I Made Bar B Que Beef 3 Weeks Ago, Is It Still Good?
History tells us that smoking fresh meat has been a food preservation method for millennia. Of course, these days it's more of a hobby than a necessity. Simply people are all the same passionate about enhancing meat with smoky flavors because it tastes amazing.
Unfortunately, just similar any other nutrient, smoked meat, fish, and poultry have a express shelf life before they spoil and go bad.
So, how long does smoked meat last before it spoils?
If information technology's non handled or stored properly, not only can all the hours — and perhaps fifty-fifty days — of work stop up going in the bin, information technology may fifty-fifty result in causing food poisoning.
According to Centers for Affliction Control and Prevention also known every bit CDC:
48 1000000 people get ill, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases each twelvemonth in the United States.
Nutrient poisoning is serious but easily preventable.
With proper handling and storage, smoked meat can final 4 days in the refrigerator or if properly wrapped, up to 3 months in the freezer.
This article will help you lot understand the time frame, proper handling and storing of smoked meat before it goes bad, and so y'all tin keep information technology every bit long as we state.
Note: This information applies to hot smoked meat that nosotros wish to store for eating later. We do non embrace below how long you lot tin can store meat cold smoked intentionally for preservation purposes, such equally charcuterie. This is another topic entirely and will be covered elsewhere.
If Smoke Aids in Meat Preservation, Why Refrigerate Them?
Before refrigeration people used a combination of smoking, curing and drying to preserve meat. Today we just smoke information technology without curing or drying, and so it needs to exist refrigerated because moisture promotes the growth of bacteria.
Equally discussed in our guide on how to shop meat, we must sympathise information technology is bacteria that deteriorates meat and gives u.s.a. food poisoning. Bacteria thrive in moist protein-rich environments betwixt 40 °F to 140 °F (four °C to lx °C). To bacteria, that slab of ribs marinating exterior the fridge for iii hours is a luxury resort.
Leaner populations multiply exponentially and can double in four to twenty minutes, creating millions of cells in every bit little every bit a few hours. Are you aware that it only takes as piddling as x Eastward. Coli bacteria to give you food poisoning? Don't lick your fingers after touching raw meat no affair how adept the marinade looks.
The smoking process kills bacteria because they dice at 160 °F (71 °C) and hot smoking brings the external temperature of the meat to 225 °F (107 °C).
The smoking procedure also dries the outside of the meat and leaves smoke deposits which inhibit bacteria growth and help in preserving freshness. But, the inside is withal moist, and as before long equally you cut it or poke it with a thermometer, you innovate new bacteria.
You still need to air-condition or freeze freshly smoked meat every bit quickly as possible to get it out of the "danger zone" temperature of xl °F to 140 °F (four °C to 60 °C).
Wrap to Prolong Your Smoked Meat Shelf Life and Seal in Flavor
Government agencies and dwelling chefs agree that even properly wrapped and refrigerated smoked meat should be consumed within 4 days. And you lot don't want to keep it in the freezer longer than three months. Longer than that and information technology will exist unsafe for y'all, your family or your pets.
When storing your meat in the refrigerator, use the smallest container possible. Air is non your friend. Vacuum packing or storing in sealed bags are great for removing excess air and sealing in season.
Endeavour to refrigerate the meat inside two hours, and it should keep well for up to four days.
Practice Food Safe When Smoking Meat
Improper food handling reduces the shelf life of your smoked meat by contaminating it with bacteria and increasing the chance of food poisoning.
Cross-contamination happens when you lay cooked or smoked meat on the aforementioned surface as the raw meat or not washing your thermometer before you lot reuse it.
On the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Smoking Meat and Poultry page, they cover all the aspects of safely handling and smoking meat. A major factor is internal cooking temperatures. Hither are the USDA guidelines for minimum internal temperatures for all meat, smoked or not.
- Ground beefiness, pork, lamb, and veal to an internal temperature of 160 °F
- Sausages that contain basis turkey and chicken should attain 165 °F
- All poultry cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F
- Beefiness, pork, veal, lamb steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of 145 °F
If you like to make smoked sausages, here is the link to the USDA guidelines for Sausages and Nutrient Safe.
Tips for Freezing Your Smoked Meat Stash
The goal of wrapping meat for freezing (or for your refrigerator) is to retain the water content and wet. "Freezer burn down" is a status where the food has dehydrated during freezing.
Wrapping meat for freezing is a two-pace procedure.
Footstep one, wrap the meat using a quality plastic wrap. Better still, use butcher paper or freezer newspaper with the wax side inwards. Butcher paper will come off easier than plastic when thawed.
Step two, wrap the meat in aluminum foil. The foil holds the first layer in place and prevents moisture from evaporating (sublimating, if y'all want to get technical).
You tin take the actress step of putting the package within a plastic freezer purse to protect the foil if you tend to move things around your freezer. Be sure to label and appointment each packet. Y'all should apply all frozen meat inside 3 months. Even with proper packaging, the quality will fade then apply it before iii months.
Remember, freezing does not kill bacteria. Ever use proper care when handling any food products from prep to cooking to storing. If y'all contaminate the meat before freezing, information technology will be waiting for yous when information technology thaws.
An culling to the newspaper & foil method is vacuum sealing. It volition assist extend the shelf life, seal in flavour, but bacteria can nevertheless thrive without oxygen, so freeze immediately after sealing.
When Is Information technology Unsafe for Consumption?
If meat feels slimy or smells questionable, don't hesitate to dump it. And, if yous have doubts…NEVER gustatory modality information technology unless you estrus it at least to 165 °F first. If you aren't sure, it's always all-time to follow the adage…
When In Dubiety, Throw It Out!
How You Store Smoked Meat Matters
According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) guidelines:
Refrigerate meat and poultry within 2 hours of removing it from a smoker. Cutting the meat or poultry into smaller portions or slices, place it in shallow containers, encompass, and air-condition. Use it within 4 days or freeze for later on employ.
Here are some meat and poultry storage guidelines for your reference, for both refrigerated and in the freezer:
- According to the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, they say y'all can store cured or smoked poultry upwardly to two weeks in the refrigerator or if properly wrapped, up to one twelvemonth in the freezer. (TAES Extension Poultry Scientists 1999).
- You lot tin shop lightly cured fish for between 10-14 days in the refrigerator, or between two or 3 months in the freezer (Luick 1998).
- Vacuum packaged meats, e.m., smoked fish, must be kept at 40 °F since the reduced oxygen atmosphere increases the risk of botulism poisoning (Luick 1998).
Set your refrigerator between 33 °F (0.5 °C) and 36 °F (2.two °C) and freezer at 0 °F (-17 °C) or below.
Smoked Meat Is Perishable So Bask it Now
You go to a lot of problem to make smoked meat, fish and poultry so enjoy information technology while it's fresh.
Other than when dried, such as jerky, smoked meat has a relatively short shelf life, which comes as a surprise to many people who believe it tin can keep for as long equally cured or dried meat.
But by following standard sanitation practices and refrigerating it promptly, you can have condom and delicious smoked products in store and fresh, ready for eating at your convenience.
Have y'all annihilation to add together that might assist other readers? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.
Source: https://www.foodfirefriends.com/how-long-does-smoked-meat-last/
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