2 Year Old Ribs and 18 Month Old Pork Belly - Frozen :-(

[gaz0001]

Hi Smokers,

I was browsing the chest freezer and found 5 Kilos of decent pork that I did not know was in there.

It's been in the original packaging, frozen, 3 kilo Belly for 18 months and 2 Kilo Ribs for 24 months.

Visually it looks fine, but after a Google the general consensus is to throw it out after 6 months.

I don't really want to throw it out, it's a waste.
Also, don't wanna waste 7 hours smoking it up only to get ill or not make decent food.

Any advice?

 

[BigW.]

If it smells fine out of the wrapping, no freezer burn I'd use it.

 

[SmokinEdge]

The meat is still fine. Thaw it, then carefully go over the surface of the meat and skin off any freezer burn. It’s never more than 1/16 th of an inch thick. and trim the top and sides of the surface fat. Cook and enjoy.

 

[dr k]

If it's been in it's original vac sealed cryo vaced plastic it's fine. I just did a three year old brisket. It's when it's on a Styrofoam tray with plastic wrap that gets freezer burned in 6 months.

 

[chopsaw]

Pork can get funky in that length of time . It's the fat that gets an off flavor .
I'm no stranger to this , so I get what you're saying . Even in the original vac pack . Just be advised that the thaw time plays into it , and when it hits the air , the clock is ticking . Not " BAD " , just not good / off flavor .
I just did some cured pork loins . Smelled fine , looked fine , but I knew from doing it , it was gonna be off . It was .

 

[jcam222]

From a safety standpoint according to the feds meat is safe indefinitely as long as frozen. Quality can decline although I've eaten many things I frozen vacuum sealed for 2+ years. Sometimes I have noticed a bit of an off smell on the fat as Rich mentions. I trim a bit if it and never shows up as off-putting in the final cooked meat.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Not sure if you have pets, or dogs... but if you're concerned, they would like it. Thanksgiving time I got a turkey out of freezer, didn't realize it was bought in 21, so that one got cooked and shredded for our dogs... with rice added. So if you don't want to worry about it, that's an option.
Personally I wouldn't be concerned... think it will be fine.

Ryan

 

[sandyut]

as stated, if the packaging is intact as in no holes, its good to go! Ive found "aged" product in the freezer and its always been fine.

 

[chopsaw]

Beef is forgiving . Pork is a different story . I'm not saying his is bad , but when that bag comes off pork it needs to be dealt with . I usually try to rinse , dry and get some salt on the surface . Then get it smoked , or whatever .

 

[gaz0001]

I did not run the ribs. They didn't look great.

I ran the belly. 3 Kilo, each in kilo packages.
2 looked perfect. 1 had a bit of burn on 1 side which I removed.

Ran them for around 7 hours at 225f.
Pulled 1 at 195, other 200 and 1 at 207 - used my usual poke test.

Most of the meat was kinda tough, and the fat did not render properly.
Unsure if they were bad cuts from the start, or if the 18 months frozen had messed up the fat rendering.

It wasn't me though.
I've done 50 kg of belly on the same smoker using similar process.

 

[pineywoods]

Good reason to vacuum seal if you don't already. I've eaten food that had been vacuum sealed and frozen for 4-5 years and it been fine. It's not at all unusual for us to eat 12-16 month old vacuum packed frozen meat.

 

[TARM]

3 major things that effect typical frozen food spoilage rate. How was it prepped for freezing. Was it properly vacuum sealed. How consistent and low was the temperature the product is held at. The lower the temp the lower the molecular energy the lower the rate of degradation.

I keep my deep freezers at -10°F to -15°F. Basically, I set them at the max low temp and never purchase ones that are frost free or auto defrost. I keep the freezer a min of ¾ full at all times, replacing removed food with ice if needed.

I use the thicker freezer bags to vacuum seal and keep my sealer set to the max vacuum.
I have had meat 4-5yrs old (whole chickens, steaks, a few packs of ground beef) that had no visually noticable freezer damage and looked and tasted great. The longer you go the more degredation is of course a fact unless you want to reach "absolute zero" (-459.67°F) where molecular energy decay is at a minimum other than quantum levels. Techincally its still happening but not in the practical terms of this discussion. Still even at a much warmer -10 °F it can be such a small amount of difference, say, between freshly frozen vs 6m vs 1y vs 3yr, it's not making a practical difference in terms of food quality.

It is also well know and published by the USDA for food, FDA and mil for drugs and chemicals. Light, temperature (actual and fluctuations), moisture, oxidative gases (oxygen vs nitrogen) are the factors to control.

 

[gaz0001]

3 major things that effect typical frozen food spoilage rate. How was it prepped for freezing. Was it properly vacuum sealed. How consistent and low was the temperature the product is held at. The lower the temp the lower the molecular energy the lower the rate of degradation.

I keep my deep freezers at -10°F to -15°F. Basically, I set them at the max low temp and never purchase ones that are frost free or auto defrost. I keep the freezer a min of ¾ full at all times, replacing removed food with ice if needed.

I use the thicker freezer bags to vacuum seal and keep my sealer set to the max vacuum.
I have had meat 4-5yrs old (whole chickens, steaks, a few packs of ground beef) that had no visually noticable freezer damage and looked and tasted great. The longer you go the more degredation is of course a fact unless you want to reach "absolute zero" (-459.67°F) where molecular energy decay is at a minimum other than quantum levels. Techincally its still happening but not in the practical terms of this discussion. Still even at a much warmer -10 °F it can be such a small amount of difference, say, between freshly frozen vs 6m vs 1y vs 3yr, it's not making a practical difference in terms of food quality.

It is also well know and published by the USDA for food, FDA and mil for drugs and chemicals. Light, temperature (actual and fluctuations), moisture, oxidative gases (oxygen vs nitrogen) are the factors to

Thanks for the insight.
I'm not sure my freezer management will ever be at this kind of level.

I just bought the cheapest chest freezer that would fit in the space.

Thanks for the tips on vacuum sealing,I really think one of those gadgets would be useful round here and pay for itself.

 

[TARM]

Thanks for the insight.
I'm not sure my freezer management will ever be at this kind of level.

I just bought the cheapest chest freezer that would fit in the space.

Thanks for the tips on vacuum sealing,I really think one of those gadgets would be useful round here and pay for

Put a thermometer in your deep freeze and set the thermostat to the max. See what temp you get after a few hours. The main things with deep freezers is to keep them as full as possible. They have to work far less to maintain temp over the long term and last longer with less temp fluctuations. Be sure to not set anything on the lid as it deforms & compresses the gasket which can create small leaks that you will notice by ice/frost build up.

I recommend positioning the chest freezer (frankly the same goes for your refrigerator) so it gets plenty of air flow around the base. Do not push it up against a wall. Keep it 6" minimum out. More is better. A few times a year, vacuum and dust the area around the compressor area so it can disipate heat effectively and prevent static electric buildup and discharge shorts. These things can help extend the life of the freezer (frig too) by years.

On the farm we have a couple deep freezers from the early 80's still going strong. Not saying todays feezers will last this long but they can last a very long time.

I try to keep the freezer open as short of time as possible.

Yours being a small freezer it may not matter as much but I made a inventory and location chart of what food was where so I do not have to rumage thru it for 5-10 mins trying to find that one package left of ribeyes etc. Also clearly and in large print mark each package so its super easy to know whats in it, at a glance. Date it was frozen, type of meat, number of and weight. I have a number of those huge chest freezers (coffin size) plus a couple full uprights and a smaller chest. Having a chart with inventory is very helpful. I simply add to and cross off things. When it gets a bit messy I just print another out for that freezer. You could just keep it digital on your phone etc. We grow lots of our veggies and raise and hunt for much of our meat, thus, lots of feezer and canning space which it dictates more organization.

Still, I know people with just one little chest freezers that really have no idea what they have exactly in there. They have to go digging and rooting around to see.

 

[dr k]

While you're at it put a small glass of water in the fridge with a calibrated digital cable probe or the newer RF Thermopro totally wireless tempspike XR therms or similar in it and find the coldest and warmest corners of the refrigerator. Water is like 820xs denser than air and 28.5xs a better thermal conductor than air so you'll get stable temps vs opening and closing the door quickly affecting air temp swing readings. Put the water glass and probe in the freezer to get the true temp of your frozen solid food after the water and probe freezes solid.