How cold should a fridge be so as to keep meat cold but not frozen?
 

I do not know if this is the right forum, so mods pls move it to where it belongs.

I just bought a rib loin from a very good freind who has connections in the meat business . USDA Prime meat selaed/packed and stamped. Got home and cut 18 0.75in rib eye steaks for an approx cost of $3.50/steak. It was SOOOO tender that all it took was my Wustof Santuko and a dinner fork to cut it.

Now, I put my share (6 steaks) in the deep freeze (which hurt me as I did it) and I realized that at this price, I might as well invest in a small meat fridge.

What temp do the steakhouses keep their meats at? It should never be frozen, so I am thinking maybe 20/25 defree Farenheight.

Does anybody know/care to share?

Thanks

Well 32 deg F is freezing. A refrigerator should be kept at 40 deg F. A freezer should be kept at 0 deg F. Also check the temp at different levels and between food since it can vary.

Beef stored for "Dry Aging" is optimally held at 34F, a bit colder than most refrigerators can manage. Wet-aging or simply keeping beef likely does best below 40F and as close to 34F as possible.

Around 40F, provided you plan on using within 4-5 days. Any longer I would probably freeze.

In celcius, between 0-4 degrees. Definitely freeze if you want to keep it for longer than a few days.

Refridgeration around 40F is fine. If you went by the Health and Safety regulations here, for food establishments anyway, our inspectors want to see a fridge temperature of 2-5C or 36-41F. Freezer temperatures should be around -18C (+/-2C) or 0F. Much colder than -18C for extended periods will lead to freezer burn, especially with meat.

If you have a top freezer model, the shelf directly below the freezer would be the best place for it. I measure a 4% difference between top and bottom shelves. A better refrigerator might have less variation, but I'd still expect the top shelf to be coldest.

Meat does not freeze at 32 degrees. I don't know what the exact temperature is for beef, but fresh chicken is normally kept at 29 degrees through the distribution process.

my kitchen aid firdge is set at 37 but can down to 34....

freezer is set to 0

deep freeze is where I put it since it is not going to be used for 2-3 weeks

GE recommends 0 for the freezer, 37 for the fridge on ours. 37 was too cold, froze stuff on the top shelf when it turned on, so we raised that to 40


If you want to age it at home, wrap it up in towels or cheese cloth, stick it in the back of the fridge away from any air blowing over it, change the cloth every day for two weeks.

Correct on both counts. I don't imagine that the numbers vary
that much among meats. If one were to Google "freezing temperature
of meat" (with or without quotation marks), one could easily find out
that meat freezes at 28F.