How long can pork shoulders, or any meat for that matter, be held in the refrigerator?

What is the "sell by" or "use by" date on the package? Usually the cryovac packed stuff can store a long time. If it wasn't near it's "use by" date when you bought it I would expect it to be fine.

Chuck

 

Chuck, look for the "sell by / use by" date. Those look like the Sam's Butts I get,I've held them for a week, however (eventhough it was still in date) I washed it off before cooking. You should make sure the Smoker is at the propper cooking temp.(225° or higher) before Smoking and after placing in the Smoker , let it get to the 145° mark before inserting a probe (or thermometer).

Cook to above 200° and you should be OK. A smell of anykind (sour) would then prevent me from cooking it and tossing. As stated, better to lose the $$$ than get sick. Therefore be especially diligent ,ANY doubt and it's gone...don't mean to be vague, but if look a bit before buying you have less problem. I realize you had no idea of the Cold coming on, but once sick , I would have let a friend have them so they wouldn't have gone bad ; or have The wife / girlfriend cook it in the oven and use one of Todd's AMNPS to give smoke flavor to the already cooked meat.

Hope it is alright and you get your Butt , just take care , just getting the 'Poops' is bad enough , let alone full blown food poisoning .

Have fun and I hope it's alright...

It is very likely that you purchased the pork shortly after it was delivered to the store. The sell by date and use by date may be a week apart in many cases. Typically any sealed fresh meat, original pack not store wrapped on a foam tray, and dairy product will be fine 7-10 days past the Sell By date. The Use By date should not be pushed by more than a day or two. That being said cry-o-vac packed meats that are still intact will keep, especially in condition you describe, 2 weeks past the sell by date. So you should be fine. Also understand that rotten meat is FUNKY! An Off smell that dissipates within a minute or two is extremely common with cry-o-vac meat as is the slime that occurs as the meat naturally ages, just wash it off. Your Nose will tell you in a big way if it is bad...JJ

Chef JimmyJ said:

It is very likely that you purchased the pork shortly after it was delivered to the store. The sell by date and use by date may be a week apart in many cases. Typically any sealed fresh meat, original pack not store wrapped on a foam tray, and dairy product will be fine 7-10 days past the Sell By date. The Use By date should not be pushed by more than a day or two. That being said cry-o-vac packed meats that are still intact will keep, especially in condition you describe, 2 weeks past the sell by date. So you should be fine. Also understand that rotten meat is FUNKY! An Off smell that dissipates within a minute or two is extremely common with cry-o-vac meat as is the slime that occurs as the meat naturally ages, just wash it off. Your Nose will tell you in a big way if it is bad...JJ

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X2 - you nose will tell you 

If they're getting close to the "use by" date I recommend putting them on ice, label dates aren't always reliable.


~Martin