Pork Loins

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foamheart

Gone but not forgotten. RIP
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OTBS Member
Last Friday I got 4 whole pork loins from Sam's. I just wanted 'em. LOL Two are already in the tub curing.......

My question, on the tag (price, expiration, poundage, etc) it says expiration is Sept. 26. It was bought on the 6th, does anyone else think that's sort of a long time? Yes its cryo packed, its IT in my fridge is 37 degrees (experience), but.....That's over two weeks, is it just me not noticing it before or is two weeks not normal? I will usually give my meats up to 7 days is cryo sealed and I know no temp spikes.

Anyway two weeks just seems abnormally long? Can I keep my meats longer? Sure would be nice, I don't re-freeze most meats, unless after cooking.

EDITT::: correcting the purchase date to reflect Friday's date of 9/6 instead of 9/9 like I thought. Which makes it even worse!
 
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I know that some packers are using a post pasteurization process to prolong shelf life but that's usually pre-sliced meats. Not sure about the loin ... but that does sound long. Maybe a typo?
 
I was wrong, it is 9/25..... missed by one day, I am sure that makes it all ok now....LOL


Doing these because the Canadian bacon I did, that I thought was a flop seems to have been a major hit all around the community. I have little old church ladies calling because they heard about it instead of tasting it. You don't make the little old church ladies feel like they were left out or you'll be sorry. Thats why two whole loins are taking the cure now.
 
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I'm on board and watching!

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Disco
 
 
Last Friday I got 4 whole pork loins from Sam's. I just wanted 'em. LOL Two are already in the tub curing.......

My question, on the tag (price, expiration, poundage, etc) it says expiration is Sept. 26. It was bought on the 9th, does anyone else think that's sort of a long time? Yes its cryo packed, its IT in my fridge is 37 degrees (experience), but.....That's over two weeks, is it just me not noticing it before or is two weeks not normal? I will usually give my meats up to 7 days is cryo sealed and I know no temp spikes.

Anyway two weeks just seems abnormally long? Can I keep my meats longer? Sure would be nice, I don't re-freeze most meats, unless after cooking.
They have started doing that up my way lately too - I picked up the brisket I just put in the smoker on the 5th & the sell by date is the 20th 
icon_eek.gif



Anyway... Until I find out differently I will not keep my meat in the fridge that long regardless of what the tag says...
 
 
What are you doing to "cure" them?  Is it a brine?  I was looking at some from Sams on Saturday and now it sounds really good.
Yeppers I put in Pops cure (wet cure), added a few flavor modifiers, will smoke 'em in a a couple a weeks. Like I said I wasn't that impressed with my last canadian bacon, even asked my Canadian buddy what I did wrong.

The other two, Planning on low and slow with my loin brine, and going experimental on the other trying to infuse italian flavors into a loin by steeping Italian spices and adding to a normal brine.

But Here I was wondering from some of the chefs or USDA experts if this is common place now on the date. Sort of worries me..........

It's one of those things if now common place, we all need to watch out for when buying meat. The "1/2 off need to sale" area may not be such a good shopping spot. If I saw this with a 9/25 date 1/2 off on 9/23, I would now be more scared than I was before I saw this.
 
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****BUMP****

I wanted to bump this hoping that some of the Guru's might have something to say. If you guys can come up with a 4/140 rule this should be right up your alley.  I was willing to blow it off as silly then Smokin shows up with another tag. Have the rules changed? I know we get fresher longer lasting veggies now due to better genetic qualities, handling and faster transportation, are we seeing the same with our meats?
 
Greetings Gentlemen...The major national packers, IBP, Excel and others, go through extraordinary lengths to avoid contamination. Along with that the time spent in the Cryovac accomplishes the Wet Aging process, giving the meat flavor and tenderizes it. Meat in the original Vac-pack has a 4-6 week shelf life. This is how Big Box Grocery Store chains like Walmart and Costco can purchase Truck or Train loads of Pork and Beef then distribute all over the country. Pops tells a story about a trip to tour a meat packer that among other items packed Hamburger in 10lb tubes, and that had the long shelf life! It is only when the Grocery Store Butchers break the seal to portion the meat, with other than super sanitary hands and equipment, and wrap the cuts on Pink Foam Trays, or mix tube ground beef with their ground trim that you get the 5-7 day sell and use by dates. If the Stores receive the " Shelf Ready " meat close the the Pack Date you will see their labels with what seems like crazy long sell and use by dates. This is common for Spare and Baby Back Ribs, Whole Pork loins, Pork Tenderloins, Pre-marinated Meats and Vac-Packed or MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) packed individual portions. I purchased Armour Kielbasa to make Pickled Hot Sausage. I bought it the last week of June...The Sell By Date is...OCTOBER 3rd!!! You are fine with that Loin unless at some point before you use it the packaging gets Puffy like a balloon that's ready to pop...JJ

BTW...This is the reason I don't go nuts when a member purchases a pair of Vac-Packed Pork Butts and Injects or Probes them right out of the refer...Baring working with dirty hands in a filthy kitchen, there is just not much there, if anything, Bacteria wise to Push in to the meat. If you are talking individual Butts repackaged by the 18 year old kid working the night shift...Then I wash it well...
 
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Greetings Gentlemen...The major national packers, IBP, Excel and others, go through extraordinary lengths to avoid contamination. Along with that the time spent in the Cryovac accomplishes the Wet Aging process, giving the meat flavor and tenderizes it. Meat in the original Vac-pack has a 4-6 week shelf life. This is how Big Box Grocery Store chains like Walmart and Costco can purchase Truck or Train loads of Pork and Beef then distribute all over the country. Pops tells a story about a trip to tour a meat packer that among other items packed Hamburger in 10lb tubes, and that had the long shelf life! It is only when the Grocery Store Butchers break the seal to portion the meat, with other than super sanitary hands and equipment, and wrap the cuts on Pink Foam Trays, or mix tube ground beef with their ground trim that you get the 5-7 day sell and use by dates. If the Stores receive the " Shelf Ready " meat close the the Pack Date you will see their labels with what seems like crazy long sell and use by dates. This is common for Spare and Baby Back Ribs, Whole Pork loins, Pork Tenderloins, Pre-marinated Meats and Vac-Packed or MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) packed individual portions. I purchased Armour Kielbasa to make Pickled Hot Sausage. I bought it the last week of June...The Sell By Date is...OCTOBER 3rd!!! You are fine with that Loin unless at some point before you use it the packaging gets Puffy like a balloon that's ready to pop...JJ

BTW...This is the reason I don't go nuts when a member purchases a pair of Vac-Packed Pork Butts and Injects or Probes them right out of the refer...Baring working with dirty hands in a filthy kitchen, there is just not much there, if anything, Bacteria wise to Push in to the meat. If you are talking individual Butts repackaged by the 18 year old kid working the night shift...Then I wash it well...
Thanks JJ
 
Thanks JJ, Thanks David, So since I have not seen this "freshness" range before I am guessing they are telling me that they are faster, cleaner, and safer now. Another thing I thought of, I don't remember buying meat from Sam's before. Larger turn over means faster availablities I guess.

I am having a family meal Sunday, normally I wouldn't hold a loin that long, that is over a week, but gonna give it try. Thats a week and a half before its expiration day.
 
Meat is too expensive to take risks. It's a good idea to put anything that's not going to be used immediately or frozen on ice until you use it.
The sell by/use by dates are just numbers used as a guide, there's nothing sacred about them.
You have no way of knowing the spoilage or pathogenic microorganism load because you have no way of knowing how the meat was handled from the packer to the purveyor's meat case.



~Martin
 
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