Sell by date issue-HELP

KyNola · January 15, 2008, 06:50:53 AM

Last night I decided to start prepping pork loins by trimming off all the fat to begin the process for canadian bacon. After having gotten about halfway into the trimming, I noticed a potential problem I need your thoughts on. I purchased the loins last Saturday afternoon. The store's label said sell or freeze by 1/23/08. On the reverse side of the cryovac bag they were packaged in had stamped on it "Use or Freeze by JAN 08 08". They smell fine, there is no obvious discoloration. I was going to begin the curing process tomorrow so I could smoke them on Sunday.

Is this something I should be overly concerned about or do you think I'm OK?

Habs, you're the canadian bacon king as far as I am concerned, what do you think?

KyNola

Tiny Tim · January 15, 2008, 07:05:59 AM

I'm only guessing here, but possibly the store or their distributor had them in the freezer for a while, thus the later "Use by" date on their lable. As long as they look and smell okay, they should be fine, as long as the rest of your handling process is safe.

Habanero Smoker · January 15, 2008, 01:59:38 PM

I agree with Tiny Tim. It was frozen by Jan 08 08, and later thawed to be sold by the store.

KyNola · January 15, 2008, 06:44:33 PM

Thanks guys. Just don't want to ruin that much canadian bacon! Put it in the cure tonight. Will remove the cure Saturday night and smoke it Sunday.

Can't wait!
KyNola

Mr Walleye · January 15, 2008, 06:59:46 PM

NyNola

I just got thinking about the amount of time in the cure. Tonite till Saturday is only 4 days. The bacon I've done I have stuck to the 6 days in Habs recipe. I'm just curious if this is an issue.

Mike

KyNola · January 15, 2008, 07:38:02 PM

Good question Walleye. The TQ meat curing guide recipe calls for 3-5 days and Habs calls for 6 days. The first time I made canadian bacon I cured it for 3 days. It was fully cured as evident by the nice pink color throughout. I am curing this batch in vac sealed bags so I'm hoping 4 days in a vac sealed bag will help to "increase" the cure time. Other posts say it does but by how much is the question. Certainly not 33%.

I'll be interested to see how it turns out. Will post and let you know if interested.

KyNola

Mr Walleye · January 16, 2008, 06:32:47 AM

I'm absolutely interested KyNola!

Keep us posted for sure. Any new info/knowledge is good! ;)

Mike

KyNola · January 16, 2008, 07:30:54 AM

Walleye,
Less than 12 hours in the curing process and it's already generating a fairly good amount of liquid. So far I'm encouraged. Doesn't take much to encourage me though when it comes to smoking food. I just like doing it. :D

KyNola

MallardWacker · January 17, 2008, 06:22:52 AM

Smoke on KyNola...SMOKE ON. Keep us informed.

KyNola · January 17, 2008, 09:39:14 AM

Will do MW. I know you and Habs are pretty much the bacon kings around here so I'm a little nervous with you two peering over my shoulder. But then again, it's pork, it's seasoned and it's smoked. I'm not too sure you can screw that combination up no matter what you do to it! :D

KyNola

KyNola · January 17, 2008, 06:17:36 PM

UPDATE! For those of you interested, two days in the cure process in the vac sealed bags and the meat is firming up nicely. I'm pretty happy with the results thus far. Between Mallard Wacker, Habs and Walleye actually posting on my original post, I'm getting pretty nervous about this whole deal. I'm using Habs recipe so I know I'm good to go there but I'm a new guy on the block.

Really looking forward to Sunday when I roll the smoke! So are a bunch of my friends. They know I'm making canadian bacon again.

Keep your fingers crossed,
KyNola

Mr Walleye · January 17, 2008, 06:29:28 PM

KyNola... We have absolute confidence in you! 8)

My bet is it will be perfect! ;)

Mike

KyNola · January 17, 2008, 06:40:17 PM

Walleye,
That's what I appreciate about this forum. It 's all about the support. I've done canadian bacon before. Not with the vac bag curing process and not this long so I'm pretty excited about seeing how it goes. When guys like you, Mallard Wacker and Habs actually say let us know what's going on, I promise you it means a lot to me and I'm sure all the newer guys here. Thanks.

KyNola

Mr Walleye · January 17, 2008, 06:54:25 PM

KyNola

I couldn't agree more with you about the forum. It really is a great place with a wealth of great people and information. A person is never done learning.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing...

What makes it truely wonderful is when it's shared.

Mike

KyNola · January 17, 2008, 07:28:21 PM

Walleye,
Here's a twist for you. Tonight when I was checking the pork loins my wife walked in and wanted to know if it was going as expected.. She said and I quote " I really enjoyed helping you with that the other night". While I was weighing the pieces of loin and mixing the cure, she was applying the cure to the meat. I'm thinking I have A.) created a monster and/or B) drawn a bye for whatever I need to purchase to further our smoking needs.

What do you think?
KyNola