Much of the meat we buy today comes in cryovac packaging. The meat is vacuum-sealed inside heavy plastic. The removal of most of the air helps keep pathogenic bacteria from growing and it also prevents the meat from oxidizing. Meat stored in cryovac packaging will last a lot longer in your refrigerator. But, what if it has a strong smell when you open it? Is it spoiled?
When you first open a package of cryovac packed meat, it may have a strong odor. This odor may be offputting, but it should not smell like putrid meat. When meat rests for long periods in cryovac packaging, it wet-ages. This produces gases inside the sealed packaging and the smell that comes out when you open it is called off-gassing. As long as it doesn’t smell like, well, rotting meat, don’t worry. It will dissipate within 15 minutes or so and after that, the meat should smell fine, if a little “aged.”
Properly aged meat doesn’t smell the same as putrid meat. If you’ve ever smelled a dead and rotting animal, you know the difference! So, after you open your package of meat, let it sit for a while to allow the smell to dissipate. After that, if it smells pretty much okay, and it doesn’t feel slimy or tacky to the touch, it is safe to eat. The meat may also return to a more normal red color.
You can store cryovac packed meat in your fridge for longer periods than conventionally wrapped meat that is placed in a plastic tray and covered with plastic wrap. The amount of time you can store it depends on how long ago it was packed. Not all meat and poultry products bear the same type of date, but here are some general time-frames for storing cryovac packed meat past its “use by” date.
- Beef: ~ 4 weeks
- Lamb: ~ 2 weeks
- Pork: ~ 10 days
- Chicken: ~ 4 days
These dates are not written in stone! Use them as a general guideline only. It’s possible that any of these products could be spoiled before the listed times have passed, or that they could be good for longer periods.
