Costco sell by date

[babydocsmoke]

So, just to follow up on a post mentioned before. Some of you guys will use meat from Costco after the sell by date right? That’s not the “use by” date?

How far out can I use beef past that date? Anything to do to prep it if I’m going past that date?

Do you just go by smell?

 

[GaryHibbert]

So, just to follow up on a post mentioned before. Some of you guys will use meat from Costco after the sell by date right? That’s not the “use by” date?

How far out can I use beef past that date? Anything to do to prep it if I’m going past that date?

Do you just go by smell?

I normally vac/seal everything we get at Costco right away, unless its due to be cooked the next day or two. That way, IMO, all is good.
Gary

 

[cptnding]

I always go by smell. It will let you know. I don't think you can pin it down to X days past the sell by date. Lots of variables there from processing to packaging to transport, storage, and handling.
In fact I recently had some ground pork that sat in the fridge longer that we had planned. It was still 2 days before the sell by date but the smell was BAD! Color was fine but the from the smell it was obvious something had went very wrong. I'm very familiar with the sulfur smell from cryovac especially with pork. That smell will dissipate usually in just a few minutes. Spoilage smell is different.

 

[chopsaw]

How far out can I use beef past that date?

Read through this , and bookmark it for later reference . Make sure you scroll the whole thing .

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating

Anything to do to prep it if I’m going past that date?

Here's an example of a complete tag . Packed and sell by . I see an average of 36 to 40 days on beef . That's why I commented in the other thread about the dates you mentioned . If that date was only a couple days , I would bet that it's been out there longer and at the end of the display for sale time . If I'm going to use it before the sell by , I'll just leave it vac'd and in a 36 degree fridge . I use an alarmed therm in the fridge I hold meat in . If I'm going to freeze it , I always figure in the time it takes to thaw against the sell by date . I do use stuff past the sell by , but I think it's just good practice to use that date as close as possible .

 

[babydocsmoke]

So, just to follow up on a post mentioned before. Some of you guys will use meat from Costco after the sell by date right? That’s not the “use by” date?

How far out can I use beef past that date? Anything to do to prep it if I’m going past that date?

Do you just go by smell?

I normally vac/seal everything we get at Costco right away, unless its due to be cooked the next day or two. That way, IMO, all is good.
Gary

I always go by smell. It will let you know. I don't think you can pin it down to X days past the sell by date. Lots of variables there from processing to packaging to transport, storage, and handling.
In fact I recently had some ground pork that sat in the fridge longer that we had planned. It was still 2 days before the sell by date but the smell was BAD! Color was fine but the from the smell it was obvious something had went very wrong. I'm very familiar with the sulfur smell from cryovac especially with pork. That smell will dissipate usually in just a few minutes. Spoilage smell is different.

Thanks guys!!

Read through this , and bookmark it for later reference . Make sure you scroll the whole thing .

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/food-product-dating

Here's an example of a complete tag . Packed and sell by . I see an average of 36 to 40 days on beef . That's why I commented in the other thread about the dates you mentioned . If that date was only a couple days , I would bet that it's been out there longer and at the end of the display for sale time . If I'm going to use it before the sell by , I'll just leave it vac'd and in a 36 degree fridge . I use an alarmed therm in the fridge I hold meat in . If I'm going to freeze it , I always figure in the time it takes to thaw against the sell by date . I do use stuff past the sell by , but I think it's just good practice to use that date as close as possible .
View attachment 668700

Very helpful! Thank you!!

 

[Retired Spook]

The nose, knows...

200,000-years of evolution.

 

[babydocsmoke]

The nose, knows...

200,000-years of evolution.

As long as its not my wife!!

COVID screwed that up 2 years ago. Still hasn't come back. Taste as well. Not a big fan of BBQ anymore and can't stand chocolate which was her fave before.

Really a bummer. But I guess the silver lining is rotten stuff doesn't bother her?

 

[thirdeye]

Labels are printed when the product comes out of the cases which are stored in a store's walk-in cooler. Most stores assume that the average consumer will have an average refrigerator and it will be opened throughout the day.

So if you have a second fridge that is colder than your kitchen fridge, you have a little leeway on the 'use by' or 'sell by' dates. In an extreme example.... I often wet age briskets for 25 or 30 days, and for that I need the 'pack date' from the cases. I won't buy briskets from their meat case. I ask the meat cutters at Sam's to roll out 5 or 6 briskets from the walk-in. If I'm lucky they might already have 15 days of age already on them, and I only need to age another 12 to 15 days.

 

[babydocsmoke]

Labels are printed when the product comes out of the cases which are stored in a store's walk-in cooler. Most stores assume that the average consumer will have an average refrigerator and it will be opened throughout the day.

So if you have a second fridge that is colder than your kitchen fridge, you have a little leeway on the 'use by' or 'sell by' dates. In an extreme example.... I often wet age briskets for 25 or 30 days, and for that I need the 'pack date' from the cases. I won't buy briskets from their meat case. I ask the meat cutters at Sam's to roll out 5 or 6 briskets from the walk-in. If I'm lucky they might already have 15 days of age already on them, and I only need to age another 12 to 15 days.

Interesting. So you don't want older stuff in the meat case because of temperature variance?

 

[dr k]

You can't age pork. Pork on a tray with plastic wrap eat/freeze by sell by date or 1-2 days after max. If cryovaced at time of processing you'll see the the extended date vs tray, then cook or freeze 1-2 days after the sell by date max. Beef tray eat/freeze 1-2 days after sell by date. Cryovaced beef brisket, rib roasts etc. primal/subprimal get the box date from the butcher, if packaged date is not on label and 45 days max from pkg date in it's original cryovac for wet aging, then eat/freeze.

 

[thirdeye]

Interesting. So you don't want older stuff in the meat case because of temperature variance?

No, most meat cases have adequate temp control, but probably not as good as a walk-in cooler. The problem is you don't know the pack date (which also the kill date) on something like a brisket. By not knowing the pack date you can't be sure how long to wet age it in your fridge.

If I'm going to skip the wet age step and cook a brisket in a few days, I'll usually buy from the meat case.

 

[babydocsmoke]

No, most meat cases have adequate temp control, but probably not as good as a walk-in cooler. The problem is you don't know the pack date (which also the kill date) on something like a brisket. By not knowing the pack date you can't be sure how long to wet age it in your fridge.

If I'm going to skip the wet age step and cook a brisket in a few days, I'll usually buy from the meat case.

Gotcha.