Flash chilling is very simple. Just make sure you have a fairly large ice bath (ice and water that is at least 50% ice) and put the meat immediately from the heated bath into the ice bath. This will rapidly chill the meat prior to refrigeration. Make sure you leave the meat in the ice bath long enough for it to chill to the center if it's a thick cut or a roast.
1 How big should I expect the swings in my home fridge to be with normal usage?
The mild swings from opening and closing your refrigerator door a couple times a day aren't going to really make big difference. Just make sure you don't leave the door open for extended periods of time.
2 If I have a second fridge and the door rarely opens, what will the temperature swings be there?
There are a lot of things that influence the temperature of a refridgerator besides opening and closing the door. A refrigerator goes through cycles for chilling (and for defrosting) etc where the temperature varies. Some brands of refridgerators (i.e. Samsung) have separate cooling systems for the freezer and fridge portions so freezer defrost cycles do not cause swings in temperature in the fridge section.
Also, an empty refrigerator loses a lot more heat than a full refrigerator when the door is open. Storing plastic bottles of water or cans of soda and beer on empty shelves will actually make the temperature more constant over time since they retain more heat (or "cold") than air. Of course, if you turn a fridge into a beer-fridge, chances are that the door is gonna get opened a lot more.
3 Since the botulism concern is due to the vacuum, am I correct in thinking that this concern will disappear if I remove the meat from the vacuum to store it? Obviously, this approach would reintroduce all the normal safety concerns with storing cooked meat.
Sous-vide cooking should pasteurize the meat if it was cooked long enough and kill most . Keeping the pastuerized food that is sealed at a controlled temperature is going to preserve it for much longer than breaking open the seal and allowing any pathogens in before keeping it at the same temperature.
The most important thing is to follow the established safety charts for cooking times, temperatures, using correct flash chilling and then following the safety charts for storage temperatures and duration as well.
Busy time of year for us chefs so not really got time to do any research. Personally I don't think quality will be noticeable between big or small. Best way for freezing is always to vacuum to avoid freezer burn.
If you wrap it up tight with a good few layers of cling film you should get a near vacuum result (as close as you will get without it)
The best way of clingfilm-ing something like fillet steak is the sausage method (sorry I don't know the technical term if there even is one)
- Lay 5 layers of cling film flat on work surface.
- Lay fillet towards the front.
- Pull cling film tight over the top and then roll fillet till all the way over so all the cling film is now rolled round it.
- Grab both ends and start rolling on surface so that you are tightening up those two 'handles' until you can't do it any tighter. Then tie the 'handles' in knots.
- Pierce one whole through the cling film allowing all the trapped air to get out then wrap in a few more layers of cling film.
Hope that all made sense hard without pictures. Its far from ideal but I can't see any better way for you.
Best Answer
While dry aging does impact texture, storing a portion that you might purchase for yourself, or a small number of people, in the refrigerator for a few days will not impact the final texture. Instead, consider purchasing high quality cuts, and the correct cut for your application. Consider a tenderizing pre-treatment (some marinades are intended for tenderization). Finally, of course, cooking process will greatly impact the final texture.