Aging pork

[Rfuilrez]

Hi guys. Been a while since I’ve been around but I have myself a question and I know one of you has the answer.

I bought myself a twin packed pork shoulder, vacuum packed, from Costco a few weeks ago intending to have used it already. But life happened and it never got cooked or put in the freezer.

I know brisket is good for a while, and improves the meat. But what about pork? How long can I sit on this before I eat it? What about ribs? Pork belly? Does aging pork have similar outcomes to beef?

Thanks in advance!

[Jerod Broussard]

Not the best thing to do with pork.

[Nate]

Just don’t...

[Rfuilrez]

That’s what my inclination was but wanted to be sure. I didn’t know if being vacuum packed it would last like brisket does.

I’ll have to be sure to use my next one right away!

As a rule how much time would I have? Is a week too much? 2 weeks?

[Jerod Broussard]

I watch the Best Buy dates on those things. I don't like them to sit in the fridge more than 2-3 days since I typically do a 2-3 day dry brine before smoking.

[EdF]

Rinse it off and smell it, then decide.

[sos2979]

Found a website that I thought might be of interest...

http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/2364/ageing-and-the-impact-on-meat-quality/

The two things I picked up where you need a really cold refrigerator if your going to do it. They say to prevent clostridium growth you need to be at or below 3C (37.4F). So you better be confident your fridge is really cold. Second they mention that more then 12-15 weeks tends to give an unpleasant flavor. If your fridge is cold enough you should be okay. How much do you trust your fridge?

[EdF]

Interesting. Thanks for the link!

[Rfuilrez]

I’d trust it pretty well. It’s in a stand up freezer with a digital temperature controller set to turn on at 3c and off at -0.5c air temperature. I guess I’ll rinse and smell it and see what I see. If it smells bad no big deal. If it smells fine I’ll cook it and see what happens.