Funky pork

[jmusser]

Had bought some butts from GFS a couple weeks ago. Overbought, no biggie. 2 bone in Swift and two boneless GFS no name. Tossed in garage fridge freezer which is old and a little iffy on freezer side. Figured in garage so should freeze as the garage is getting below freezing. Also have frozen water bottle in there. Anyways, checked yesterday to pull one out. Went to grab one out and they were all partially frozen but definitely not all the way. Figured I better cook em. Opened up the GFS and was like what the heck! Not a good smell, kept thinking what??? Opened up Swift bone in, smelled perfectly normal. Next GFS- same stank smell. Next Swift, smelled perfect.

I know I messed up the freeze and went over the sell by dates but not that crazy far past. 3 days past sell by. They had stayed pretty darn cold. Seemed so weird that one brand was just fine and the other was nasty. Didn't get pic of Swift. Date was very similar and both cryovacced. Obviously tossed the GFS and smoking the Swift tonight. Bizzare. Never bought meat from GFS before. Prob won't be doing that again!

 

[kruizer]

Sorry to hear of your losing the pork but you most likely made the right decision.

 

[chopsaw]

You can get some smell from vac'd meat like that . Usually goes away after a bit . I get all my meat from GFS . Never had any that I had to toss , but if the smell didn't go away I would . You have to watch a garage fridge in colder than normal temps . Keeps the freezer from running .

 

[Brokenhandle]

Guess I read the original title wrong...I seen funny pork, guess I was off a little bit! But think you made the right choice also.

Ryan

 

[krj]

You can get some smell from vac'd meat like that . Usually goes away after a bit . I get all my meat from GFS . Never had any that I had to toss , but if the smell didn't go away I would . You have to watch a garage fridge in colder than normal temps . Keeps the freezer from running .

I'd like to second this. I've had non-frozen cryovac butts that were packaged just a few days before put off some funk straight out of the package. After 30 minutes the odor is gone. I'm not saying you made the wrong decision by pitching it, because I advocate for the nose test. But I personally wouldn't give up on a food source with just this one experience in mind.

 

[SmokyMose]

Don't give up on GFS. I've been buying from them for years with no problems. I like their boneless twin packs for sausage. I've never bought anything there past the "sell by" date, though.

 

[jmusser]

You can get some smell from vac'd meat like that . Usually goes away after a bit . I get all my meat from GFS . Never had any that I had to toss , but if the smell didn't go away I would . You have to watch a garage fridge in colder than normal temps . Keeps the freezer from running .

Appreciate the response!

Yep I kinda knew that with the freezer. My deep freeze was topped off and that was the only location. Woulda been better in the back of my truck as it has been plenty cold. LOL.

I did give it prob 10-15 minutes but it wasn't better for me. I figured I would rather lose $30 than risk it or spend time/money smoking it. I feel like I have had some different smells from cryovac but this one really bugged me.

 

[jmusser]

You can get some smell from vac'd meat like that . Usually goes away after a bit . I get all my meat from GFS . Never had any that I had to toss , but if the smell didn't go away I would . You have to watch a garage fridge in colder than normal temps . Keeps the freezer from running .

I'd like to second this. I've had non-frozen cryovac butts that were packaged just a few days before put off some funk straight out of the package. After 30 minutes the odor is gone. I'm not saying you made the wrong decision by pitching it, because I advocate for the nose test. But I personally wouldn't give up on a food source with just this one experience in mind.

Don't give up on GFS. I've been buying from them for years with no problems. I like their boneless twin packs for sausage. I've never bought anything there past the "sell by" date, though.

Maybe they just needed a little time to breath. GFS is really close to my school so easy to go to and the prices were pretty dang good. I wanted all bone in butt(pun intended) they only had so many. Thanks for all the responses!

 

[chopsaw]

Maybe they just needed a little time to breath. GFS is really close to my school so easy to go to and the prices were pretty dang good. I wanted all bone in butt(pun intended) they only had so many. Thanks for all the responses!

Just keep an eye on the dates . Depending on what I'm doing with , lets say a pork butt .
If it's at date , I don't freeze whole . Reason is I account for thaw time against the sell date .
If cooking whole I would pass if it's at date unless I'm cooking that day .
If using for future sausage I'll clean it up and cube . Then vac and freeze . It will thaw fast enough to pull apart and grind semi frozen .
Or if using that day , I'll clean cube and season the cubes or grind it . Then in a 36 degree fridge .
That way it has salt mixed in .
If the date is weeks or days out , then I will freeze whole .

Next time if you open something and it has a smell , wipe it off with paper towels . Get rid of the package outside , and rinse off anything that might have blood on it . That way that stuff doesn't play into the smell .

It's good to be cautious . That's what keeps people healthy . Just use this as experience .

 

[Bearcarver]

Back in 2009 I bought a Low priced Refrigerator--Freezer from HD.
I was going to put it in my garage, just for Beer & curing Meat.
So I had a Buddy of mine run a new Dedicated 20 amp circuit just for that.
Then I read the owners manual, and it said not to put a Fridge or Freezer in an unheated garage in a cold climate.
So I ended up putting it in my basement.
I know a lot of guys put fridges in their garage for Beer, but I try to go by the science when I can.

Bear

 

[olaf]

Back in 2009 I bought a Low priced Refrigerator--Freezer from HD.
I was going to put it in my garage, just for Beer & curing Meat.
So I had a Buddy of mine run a new Dedicated 20 amp circuit just for that.
Then I read the owners manual, and it said not to put a Fridge or Freezer in an unheated garage in a cold climate.
So I ended up putting it in my basement.
I know a lot of guys put fridges in their garage for Beer, but I try to go by the science when I can.

Bear

I understand refrigerators acting up in a cool garage but my freezer has been there for 23 years.

 

[Bearcarver]

I understand refrigerators acting up in a cool garage but my freezer has been there for 23 years.

Yup, that's why I mentioned "All the guys who have there Fridges & Freezers in their garages". You don't have your location in your profile, so I don't know if your garage goes below freezing all the time, like mine does, but It's kinda like hearing people say they did unsafe cooking practices for years, and never got sick. Most of those guys only keep Beer & Soda in their garage Fridges, so it's not a problem.
It may be only a problem up here in our Winter Wonderland.

Also, mine was a Cheap one, and I think some are better outside than others.
Here's a lot more on that:

https://www.hunker.com/13409794/can-i-put-a-refrigerator-in-an-unheated-garage

Bear

 

[chilerelleno]

There is a difference between a 'little' meat funkiness and the stank of bad meat.
The nose knows the difference, always listen to your nose.

Slaughtering animals is a stinky job that puts some folks off.
The abdominal cavity and innards almost always have the meat funkiness smell, and it is usually combined with the coppery metallic smell of blood.
No need to go into the smell of punctured intestines, phew!

This is most likely the meat funkiness that most folks who experience it smell straight out of a cryobag, it is the smell of very fresh meat that probably didn't get washed down before bagging.

But anyways, I digress... Been there, better safe than sorry.

 

[mike243]

Most of the cheap fridges turn off of the fresh food side temp which is 36-42, you get temps in the 50’s and the freezer wont keep stuff frozen, i see it a lot, freezers don't make any difference as they will run till they hit the set point, normally around 0

 

[jmusser]

There is a difference between a 'little' meat funkiness and the stank of bad meat.
The nose knows the difference, always listen to your nose.

Slaughtering animals is a stinky job that puts some folks off.
The abdominal cavity and innards almost always have the meat funkiness smell, and it is usually combined with the coppery metallic smell of blood.
No need to go into the smell of punctured intestines, phew!

This is most likely the meat funkiness that most folks who experience it smell straight out of a cryobag, it is the smell of very fresh meat that probably didn't get washed down before bagging.

But anyways, I digress... Been there, better safe than sorry.

I have been a deer hunter/fisherman my whole life and process my own. Years of being stupid, hanging with friends, roadkill and just bad luck; I have smelled and seen some ugly processing. I struggled with this one. IDK if I could eat it even if the smell went away. Weird textures, bones, etc. really throw my palate off. Good news, the other butts and a brisket are on the smoker right now.

 

[chilerelleno]

I have been a deer hunter/fisherman my whole life and process my own. Years of being stupid, hanging with friends, roadkill and just bad luck; I have smelled and seen some ugly processing. I struggled with this one. IDK if I could eat it even if the smell went away. Weird textures, bones, etc. really throw my palate off. Good news, the other butts and a brisket are on the smoker right now.

Many a boar hog of ours has ended up dumped in a ravine because of the stank inside and out... Yotes and buzzrds gotta eat too.