Expert: Keith Patton - 3/31/2008

Question
I am 32yrs old and I have grown up eating deer meat. I usually put the meat in the fridge to thaw, however something may come up and I end up not cooking it that night.  How long does the meat last in the fridge?  Example, if I put in the fridge on Thursday, will it last the weekend until Monday?

Answer
Amy:

Since most meat is aged for a while in a cooler, keeping the meat until Monday, won't hurt.  After all, the meat at your grocier is probably there that long.  The gray looking stuff on sale is older but perfectly acceptable.

The bane of meat in the refrigerator is bacteria.  Cold temperatures retard and slow their growth, but will not stop it.  That is why it eventually spoils.  So unless the meat is really really rank, it is edible when cooked.  The myoglobin, the reddish liquid that seeps from frozen meat should be poured off and the neat rinced with water or put in a marinade if you are going to keep it for four days.  Anything acidic, beer, buttermilk,etc will slow bacterial growth even more.  The myoglobin leaks from the meat, because it is intercellular fluid and freezing ruptures the cell membranes.  The liquid will turn first and begin to stink, that is why the meat department puts those pads under the meat to catch the fluid.  A little off odor on meat can be remedied by rinsing the offending myoglobin off of it.  Then cooking will kill any remaining bacteria.

Keith