CRYOVAC PACKAGING

[sherlock]

I bought some beef in cryovac packaging on Thursday the 8th of January. It has been in the fridge since then due to a family emergency. Does anyone know if it should still be good or if I should just trash it.
Thanks

[NePaSmoKer]

I believe you should be fine, however smell it, if your nose tells you it dont smell right....toss it.

nepas

[HCT]

I had a frozen pork shoulder over a year old in cry-o-vac. Made a great pulled pork. No smell, great taste. :)

Didn't read your post correctly. Bad habit of mine.

[westexasmoker]

Sherlock, I agree with Nepa if it smells funny just toss it and move ahead.  I got a feeling your gonna have some mighty fine aged beef there, I routinely age my briskets and roast either cryovac'd or vac seal for 30 days if not longer in the fridge....matter of fact gots a roast thats been vac sealed since december thats going into the smoke tomorrow.

C

[sherlock]

Thanks everybody

[Habanero Smoker]

There also should be a use by and freeze by date on the package.

[FLBentRider]

I let my nose do the telling... going past the date has a lot to do with how it was handled before it got to you.

[La Quinta]

I'm a nose person too...but...(correct me if I'm wrong) aren't the cryovac meats usually injected with a "kind of brine"?

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm a nose person too...but...(correct me if I'm wrong) aren't the cryovac meats usually injected with a "kind of brine"?

Generally cryovac meats are not injected. Most of the time it's large cuts of meat that is vacuum sealed at the processing plant. Then it is shipped to your local stores where you butcher or meat cutter will open the package and cut then meat into more recognizable pieces you see displayed at the stores. Cryovac pork or poultry can or cannot be injected with a brine solution, depending on the way it is processed. There use to be a lot of enhanced pork (injected pork) on the market, but fortunately I'm seeing less of it in my area.

I don't rely on my nose.

[La Quinta]

Ok Habs...but I buy briskets (for, say, St. Pats Day, which are cryovac'd) that contain, and are tenderized, with up to 35% of a solution of water, salt, sugar, sodium phosphate and an entire plethera of other stuff....so...am I wrong about the "brine" angle???

[Buck36]

There is a post from Olds on the recipe page that talks about this subject that may help.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=138#post138

[westexasmoker]

I concur with ya Buck, and that link from Olds...I've aged beef for the 30 days (if I can wait that long) for as long as I can remember....LQ, down here i"ve never seen beef injected with anything, pork yes, but beef no....Must have something to do with teabags!!    ;D

C

[La Quinta]

It might be...WTS....but I read it off of the package...maybe I'm losing my mind????

[Habanero Smoker]

LQ;

Your original stated " aren't the cryovac meats usually injected with a "kind of brine"?", and the example you gave in your last post is true for that particular cut of meat. What I mean is "generally" or the greater amount of time they are not. The major meat packaging companies cryovac their meats prior to shipping them to your local super markets, Sam's Club etc. Cryovac meat speeds up the processing, so the meat processing plants no longer have to dry age the meat. If you go through a Sam's Club, you will see many cuts of cryovac meat (beef, lamb and pork) that are not brine processed. These cuts you generally will not see on display at your local market, because the butcher or meat cutter will open the cryovac package, and process the meat into more recognizable pieces like steaks, chops, roast etc.

The example you gave in your last post is corned beef, which is usually packaged that way, but most brisket flats that are cryovac are not brine injected. At one point it was common to see cryovac pork loin, and ribs that had been enhanced.

I hope this help explain it a little better.

[La Quinta]

Ok...thanks Habs...now I get it...