Big Smoke and Food Handling Question

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Hey All,

My Uncle Art and I smoked 50-60 lbs of pork on his big trailer smoker yesterday. Pic below.

Quick food handling question: I pulled the pork late last night, vacuum sealed it, and stuck it in the fridge. We're serving it Thursday night. Will it be OK in the fridge until then, considering it's food sealed? Or, do I need to stick it in the freezer and thaw it out on Thursday?

411-Smoke.jpg


Thanks,
Bret
 
Was it at or below room temperature when you vacuumed it? If it was cooled well it might hold till Thursday. 4 days.

But for me.... That's 4 days and two to long for me. I'd freeze it NOW. Thaw it on the day of. Heat in hot water in the vac bag, but then I've never had that much meat to do all at once either.
 
I stuck it in the freezer and will thaw it out on Thursday. The bags are too big to boil, though (I got 4 butts worth in two gigantic food saver bags). I just thought that when vacuum sealed, I could get more time out of them in the freezer.

Thanks,
Bret
 
You might get more time but I would not take the chance when feeding others. Just my .02
 
Length of time in foodsaver bags isn't much of a concern, seriously. What I am concerned about is packaging four butts in two bags! That's a lot of meat in one package, and it would take a very long time for the meat in the middle of the package to cool down to below 40 degrees. If all that meat was still hot when it went in the fridge that's more trouble. You have 4 hours in the 'danger zone' to play with, but this includes prep time (trim & rub), and time during reheat before the meat reaches serving temp. Please make sure you re-heat very well.
 
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