About 5 years ago a buddy of mine bought a used Electric Meat grinder from a deer processor going out of business. The seller threw in several Con Yeager Summer Sausage Kits.
A few weeks ago my buddy gave me the kits. I figured I could salvage the fibrous casings but the seasoning Packages were probably too old for my taste. In my experience spices, even if kept in an air tight container tend to degrade in flavor over time.
My question is would the Cure packages be alright to use?
That would depend on the storage conditions. Personally I'd toss it. Cure is cheap.
From everything I have read cure will not go bad as long as you keep it dry/air tight and out of sunlight.
I agree with 3rensho. Generally cure will store indefinitely in an air tight container, and kept in a cool, dry and dark area. Not knowing how it was stored, I would toss it, cure #1 is cheap. Your friend had it for 5 years, and it is unknown how long the deer processor had kept it.
Thanks Guys. For all I know it could have been stored under the outhouse. I kinda doubt it but the point is that I do not know how it was stored.
Well at least I got to salvage the casings ;)