Cleaning out the freezer and…pork ribs from 2011. Ah, such carefree days….
Your ‘best by ‘ dates, I laugh at them. Ha! Ha, I say!
So, how’d they turn out? Well, unless something rather untoward happens in the next eight hours, just fine. Why wouldnt they? These were vacuum sealed, and have been sitting below zero for the last eleven years. The moral of the story here? If you package meat properly, and keep it consistently frozen, it should be just fine literally a decade later.
This is now officially the oldest meat I have eaten out of my freezer, wildly trouncing the five year old turkey I had a few years back.
Ah.the memories……..
Go for it, brother!
I ate some pork chops that went into the freezer in 2017 this week. Absolutely just like the ones that went in last month.
Vac seal, freezer at 0F, no defrosting, and you are good for a LONG time.
n
It’s fine. Not freezer burnt at all.
I package meat the same way, and once ran across a steak that was about 15 years old. It was fine.
Scientists and Eskimos have been known to eat 12000 year old mammoth quick frozen in the Northern Ice with no ill effects.
I hope it was smoother and more tender than that 5,000 year old stuff.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/12/permafrozen-dinner/604069/ Odd thing is it did not taste of Chicken but in fact “absolutely unpalatable” with “an intolerable putrid smell.”
https://inara.cz/galaxy-commodity/10100/
https://shop.minimuseum.com/products/mammoth-meat
https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/uk/mammoth-meat/
Yummy. The key was vacuum sealed, that kept that meat looking good with no frost burns or drying out. Anecdotally use only branded Food Saver or high quality bags and rolls. The Walmart or knock off brands are much thinner and seems an inferior material. Now this article has me shopping for a redundant machine (supply chain, panic demand competition, collapse concerns, etc ) and backstockng bags/rolls just like needing stocked canning jars/lids supplies. Your articles always inspire and activate my credit card, thanks much.
Do you guys put a little liquid in before freezing to eliminate any air? I’ve had a few with small amounts of air after bagging that have some freezer damage. Thanks
Does that help?
“…Your articles always inspire and activate my credit card…”
lol, i noticed the same effect, Frosty.
“will it digest?”…!
Please do not send us photos of the results – pass or fail!
in a like manner we ground up some heirloom (flint) corn i had hanging in our garden house from 2007. i use it periodically for seed in the garden, adn we thought we’d try it in cornbread. it was delicious and couldn’t tell the difference. pretty impressive after it just hang out in the shed all that time…
if they can keep a man’s head in cryogenics to bring him back in 100 years, why not his favorite pork cuts?
@frosty, it’s coming into estate and yard sale season. Those are a great place to look for preps. I’ve found several foodsaver machines at estates sales for very little money, and I occasionally find rolls of bags too.
It’s a good thing to have spares.
n
Assuming the can was in good shape and upon opening nothing was obviously wrong, how old was the oldest canned (ex: store bought can of beans or some such) item you’ve eaten? I’ve got some old stuff (5 or 6 years) that I want to try but don’t want to lose 20 lbs in the next 24 hrs if you know what I mean.
http://www.commanderzero.com/?p=5694
A few months ago we opened a can of mushroom soup to put on our chicken tenders. It was great. This can was expired in 2010!
Can was in good shape with no dings and was stored in the basement which almost never goes above 68 degrees. No heat in winter and floors above ac during the warmer months.Tom
BTW. Where exactly did you get your cast iron stomach transplant done?
Ebay!
I recently pulled some butterfly cut tenderloins (deer) from the freeze dated 12/14/2021.
Four months doesnt seem terribly noteworthy.
After realizing the dumbness of that comment, I must say that it was fresh and delish.