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Indemnity4 t1_j8lpo7d wrote

The optimum temperature to store meat is the coldest it can get without freezing, usually -1.5°C - 7°C.

Fancy words below, but the reason low-pressure makes the bacteria stop growing is they run out of oxygen. The process sucks all the air out of the package, and the protective film is a barrier to oxygen. The residual bacteria eat up all the residual oxygen in the bag, aplus ny dissolved oxygen in the water or tissue. They release CO2 up to about 20%, which inhibits further growth of aerobic bacteria.

At that point, only anaerobic bacteria can grow. Typically, those are only in trace quantities compared to the aerobes, so it's sort of a defacto nice effect rather than some amazing sterilization technique. An example of those are the lactic acid bacteria.

> Soon after packaging, the population of lactic acid bacteria is generally below the limit of detection (10 CFU / g), but it increases during storage (40). Lactic acid bacteria ferment glucose and other substrates that are present in meat. When these substrates are depleted, growth stops, typically when the population reaches 8 log/cm2. The metabolic residues of most lactic acid bacteria are not eliminated, however, and can be identified as slightly acidic or milky tastes.

If you have ever opened a "blown" or even old vacuum pack, that first smell you get is the digestive gases such as H2S. Or maybe you smell a faint trace of vomit or rancid butter for second, that is butyric acid as a byproduct of the lactic acid bacteria that is also flavouring the meat.

Low or ultra low pressure won't change the bacterial growth rates of anaerobic bacteria.

If you somehow could make the package sterile, such as pressure canning or pasturization, you end up with tinned meat. That's an interesting route to explore with incredibly long shelf life. There are interesting Youtube videos of modern people eating WW2 old army ration packs with various amounts of subsequent illness.

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