Fear Factor: Refrigerated Meat Edition
Wife and I have had a few interesting conversations about pork chops this week.
Not pork chops in general, but a specific set of port chops in our fridge.
Wife thawed these chops on Friday to try a new Asian pork recipe she found in one of her Southern Living cookbooks.
But by the time Friday night rolled around, a big home-cooked meal just wasn't in the cards, so I called an audible and we let the kids enjoy some Chef Boyardee and ordered Chinese after they were in bed.
(Somewhat ironically, our standard Chinese takeout dish is Roast Pork with Mixed Vegetables.)
"We'll cook the pork chops tomorrow night," I told my bride.
Saturday worked out similarly, with neither of us in the mood for a big meal since we worked in the yard all day and Wife pulled birthday party duty with Son.
We eat with my parents on Sunday nights, so we deferred the pork chops until Monday.
"They'll be fine," I told Wife, trying to sell her on the fact that the soy sauce marinade would buy us some extra time.
On Monday, we got an offer to go to my mother-in-law's house for kielbasa and cabbage. And when kielbasa is in play, everything else fades into the background. I love the stuff.
To put it more clearly, you can take my kielbasa when you pry it from my cold, dead hand.
(Let's see what kind of search results that little phrase yields.)
Last night I had school, so we didn't make plans to eat together as a family. The pork chops got dissed again, but with definite plans to cook them tonight.
"You really think they'll be okay to eat?" asked the Wife.
"I don't know," I told her.
We erred on the side of caution and ditched the pork chops today. Sorry, pig.
Wife whipped up some sausage manicotti instead. I think that was the right call.
But just out of curiosity, would you have eaten pork chops that had been in the fridge five days? Where do you draw the line when it comes to possibly-rancid, possibly-not meat? How old is too old?
Not pork chops in general, but a specific set of port chops in our fridge.
Wife thawed these chops on Friday to try a new Asian pork recipe she found in one of her Southern Living cookbooks.
But by the time Friday night rolled around, a big home-cooked meal just wasn't in the cards, so I called an audible and we let the kids enjoy some Chef Boyardee and ordered Chinese after they were in bed.
(Somewhat ironically, our standard Chinese takeout dish is Roast Pork with Mixed Vegetables.)
"We'll cook the pork chops tomorrow night," I told my bride.
Saturday worked out similarly, with neither of us in the mood for a big meal since we worked in the yard all day and Wife pulled birthday party duty with Son.
We eat with my parents on Sunday nights, so we deferred the pork chops until Monday.
"They'll be fine," I told Wife, trying to sell her on the fact that the soy sauce marinade would buy us some extra time.
On Monday, we got an offer to go to my mother-in-law's house for kielbasa and cabbage. And when kielbasa is in play, everything else fades into the background. I love the stuff.
To put it more clearly, you can take my kielbasa when you pry it from my cold, dead hand.
(Let's see what kind of search results that little phrase yields.)
Last night I had school, so we didn't make plans to eat together as a family. The pork chops got dissed again, but with definite plans to cook them tonight.
"You really think they'll be okay to eat?" asked the Wife.
"I don't know," I told her.
We erred on the side of caution and ditched the pork chops today. Sorry, pig.
Wife whipped up some sausage manicotti instead. I think that was the right call.
But just out of curiosity, would you have eaten pork chops that had been in the fridge five days? Where do you draw the line when it comes to possibly-rancid, possibly-not meat? How old is too old?
posted by Leighton aka MyBestInvest at
5:53 PM
9 Comments:
In our house it depends on a few variables. First, how long was the pork in the fridge prior to getting to the freezer (our deep freeze is in the basement). Second, how close to the sell by date was the pork when I bought it, since I am the queen of meat on 95% discount because its about to actually start stinking up the store. Third, does it stink? Fourth, how much do I really feel like eating pork? And fifth, is there anything else in the house to possibly cook and eat?
In this particular circumstance, I don't know a few of the variables, but I'm a lot more wary of meat that I've defrosted than meat I've brought home and put directly into the fridge. I probably would not have eaten the pork. But it wouldn't be a clear cut decision. And my husband would probably come down on the other side.
I actually had to take a food safety course when I used to work at the school cafeteria. (fun times.) :-( Anyway, the rule of thumb is "no more than 4 days in the fridge." I would have chunked it too.
Little tip: "When in doubt, throw it out." :-)
Your other readers are way more scientific than I am, but I say chunk it. Just. Ew. Throw it away.
You made the right call. After my weekend-long VomitFest™ last year, I'm super aware of all the dates mentioned above -- sell by, time spent frozen, time spent in fridge.
$4 in tossed pork is a bargain insurance policy against a weekend playing OK EVERYONE OUT! with your G.I.
Ha! I knew it! Thanks, people. I felt like sausage and tomato manicotti anyway.
All I'm saying is this. Whenever I hear, "It'll be alright." I run. That's a red flag for DON'T DO IT!
Good call on throwing out the meat.
Emily
Ha! This morning I looked at a pound of ground beef I thawed six days ago and made the final decision to toss it since it never made it into that taco salad I had planned. Pork? Four days.
And that's why I don't cook.
*shudder* Raw pig in a fridge just makes me feel yucky.
But the kielbasa in your cold dead hand? That's funny.
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