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Fresh Pork

Mottmott

By Mottmott
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Mottmott

Mottmott

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How long should you be able to keep pork shoulder in the fridge before using it?

I have a 2 day old pork shoulder that strikes me as a bit off. (It was wrapped in butchers wrap, not prepackaged in plastic on one of those trays.) I will take it back to the store tomorrow, but am I being overly cautious? Or was it hanging out at Whole Foods too long?

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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fifi

fifi

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If it smells off after only two days in your fridge, I would take it back. Unless your fridge is running too warm, two days is certainly a reasonable amount of for it to keep. I have kept pork butt for more than that with no problem. But then, I keep my fridge pretty cold.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Mottmott

Mottmott

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You're right about keeping the fridge cold. I think lots of them aren't cold enough. I keep a thermometer in mine so I know it's not that. I was going to take it back anyway, but I wanted some moral support. It's not stinking and slimy, just not quite seeming fresh.

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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Kevin72

Kevin72

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Based on limited experience here:

I've noticed that things wrapped in butcher's paper seem to give an "off" smell to them--not sure if the paper just absorbs liquid more or what. But I get pork from a butcher in downtown Dallas sometimes and have noticed an off smell to it when I unwrap it after a few days in the fridge. Usually once I throw out the paper, rinse the meat and pat it dry, it doesn't have that smell. Only once did it seem to permeate the meat, but that was after a considerably longer time in the fridge. Wound up throwing it out after cooking and taking a bite. I'm stubborn that way, though. I usually try to use the meat as soon as possible or transfer it to different wrapping when I get it home. Not to try to persuade you from returning meat with a funny smell, just the butcher paper distinction gave me that thought.

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nice_guy1812

nice_guy1812

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I once had some pork hocks that smelled a bit off, so I stuck them in a brine for a few days (which was my original intention, I just forgot about them), then braised them for a few hours and served with lentils. I think the hocks had been sitting in the fridge for 3 days before I brined them. They turned out incredibly delicious and I didn't get sick, so you could try that if you wanted.

"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!"

-Presiden Muffley, Dr. Strangelove

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Chud62120798

Chud62120798

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Sometime fresh pork can smell downright gamey. My theory is that factory farmed pork has created the expectation that fresh meat smells like nothing. I guess it depends on what the animals were fed, what breed they were,etc. The portugese Pork O Rama in my town sells lots of fresh pork at great prices, but their product has a distinctive pork funk, as opposed to the big chain grocery pork stores. Cook the heck out it after an acidic marinade...?

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Mottmott

Mottmott

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"A bit" off? I would scrub it up and roast it right away. That'll kill anything clinging to the exterior. I think they're going to look at you funny if you bring it back three days after you bought it.

But maybe not.

I bought it late in the day on the 17th, meaning to but didn't get to cook it the next day. I went to do cook it on the 19th (last night) and am returning it today. When I've bought chicken (which I never let hang over), I had the gap from packing to expiration go longer than that!

As for cooking it up, I intended to cook part and freeze the rest. The only reason I discovered its poor condition is that I had scissored off the web-like sleeve the deboned roast was in so as to cut it in half. (Even if roasting the whole thing, I always take off that awful web and retie with twine. BTW: Who invented that web? Yuck.

Edited to add: the reason I took a big wiff was that the meat felt oddly slimy as I was cutting it. This isn't the first time I've bought a large roast and cut it up myself, but it's the first time it hasn't seemed fresh.

Edited by Mottmott (log)

"Half of cooking is thinking about cooking." ---Michael Roberts

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fiftydollars

fiftydollars

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...I've noticed that things wrapped in butcher's paper seem to give an "off" smell to them...

I also notice that if I don’t rewrap deli meats in something else right after I buy them they don’t taste quite as fresh just a day or so later. I just think that the paper is too permeable. It doesn’t keep out the refrigerator odors and oxygen that can quickly alter the flavor of the fat and protein in meats.

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