Pork belly a month past sell by date…Â sealed but a little funky. Trash or treasure?

[PhotoJoseph]

This is a food safety question. I probably already know the answer but would love to hear it from someone else.

I bought a 10 lb slab of pork belly to make bacon, and forgot all about it. It’s sell-by date (from Costco) was 4/15, today is 5/19, so it’s a month past sell-by. It’s been in the fridge and sealed in the original vacuum bag the whole time. I finally opened it up today, and it has a little funk to it. The kind you put your nose close to, take a deep sniff and think "yeah, that’s got a bit of funk". (Not the kind where the police come looking for a body). The meat looks totally fine, and the only visual telltale sign is the slightly "melted fat" residue on the bag.

I’d already mixed the cure by the time I opened it so I went ahead and cut and sealed it in its three ziplock bags for the five-day cure.

What do you think… safe, or toss it?

thanks all
-Joseph

[jfmorris]

Beef primals and brisket are the only meat I wet age in the cryovac. Pork bellies - personally, I would still use it a few days past the sell by date, but not a month. Just not worth the risk. The cure won’t make it safe if toxins have developed.

[Mr. Bones]

If I was yerself, I'd bag it an tag it.
Smartest, Safest thing to do, without a doubt. </PSA>
Dependin on what i whiffed, as described?
I'd cook it.
There, I've covered my arse.
There'll likely be loads of input on this topic, lookin forward to it.

Sometimes even a spankin new pork butt can have some stank, up close, when first opened, so accordin to Newton, that means that compromised pork butt, totally unsafe to eat, could have no kinda stank, whatsoever.

Leasts that's my own interpretation of Newton, an I reckon it applies to pork butts, same as everything else, unless I miss my guess.

[texastweeter]

NO Troutman everyone knows Newton dealt with figs... Put down the bottle...

[smokenoob]

maybe he meant Darwin?

[Steve R.]

Wait, how did Newton die?

[Jerod Broussard]

I don't trust pork like I trust beef.

[Ahumadora]

+2 and trust your nose

[smokin fool]

+3 storing pork has gotten better but still not where beef is

[smokenoob]

agree, would turn my back on a cow butt not a pig

[mountainsmoker]

Yep toss; it.

[PhotoJoseph]

Sounds like the verdict is in. Thanks everyone. That’s what I suspected but wanted confirmation.

Thank you again.

[Clark]

When in doubt....throw it out!

[Ahumadora]

Or feed it to the mother in law...

[HouseHomey]

Cut some fat off, fix it and I’d eat that.

[CaptainMike]

My mantra in these circumstances: pork is cheap, ER visits are expensive.

[Old Glory]

Toss it just ask Frank...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rU5mpwJ6GU

[treesmacker]

Well said!

[Bumby]

Food poisoning from pork is no joke. Was out three days when a local lunch place served me some bad pork...

[fracmeister]

Depends on how you cook it. Why not sous vde to 160 and leave it there quite a while. If it smells funny when you take it ouit thats a flavor thing but you wont have bacteria problems. make burnt ends from that sous vided stuff and you will be cooking it another 6 hours.

your call

[rickgregory]

Hell no. The bacteria aren't the issue... it's the toxins they produce, which do not break down during cooking.

[LA Pork Butt]

If in doubt throw it out.