Hey folsk,
Opened a pack of venison to stew. It smells. Not sure if I should eat it. We detected this before with this meat. Haven't had any deer meat since the spring. It was vacuumed packed and butcher by a pro.
Should I throw it out?
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Hey folsk,
Opened a pack of venison to stew. It smells. Not sure if I should eat it. We detected this before with this meat. Haven't had any deer meat since the spring. It was vacuumed packed and butcher by a pro.
Should I throw it out?
That's a hard question to answer without knowing what it actually smells like, and the history. Wild meat always smells different than beef or pork. If it was handled properly, butchered and frozen properly, it's likely ok....
Rule #1 is "If in doubt,throw it out." Don't ever take chance.
X 2 from here as wellQuote:
Originally Posted by trimmer21
Only you can answer that question. If it smells "off" then for me it would be dog food. I'd also be tempted to take it back to the butcher and get his opinion. It doesn't take too long if a deer gets bloated before field dressing for that smell to permeate the whole animal.
Cheers
Don't take a chance, but even if butchered & vacuum packed depends on the condition of the meat before it was processed. From field dressing to hanging/cooling, skinning etc. Could even only be parts of the meat were bad? I vacuum seal also but tag (type of meat, cut, date) each package. This way I keep track of rotation.
Just add curry! It works in India....
if it is bad you will know it right away no need to ask ,,A little funky smell is not out of the ordinary ,,if slimy green or sour you will know it right away ,you can rinse it in cold fresh water then give it another sniff ,,,if it is just a little funky it should smell better after a rinse ,,if okay after then just cook it well done ,,,,,If it has gone bad then throw it out .but it takes a lot for it to go bad in the freezer vac packed ,,Dutch
Not if it might have been "close" to funky from the get-go.Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchhunter
X2 !!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by seabast
If the is a lot of blood in the meat, it will smell 'funky''. soak it in italian dressing and fire up the Q.
If the rest of the deer you have is good maybe there was a mix-up at the butcher and you got part of someone's bad deer?
As for the smell, rinse it out, if it still does smell off or look off.....you can still cook it well done (but then it won't taste like much) better option dog food or dump it...
Dutch X2
Was it good going into the freezer?
If yes, why is it not good quality coming out of the freezer?
Power failure, old/poor quality freezer?
How are other items coming out of the freezer?
Clearly more to the original question that just a single package of meat!
Going into freezer, some parts did smell a bit... the deer were dressed rather late in that it was found quite some time after being shot. Some parts have had no smell... while others yes. My hunting buddy said he smelled the same thing from the same animal a few times over the past year... come to think of it, I recall that some of the parts when it was butchered did smell...
I rinsed and let it soak overnight. Seems to still smell off...
Maybe I should take a chance.
thanks guys
After reading this I am glad I process my own immediately after the kill. You never know what you will get from the so called pro butchers... :)
Actually, I wouldn't blame my butcher. If there is a "pro butcher" out there, he'd qualify for that.. He has a very successful fine meat and specialty grocery shop in T.O. and he's very familiar with deer meat. It's probably our fault b/c the animal began to bloat a little and it was unreasonably warm when it was harvested. Some of the cuts have no odour whatsoever.Quote:
Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter
The last few deer seasons have been unseasonably warm and wet in our area,making it necessary to really hussle the meat to a cooler within an hour or two of field dressing. That makes it necessary to have a plan in place before any shots are fired. We saw a couple of crews with the generator/freezer combo sitting on trailers ready to go which was a very good idea.
If the butcher had any concerns about the meat quality, he certainly would have told you .
Any chance it's freezer burn smell? By this point in the year I find some of the ground meat will have a slight freezer burn smell.
That's what our crew does while moose hunting. Chest freezers and generators, just in case the weather isn't going to let us hang the animal. Another option is to secure a local outfitter / butcher / camp with access to a walk in freezer or cooler that you can temporarily keep your animal in. There are some that will do this for a fee, some won't, but it doesn't hurt to ask.Quote:
Originally Posted by trimmer21
FishFrenzy
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanO
it was vacuumed packed... and we got a few stinkies last year too
I was wondering earlier if you meant only some of the packages were off. If so, then a flag would sure go up in my mind. Sounds like you got someone else's meat mixed in. How well do you know the butcher shop?Quote:
Originally Posted by Splaker
Cheers
You have a built in safety system, your brain and nose know how to detect the smell of bad meat. You just know...don't question it, it is instinct. You could roll the dice and hope your gut flora takes care of the bacteria but is that a gamble you want to take?
My sentiments,exactly. Salmonella can give you a bad case of flu-like symptoms for up to a week. Botulism,E-Coli,Lysteria and Trichonosis are whole different ball of wax. Sometimes,if not fatal,it can screw your life up forever. It's simply not worth the chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyinRed
Salmonella almost killed my father.He was off work for a year before the doc gave him the ok to go back.I think too many guys insist on hanging their meat to tenderize it and if it warms up during the day it doesn't matter how cold it gets at night.Would you take your steaks out of the fridge and leave them on the counter every day for a week then freeze them and eat them 6 months later.
Lamb meat smells so bad to me that I can't eat it, same with some pieces of grass fed Angus beef. (Strangely, I have no issue with any game meat)
So maybe this few stinky pieces are just more gamey!?
For me & my family, any suspect food goes to the bin, immediately. Absolutely not worth the risk.
BTW, had a beyond epic experience after a nice seafood dinner overseas (it looked, smelled & tasted great). Don't even want to remember about!
FWIW, I had vacuum sealed store bought ribs turn GREEN in the fridge once. Bacteria is nothing to mess with.
This thread is still going ! lol When in doubt throw it out !
Bottom line... it won't be any worse than it was when it went into the freezer as long as it's been kept frozen. If you've already eaten the same meat and had no problems, you won't have any now.
Generally, your not going to get any of those on wild deer.Quote:
Originally Posted by trimmer21
Botulism - a bacterial spore that cause it are common in both soil and water (cook to 185)
E-Coli - intestinal bacteria (cook to 185)
Listeria - can be found many places, but is most common in the large scale production of pre-packaged foods, which are typically not cooked (cook to 185)
Trichnosis - parasitic disease caused by roundworm - usually contracted by eating undercooked pork or bear (cook to 185)
As far as deer meat going "funky" - sometimes the fat goes rancid, even when its frozen. It won't make you sick, but it doesn't taste very good. I try to get through my deer meat before 6 months in the freezer.
If you are worried about health concerns, then cook to well done (185). That cures all four of the above ills. You should never encounter trichinosis in a deer. e-coli and botulism maybe - if you've rubbed dirt or feces over the exposed meat. Listeria - possible from preparing the meat in an unclean environment (where there is prior contaminiation) either at the butcher shop or in your kitchen.
So based on the above, expired meat products cooked above 185F are fit for human consumption…. What about the toxins, any concerns?Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
Okay - you're coming across as a bit of an idiot.Quote:
Originally Posted by G.S.
Could you define what you mean by "expired meat products"?
That's a term that used by people only familiar with grocery stores where everything has a "best before" date on it. We haven't been discussing that here.
We've been discussing deer meat that has been stored in a freezer.
We've been discussing deer meat that, storage time aside, has been exposed to bacteria or parasites.
The two really have nothing to do with that - and that was my point.
Meat does not get contaminated in your freezer. It gets contaminated either before you put it in or after you take it out. The length of time in the freezer is completely irrelevant - that's my point. And if you're worried about contamination, I've highlighted how to deal with it.
The same logic would apply, correct?
And, about your “sweet tongue”: keep it for your bodies or your family members.