How long will fresh pork keep frozen

[dennisdocb]

Hey Guys and gals..
A friend of mine gave me some fresh pork hams, shoulders and bacon. They have been frozen since the day it was processed..According to him around 1 1/2 to 2 yrs. They are wrapped in white butcher paper..Was wondering if it is still good??? What do you experts think??..Alright NEW MODS here is your time to shine..lol..I have always been leery about things frozen too long..Will accept your advice as gospel..

 

[smokin365]

Id look at it, if it dont look freezer burnt, i wouldnt worry about it. Personally, ive never had anything stay in my freezer for that long of a time, so i wouldnt know

 

[pineywoods]

Kinda depends on lots of things. If it was vacuum packed then I would say no problem. If it was only wrapped in freezer paper I would be kinda leery.

 

[ronp]

Look for freezer burn. If it is you may try and trim. Just depends on the wrapping. Can't tell without Pics.

 

[richtee]

Read thru this post and link:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...38007#poststop

I have used foods frozen longer, even with some freezer burn. With some agressive trimming, you might save a hunk...but be prepared for perhaps disappointment. Thought I saved half a butt once... looked OK but the off-taste went right thru it...sigh. Fry up a hunk of the salvage and check it before cooking it.

 

[pops6927]

This is the recommendation from the US Pork Council, the other white meat forum:

What length of time can I keep pork in the freezer?
Generally, fresh cuts of pork, like roasts, chops and tenderloin can be kept well-wrapped in the freezer up to 6 months. Well-wrapped ground pork can be kept for about 3 months in the freezer.

How do I properly wrap my fresh pork to keep it in the freezer?
Follow these steps to help keep your pork fresh in the freezer

• Use one of these freezer wrap materials: specially-coated freezer paper (place the waxed side against the meat); heavy-duty aluminum foil; heavy-duty polyethylene film; heavy-duty plastic bags.
• Re-wrap pork in convenient portions: leave roasts whole, place chops in meal-size packages, shape ground pork into patties. Put a double layer of waxed paper between chops and patties.
• Cover sharp bones with extra paper so the bones do not pierce the wrapping.
• Wrap the meat tightly, pressing as much air out of the package as possible.
• Label with the name of the pork cut and date.
• Freeze at 0 degrees F or lower.

If it were me I'd follow the meat manager's rule-of-thumb: the first loss is the best loss... dump it and go on. Try to salvage $100 of pork and spend $400 in the ER isn't a good equation. The expanded rule-of-thumb is: Would you sell it to your mother and then go to her house for dinner? If not, toss it out and take the first loss as the best loss. That's how I judged every single package in my fresh and frozen meat cases every single morning for over 30 years. My cases were always fresh and I cut almost right to the point of sale, and in every single case, they'd send me into shops losing money hand over fist and sales would be far below average; after 6 months I'd double the sales and increase profits into the black following that one simple rule. I had a Senior VP of Meat Merchandising come to one of my stores once and ask me what my 'secret' was after they'd put me in 6 of their worst stores and I built them up to profitable departments; I just laughed and told him that quote - came straight from my Dad (he used to be a meat manager for A & P before the war).
So, I'd bone bucket it and go buy something fresh you could trust not to kill you or make you wish you were dead.

 

[dennisdocb]

Thanks Guys, I haven't looked at any of it yet but will this weekend..I'll take some pics and post...might be interesting..then again might be fine..we'll see..Thanks again

 

[packplantpath]

The rule in our house was always one year, so we made sure it was eaten at that point, and we seldom had problem with freezer burn even w/ butcher paper. Was it in a frost free freezer? That makes a big difference too.

 

[phreak]

I would say pork will stay frozen as long as it's under 32 degrees...
sorry, had too.