
wrapped with a process called Cyo-vac) or properly trimmed by a butcher
of things like portions that have become dried out or moldy, this being
more likely in cases of aging whole sides of beef.
> 
> And, has anybody noticed, when Chiquart is talking about not letting beef
> or mutton be too salty, he is always talking about the broth or stock
> made from it?  I've begun to think that he is refering to salted meats
> rather than fresh for his stock.

Another possibility, while what you say is plausible, is that he may be
referring to the classic medieval Eternal Stockpot, in which some stocks
become pretty concentrated over time, so seasonings could become
excessively prevalent. Also, if salt meats are involved, you would want
to desalt them as much as possible before  adding them to a common pot
in which many items are cooked.

As for whether Chiquart is talking about the broth rather than the meat,
it's reasonable since probably around half of the meats served would end
up in some kind of pottage. The "pot likker" often ends up in there in
some form. The same caution, by the way, appears in Das Buoch Von Guter
Speiss.  
> 
> Allison

Adamantius