frozen boston butt lifespan

[chrisjames]

My wife found a frozen boston butt in the bottom of our deep freezer (not frost free) a couple of days ago and put it in the fridge to thaw for a friday night smoke. it is still in the original cryo-pack. the date on the label says august 2016. i'm not too worried that it has stuff growing in it, but, do you think it would have any off flavors? It is thawing in the fridge now. I will open it Friday, so I will have a better idea then. There is one small section of meat that has a lot of ice crystals on it, but it doesn't really look freezer burned otherwise. However, the cryo-pack does look puffed up a little like it has slightly pressurized while it was thawing. i am not sure if that is just a boyle's law issue, or if something else is going on.

think it's any good?



the thing is...i KNEW i had one last summer, but i couldn't find it in the freezer. my wife just found it today. i guess the little blue men (twilight zone reference) recently remembered to put it back in there.

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

I’d smoke it. Vacusealed meat is good for up to 2 years from what I’ve been told. And yes I’ve cooked meat that’s that old. I had some old butcher papered brats that had crystals on them pretty good. Big flavor loss so after I ate a few bites i chucked the rest. Never had any issues with vacusealed meat under the 2 year range.

Good luck
Scott

 

[chopsaw]

I just made a ham out of a picnic from 2015 . It was great . Trim the bad spots if any .

 

[Bearcarver]

Anything in my freezer from 2016 would be considered "Fresh" compared to the rest of the occupants.

Bear

 

[SmokinAl]

I agree with the above, the only red flag to me would be the cryovac package has puffed up.
When you open it if it smells good, then I would use it.
Al

 

[atomicsmoke]

Anything in my freezer from 2016 would be considered "Fresh" compared to the rest of the occupants.

Bear

Lol

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Lmao bear!

 

[challenger]

This is why we bought an upright and not a chest freezer. That butt should still be good though.