I've always been super weird about eating food past it's "date" or whatever... I just recently learned that it really is okay and my parents weren't just lying to me so food wouldn't get wasted! anyways I ended up here because I was going through the freezer for dinner possibilities. we've got a thing of ground turkey, and a large piece of pork. I don't know much about pork, no idea what kind of 'part' it is... it's large, and the label just says "natural pork" (I think it's organic or something). I can't remember which is which but one is approx. 4 years past sell by date and the other around 6. normally I would be like no way, BUT- they were both frozen in their original, unopened, vacuum-sealed packages; both packages still fully intact and neither has been exposed to any air at all; the entire time they've been stored in our full size upright deep-freeze, and though I forgot to peek at the actual temp that freezer has been turned down as low as it will go ever since we first turned it on... it's as cold as a freezer can get. the ground turkey came in a hard plastic package with thinner flexible plastic sealed across the top. it's seal is very sturdy, but because the meat doesn't reach quite all the way to the top, the small gap between meat and plastic has allowed a layer of frost to form and block my view of the meat. I won't know if it still looks good or not until (if) I open it. the pork on the other hand was shrink-wrapped in a super thick, entirely clear (besides a small square of label) plastic, and provides me with a fantastic view of the meat... and to my surprise (since I'd already seen it's date) it still looks great. still completely pink/red, no discoloration whatsoever. not even a tiny spot of frost bite forming. it looks as if it was frozen very recently, and only the sell by date on the label gives away the fact that it wasn't. so, the turkey still needs to be inspected of course (I'm not sure of the effects that frost can have on meat in general... I'm still fairly new to cooking as well) but other than that I'm good to go right? I've thoroughly read this whole page and it feels like that will (at least mostly) be the general consensus based on the info I've got about the meat. I'm still pretty insecure about my cooking skills though so I did want to ask and make sure.
and if I AM good to go... what the hell do I do with it?! the only pork I've ever cooked in my entire life (besides basic bacon, sausage and country ham) was pork chops. I cooked them once. over a year ago.... and I don't even know what kind of a 'piece' of pork this is. all I know is it's huge... if I placed it in my crock pot as is there wouldn't be any room left for anything else. lol I'm lost... helppp!
I've always been super weird about eating food past it's "date" or whatever... I just recently learned that it really is okay and my parents weren't just lying to me so food wouldn't get wasted! anyways I ended up here because I was going through the freezer for dinner possibilities. we've got a thing of ground turkey, and a large piece of pork. I don't know much about pork, no idea what kind of 'part' it is... it's large, and the label just says "natural pork" (I think it's organic or something). I can't remember which is which but one is approx. 4 years past sell by date and the other around 6. normally I would be like no way, BUT- they were both frozen in their original, unopened, vacuum-sealed packages; both packages still fully intact and neither has been exposed to any air at all; the entire time they've been stored in our full size upright deep-freeze, and though I forgot to peek at the actual temp that freezer has been turned down as low as it will go ever since we first turned it on... it's as cold as a freezer can get. the ground turkey came in a hard plastic package with thinner flexible plastic sealed across the top. it's seal is very sturdy, but because the meat doesn't reach quite all the way to the top, the small gap between meat and plastic has allowed a layer of frost to form and block my view of the meat. I won't know if it still looks good or not until (if) I open it. the pork on the other hand was shrink-wrapped in a super thick, entirely clear (besides a small square of label) plastic, and provides me with a fantastic view of the meat... and to my surprise (since I'd already seen it's date) it still looks great. still completely pink/red, no discoloration whatsoever. not even a tiny spot of frost bite forming. it looks as if it was frozen very recently, and only the sell by date on the label gives away the fact that it wasn't. so, the turkey still needs to be inspected of course (I'm not sure of the effects that frost can have on meat in general... I'm still fairly new to cooking as well) but other than that I'm good to go right? I've thoroughly read this whole page and it feels like that will (at least mostly) be the general consensus based on the info I've got about the meat. I'm still pretty insecure about my cooking skills though so I did want to ask and make sure.
and if I AM good to go... what the hell do I do with it?! the only pork I've ever cooked in my entire life (besides basic bacon, sausage and country ham) was pork chops. I cooked them once. over a year ago.... and I don't even know what kind of a 'piece' of pork this is. all I know is it's huge... if I placed it in my crock pot as is there wouldn't be any room left for anything else. lol I'm lost... helppp!