( Kansas State University ) Several Kansas State University researchers have found that using light-emitting diode, or LED, lights in refrigeration units could save the retail meat industry millions of dollars each year. A switch to LED lights reduces energy costs and extends the shelf life of some beef products.
I saw one meatcase with l.e.d. lights, and it looked pretty good-promolux bulbs use to be some of the best bulbs for a meatcase-but these may be better
ive had led lights in my cases now for a few months and they are the best. meat stays red longer and i rarely have to mark meat down that has started to loose color anymore. saves me alot of money.
-- Edited by RIBEYE1877 on Tuesday 17th of January 2012 08:10:45 PM
-- Edited by RIBEYE1877 on Tuesday 17th of January 2012 08:11:35 PM
I have LED's and meat in the cryovac packs look purple under the light, some customers say it looks bad. I sometimes have to pull meat out of the case to show it to a customer under the regular lighting of the store. Its amazing the difference in lights can do to your product. Course my meat case is only a year old now, and its AWESOME...love it. I was worried as it is black shelves and I thought ewwwwwwww black, but with the led's it really makes the beef look red... Only meat I have now that changes color is my sirloing steaks....for some reason they have been changing colore on me, and I don't know why...any ideas? date is good on the product....just curious.
are they sirloin strips steaks or top butt sirloins? top butt's we use to call hips years ago-most were sold bone-in, and it wasn't that much fun boning out the rump steaks that got backed up
anyways, I'm Assuming they are the larger top-butt steaks-because they have a tendency to turn quick at times also assuming, the quality is good, the sanitation levels are good
here are some reasons- why shelf-life can be diminished
Overfilling in the morning-most of the sales in a grocery store are between the hours of 1-7, or 2-6, but we have a tendency to load the case because we want it to look "full" (pile it high and watch it fly) many stores with margin issues (to cut down on shrink) have just one layer in the morning- on the money cuts (middle-meats), this sounds simple, but keep in mind- most meatcases have 4 defrost cycles in a 24 hr period, and this raises hell with shelf-life, the steaks will keep much much better in the cooler where it is 32-35 degrees, also depending on your volume, some stores will wrap, but not price the product (from cooler) only when needed- for example- say you cut 15 bnls rib-eye steaks from a whole rib-eye, but you only price 7 of them today when cut-the rest you place back in the cooler, and price tomorrow- you will get at least one more day shelf life doing this
also, many folks overlook this- most people wrap the meats too tight-yes we all like a tight seal, but meat is 77% moisture and a tight wrap compresses it and causes it to start purging around the edges, and break down quicker-you see this alot with burger-you wrap it too tight, and its seeping around the edges of the package within hours.
also, if you can store your foam trays in the cooler-do it-most keep them out in the back room-or worse in the compressor room where it is hot-then grab them to put cold meat in them-that foam tray can be 70-80 degrees- this will turn steaks more than you realize.
and of course- watch how others are cutting and trimming- if im cutting a primal and stacking the steaks on each other- before trimming- this will take off shelf-life.
and always , always store the product in cooler, not processing room- you will get one more days shelf life doing this- i see this every other day, because its convenient
if it is top butt sirloins, and they slow down this time of year-check out the "chef's cut" sirloin on the mainemeatman youtube page- a different way to cut them- smaller packages=smaller retails
Yes, I agree with Mainemeatman. Of all the primals, top sirloins seem to be most susceptible to "stacking." They don't like it. I try not to cut more than a case at a time--even if they're the hot sale.