How to prevent beef muscle meat losing water during storage in the refridgerator?
I am storing raw beef muscle meat (for example tenderloin), in the refrigerator (just above freezing 0°C / 32°F), just for several days. I put the raw meat in a canning mason glass jar and screw the metal lid tightly so its leak-proof. Then submerge the jars in a bath of water and ice in a chest freezer set to not freeze, but just keep around 0°C.
By confirming there is both water and ice in the ice bath, I can be sure the beef is around 0°C all the time, the lowest temperature I can get before ice crystals start forming which would cause meat cells to rupture and lose water.
Yet, after I take the meat out of the jar, there is a considerable amount of liquid - red-coloured water with myoglobin, in the jar (about 50 mL in a 1 L jar which was packed with about 1 kg of beef tenderloin). So I am losing about 5% of meat mass to liquid during a few days of storage. Note that no liquid was dripping from the meat when it was being put in the jar, and the jar was empty and dry.
How can I minimize this loss of liquid?
Best Answer
You can't prevent it, that's how it works. It will always lose some liquid, no matter what. This is why supermarkets sell packaged meat with "diapers" on the bottom.
As mentioned in comments, you can buy dry aged beef. It has already lost that moisture, so you won't have the liquid to deal with, if that bothers you. This doesn't mean, of course, that you will somehow "save" the liquid, it will still have flown out.
Another theoretical option is to buy better quality meat. Mass-produced meat from young animals who don't exercise tends to lose more moisture than the meat from traditionally raised animals, especially if you are looking not at tenderloin but at stewing meat from old cows. I am including this information here more for completeness' sake. If you find a supplier for this type of meat (which is difficult in itself), you will save part of your 5% weight loss, but you will pay 4-5 times more per kg, if not more, so it doesn't give you an economic advantage.
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How do you keep meat fresh in the fridge?
How to Store Meat in the Fridge. When you're refrigerating raw meat, keep it in its original packaging right up until you use it, and rest it on a plate or rimmed baking sheet on the lowest shelf of the fridge. This will contain contamination in the event of any drips or spills.How do you store beef chuck?
To store in the refrigerator, wrap cooked meat in plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or store it in a tightly covered container and use within two to three days. For frozen storage, wrap meat in freezer paper, heavy aluminum foil, or place in freezer bag, and use within two to three months.How should fresh beef be stored?
Raw beef should be stored in a bowl or on a platter in the bottom of the refrigerator. Your refrigerator temperature should be at 40 \xb0F or less. Store whole-muscle fresh beef cuts for three to five days in the refrigerator.How long can you keep raw meat in the fridge?
For raw ground meats, poultry, seafood and variety meats (liver, tongue, chitterlings, etc.), refrigerate them only 1 to 2 days before either cooking or freezing. Beef, veal, lamb and pork roasts, steaks and chops may be kept 3 to 5 days.Meat Storage Life
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Answer 2
There is no way to prevent water loss beyond what you have done. This is one of the reasons why freshness is so important. You either freeze the meat immediately (which alters the texture) or store refrigerated and lose some moisture over time. Fresh meat combined with an adequate resting period after cooking are the two biggest contributors to juicy, well textured meat.
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