How Long Would You Keep Uncooked Pork Ribs In The Fridge?

[choinga]

...I read a bunch of threads on here about wet aging brisket.

I bought some pork ribs from costco (cryovac'd package) that had a sell by date of 10/9 on them. I forgot I had them in my fridge and cracked them open today with a few other racks I just bought at HEB.

I've read of folks cooking pork out of a fridge that was cryo'd a couple weeks past the sell by date and they loosely based it on the 'smell'. The older ones have not lost any color, they had a different smell, but I wouldn't call it strong or nasty by any stretch...

Anyway, I threw some rub on there and I'm gonna cook them and see what happens. Just curious if anyone has found themselves in the same boat?

[Teddy N Texas]

I've had the same thing happen with ribs. They were a week past sale date and were NASTY. My smoker was ready and I had to go buy more ribs.

[choinga]

yeah, it was three racks in a pack...a couple of them had a little bit of a smell to them - not too bad - but the meat looked OK...still had a nice color and such. I'll take a bit of a nip off them and see how they turn out before serving them to my guests.

[bigwheel]

It's the smelling different deal which has me slightly concerned. The longer they are in the cryo the more sulphur type smell they have..up to the point of being sorta overwhelming but it tends to dissapate fairly rapid. Now a musky..rotten cheesy smell that grows stronger over time is not a good sign.

[choinga]

yeah, it's not a nasty cheese smell...a slight vinegar kinda smell. But like I said, no discoloration in the meat or anything like that. It sure looks good in the smoker... We'll see...

[bigwheel]

Well the vinegar smell sounds good. Bet they are perfectly fine. My old codger Winn Dixie butcher told me they would go two weeks past the expiry date at least. He did not have any predictions past the two week deal.

[Txngent]

As long as the smell was not rancid, you are probably okay. I agree with the Wheel at first when you said the smell was "not too bad"... I go by the rhyme... "if it smells funky... then you must chunky!".

[david brace]

If the smell was different, as you say, then what I would do and have done is wash all the ribs in A LOT of kosher salt and cold water. I also leave them in a second kosher salt/cold water bath for a few minutes, then give a final thorough rinse and then not worry about them again.

I ate them and we're still here.

[Crappieman]

I think, what you are smelling different id the cryovac packageing. The package has a smell to it. I think you're ok cause if you have every smelled bad pork, it is something you will remember. Also bad pork takes on a color the best I can remember. DB has the right suggestion to wash and soak in salt for a while.

[HFD26]

Here is a thread I posted on this subject back in July of 2008.
http://forum.texasbbqrub.com/showthr...ighlight=smell