Hi, I am in the midst of setting up my butchery and would love to get advice from all you experienced butchers. I understand that the shelf life of a cryovac piece of meat is 90 days if left unopened and 5 days once opened. My question is what if I opened up a piece of meat, cut it into half and vacuum pack it immediately, what will be the shelf life of the vacuumed pack beef. The reason I am asking this question is because I am expecting my business to be really slow and am not confident of selling the whole piece within 5 days. Thank you very much for your kind advice.
90 days is a long time in a cryovac in a cooler. I would freeze it just to be sure. The seal might break and other things happen. get busier. get more customers....
If you don't mind me asking, where did you hear 90 days on cryovac meat? Most major packers have a shelf life guarantee. For IBP it is 35 days on boneless sub primals and 30 days on Bone In. Pork is 28 days on boneless and 21 days on Bone In. The bone deterioration, discoloring and oxidation reduces the life of the meat. I would also suspect that the more the sub-primal is further processed, IE cut and repackaged, the less shelf life it will have. obviously sanitation/cross contamination with have a component in the shelf life as well. I hope this helps and good luck.
I believe 90 days is the standard frozen shelf life. Sure it can go longer, but longer than 90 days is not recommended in retail display.
If you vacuum pack the unused portions, you should freeze them if you don't think you will sell them for awhile. However that will interfere with the freshness.
If you do not freeze the vacuum packed portions, then I would not give it more than 14 days. Even that might be too long depending on when the primal was originally packed.
That is the big risk of having your own market. Can you move all the merchandise before it spoils?
I recommend starting with the smallest cases you can get. Only order high in demand primals. Keep your prices as low as you can and advertise heavy.
When you have built a solid customer base then you can think about adding more selection and raising prices.
Starting any new venture is a big risk whether it is a meat market or a gold mine. I wish you luck on it and hope you will keep us updated on the progress.
-- Edited by fdarn on Tuesday 26th of August 2014 01:25:20 PM
HI, thanks for your most helpful replies. With regards to freezing, how does that change the look and taste of the meat? I've tried looking all over the web for information with regards to taste test between frozen and chilled beef but did not find any useful information. Anyone can help?
If you can't sell one whole piece in 5 days-I don't see a profit in your future. Some stores will cut 1/2 a shortloin, cut the other 1/2 2 days later and the meat is haloed and looks bad. To get better advice, tell the guys here all the details you have so far. A good market will make 25-30% gross profit and all your expenses come out of that. There may not be anything left-do the math first!!! and best of luck!
HI, thanks for your most helpful replies. With regards to freezing, how does that change the look and taste of the meat? I've tried looking all over the web for information with regards to taste test between frozen and chilled beef but did not find any useful information. Anyone can help?
Meat freezes well and tastes good after freezing- However, it will not look fresh and people will not buy much of it. You must either sell the whole piece frozen of fresh. Beef will look bad after 2 days (hamburger 1 day) and pork about 3 days. Freezing half a piece and then cutting the rest to display fresh later will not work with very many types of meat. You have to choose. Go and study every market you can and see what they have.
My thoughts are these: I can foresee opening up a cryo-vac pack of ribeye with the customer only wanting maybe 1 kg of it. What is the best way of keeping the rest of the piece of meat in optimum condition without compromising the integrity (safety, looks and taste) of it as I can imagine maybe only selling about the same amount everyday for a start. I will want to keep it chilled as far as possible and freezing would be a last option. Please advise what you would do if you are in my position. Thanks.
You are welcome pepperholic. Wrap the rest of the ribeye in steak paper and wrap with cellophane. Keep it 28-32 degrees F. It will last a week to two, you may have to trim it slightly if the edges are brown. Flavor and tenderness will increase to a point. Looks will be compromised more each day and so will waste you trim off. What you are wanting to do really makes no sense, so please lay out your entire plan A to Z if you want advice. I love helping but your instructions are too vague. A new butcher to be and what sounds like a new business is a bad combination. You need 5 years or more cutting at least. Give us your masterplan! Really slow, no experience, new business=why bother.
Appreciate your advice. I am really passionate about the business and do see the potential for the location except that it will take time and effort for it to take off. I am prepared to suffer for the start and hopefully it will take off. As things are still not finalized, I can only provide more details when I have more concrete plans. Thanks again for your help.
