Frozen shelf life

cardiac_cadet002

cardiac_cadet002

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Hey Brothers and Sisters! I was cleaning the deep freeze and ran across a 17lb brisket still in the cryo. thats about a 1 1/2 years old. I've done a search and cant find a definitive answer to whether its still good or even safe to fix it. Whats your thoughts?
 
I'd defrost in the fridge, open it up and smell it. If it smells good I'd smoke it. And then after you smoke it, I'd give it a try. If it tastes good, eat it. If it doesn't feed it to the dogs.

I don't know about 1.5 years, but I wouldn't go 4 years. This I know...
 
trp1fox said:
I'd defrost in the fridge, open it up and smell it. If it smells good I'd smoke it. And then after you smoke it, I'd give it a try. If it tastes good, eat it. If it doesn't feed it to the dogs.

I don't know about 1.5 years, but I wouldn't go 4 years. This I know...
Click to expand...

Thank you! you speaking from exp?
 
The meat is going to be safe to eat.....how tasty and dry it is, well....that's a different question.
 
trp1fox said:
I'd defrost in the fridge, open it up and smell it. If it smells good I'd smoke it. And then after you smoke it, I'd give it a try. If it tastes good, eat it. If it doesn't feed it to the dogs.

I don't know about 1.5 years, but I wouldn't go 4 years. This I know...
Click to expand...

Good advice!!
 
trp1fox said:
I'd defrost in the fridge, open it up and smell it. If it smells good I'd smoke it. And then after you smoke it, I'd give it a try. If it tastes good, eat it. If it doesn't feed it to the dogs.

I don't know about 1.5 years, but I wouldn't go 4 years. This I know...
Click to expand...

Sounds good!:-D Except give it to a neighbors yappy dog if in doubt.:biggrin:
 
gotwood said:
The meat is going to be safe to eat.....how tasty and dry it is, well....that's a different question.
Click to expand...


Gotwood has got it right. If the brisket has been frozen, never defrosted[power outage, etc], it will be safe to eat. I am guessing that in the original cyro-pac it will still maintain good eating quality too.

USDA says properly frozen food in a deep-freeze lasts indefinitely as far as safty is concerned.
 
qman said:
Gotwood has got it right. If the brisket has been frozen, never defrosted[power outage, etc], it will be safe to eat. I am guessing that in the original cyro-pac it will still maintain good eating quality too.

USDA says properly frozen food in a deep-freeze lasts indefinitely as far as safty is concerned.
Click to expand...

Safe yes, good tasting? No. :oops:
 
Bigdog said:
Safe yes, good tasting? No. :oops:
Click to expand...

Absoulty right Bigdog. Taste or quality is a seperate issue from safty.
4 years, I too say NO. But 1.5 years, maybe. If cyro-packed, and solidly frozen, it COULD still taste fine. Maybe not something for a comp:shock:, but ok for home use, or at least chili.

As a kid growing up, we regularly ate stuff out of our freezer that was over a year old. Tasted good, too.
 
Smoked slow and low, I have done some old beef and elk and had no problems as long as the freeze has been uninterrupted.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I belive the butcher told me they were frozen a few days out from the exp. date. I'll defrost it this week and cook it Thursday and report back how it is.
 
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