Pork Belly Problem?

[JeffJ]

Saturday morning (10/6) I am cutting a pork belly into 1 inch cubes and will be cooking it in the Pit Barrel. I'm going to dust it with a rub and when the cubes hit around 190 I'm going to brush them with KC sauce and let 'em stay in until the sauce glazes over. I purchased the belly last Friday at Costco. The packaging said, "Sell through 10/5" so I opted not to freeze it. Well, I opened the package to dry brine it and this thing stunk. It didn't smell rancid, but it definitely had an offensive odor. My wife said it smelled like someone took a dump in the kitchen.

Is this going to be a problem? I'm not so much worried about bacteria or pathogens; the smoke and internal temperatures will take care of that. I am concerned about how it's going to come out though.

Any input is much appreciated.

Note: I've cooked stinky chicken before and it always came out great.

[ecowper]

I’ve had cryovac odor before, but I don’t think I’d ever describe it as smelling like someone took a dump .... that doesn’t sound good.

[JeffJ]

Can you describe cryovac odor?

It didn't smell like someone took a dump to me, but it certainly had an odor to it.

ecowper

[ecowper]

JeffJ I’d say musty/sulfur mixed together .... But I’m a bad one for describing odors. Rinse the belly off thoroughly, let it sit out in fresh air for 15-20 minutes, see if it still smells bad.

[CaptainMike]

It seems like every cryovac pork has an unpleasant smell but turns out fine after air and salt. With that said, if smells revolting then think about taking it back, I'm sure they would replace it. However, I'm having a hard time with your dates as today is Thursday October 5th

[HawkerXP]

Yes, Costco will take just about anything back. But as stated above pork and turkey when unwrapped can really stink. Usually when rinsed off it gets better.

[Troutman]

Maybe he's from the future......I'm getting nervous

[JeffJ]

ecowper
CaptainMike

Sound advice. I'll see how it smells when I go into the basement 'fridge in a few minutes to retrieve a cold beer.

[CaptainMike]

Ooh, multi-tasking, I like your style.

[Oakgrovebacon]

If you give a rinse with beer it would smell better

[Steve B]

Everything's better with beer.

[Mr. Bones]

True Dat, Amigos!
Jus' sayin'!

[JeffJ]

It still smells, but it's not as strong. Also, I loosely covered it with foil so it's not airing out as quickly as it otherwise would.

Beer is good though.

[ecowper]

Yeah, if the smell is going away, I think you’re okay. If it’s still stinky in the morning, take it back to Costco

[Jerod Broussard]

Nothing peroxyacetic acid (PAA) can't take care of.

Maybe......

[JeffJ]

Well, I rinsed it and seasoned it last night with a rub that I made. It still had some of that smell, but it wasn't as bad. At that point it was too late to take it back to Cosctco so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the PBC will cook out any off odors/flavors. I'll take pics and will post them.

[Oakgrovebacon]

Good luck with the cook! Enjoy the day.

[6th Borough BBQ]

Looks like everyone is braver than I am. If it smells after a small amount of time in the air, it's time to find another butt. I'm not risking it.

[JeffJ]

Well, it turned out great. It got rave reviews at the tailgate and it went quickly. Unfortunately, I only thought to snap one pic while it was still in the PBC and since it was dripping so heavily there is a lot of smoke in this pic:

[EdF]

What a horrible picture - not! Nice! Very nice!