[Sca-cooks] Spices and Cooking (oop)

[Decker, Terry D.]

Most meat is delivered from the packing house to the retailer within 4 to 10
days.  Carcasses with little fat should not be aged more than 5 days and for
the rest, 7 to 10 days is considered optimum for normal production.  As long
as the meat isn't frozen, it is aging, which means that it can be aged in
transit.  In terms of storage requirements, it is uneconomical to hold meat
beyond 10 days, with the exception of retailers specializing in high quality
dry aged cuts of meat.

For short distances to retailers who will butcher the carcass, sides and
quarters may be hooked and hung, although you will often find quarters
sealed in plastic.  For cuts of meat and longer distances, the meat is
almost always vaccuum packed.  It is worth noting that once aged, cuts of
meat can be flash frozen for up to a year of storage with negligible
degradation of taste.

Packing houses use the "wet aged" process is because it retains the moisture
in the meat, lowering the per pound price at the grocery.  It also allows
greater packing density for shipping, since you don't need to maintain the
seperation between the carcasses for air flow.

Bear

>     Thank you so much for explaining how meat is aged.  I was
> hoping it
> would come into the discussion.  How long does it usually take for the
> meat, once packaged, to get to the retailer?
>
>     Elizabeth