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I bought a 7 pound beef tenderloin at Fresh Market that the butcher just cut and packaged for me.

What is best way to store it in the refrigerator? Will it keep for 5 days or longer?

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If you can get a good tight wrap of plastic wrap around it and store in the bottom of your fridge, where the temp should be approaching 32F it should last out the 5 days just fine. If you have a rub in mind for it you might apply that first then wrap and store.

Remember that beef is usually hung anywhere from 5 to 30 days at 33F in quarters before being butchered. If you don't have a thermometer for your fridge, get one (or two even, one high and one low) so you have a good idea of what your temp range is. If the coldest region of your fridge is over 35F you should turn it down some. See @HoboDave's answer for a better commentary on fridge temps.

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  • I'd +1 except for... "hung anywhere from 5 to 30 days at 33F" ... while true, butchers then cut off the mold crust that forms. We don't want to lead people to believe you can just age beef in the fridge and then throw it on the grill safely.
    – rfusca
    Dec 22, 2011 at 5:56
  • @rfusca The first point of discussing aging was just to say 5 days in trivial. The second point is to make OP aware that there is a 'safe zone' between freezing and 35 (not big range, but still) and that OP should seek that area of the fridge out and use a thermometer to monitor that. I have been there when my butcher brought my beef out from aging to go to the butchering tables and loss to 'mold and crust' is negligible.
    – Cos Callis
    Dec 22, 2011 at 6:06
  • I'm not suggesting there's a huge loss. I'm suggesting if you throw out a number like 30 days (even offhand) then you should put in there that there are other precautions to take that just leaving the beef in the fridge and then throwing it on the grill.
    – rfusca
    Dec 22, 2011 at 7:56
  • @rfusca I don't believe I suggested just 'leaving it in fridge and throwing it on the grill' What kind of 'precautions' are you talking about here? A good tight wrap? Using a thermometer to make sure the temperature is in the safe zone?(33-35F)? Or maybe putting a rub on it (maybe I should have specified a 'salt rub' in order to preserve and flavor the meat?. What other precautions should be included? (I hope I don't sound flip, If I have suggested something that is unsafe, I would like to know, so I don't do it myself at the very least.)
    – Cos Callis
    Dec 23, 2011 at 5:33

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