I finally organized my walk-in cooler and found a mystery cut from last year

Decided to clean out the back corner where stuff tends to pile up, and behind some old boxes was a vacuum-sealed package labeled 'pork shoulder' with a date from like 14 months ago. It looked fine, no smell, but I wasn't about to risk it, so I had to figure out how to dispose of it safely. Ended up calling my buddy who runs a farm for pigs, and he just laughed saying his animals would love it. Now I have a new rule to check dates twice a month, but that was a weird afternoon.

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_bennett241mo ago

Ugh, I totally get that sinking feeling when you find something old like that. Had a similar thing happen with some frozen chicken last winter, and it's just such a waste. Good call on getting your farm buddy to take it, though I'd be nervous too about feeding it to animals without knowing for sure. Your new rule to check dates twice a month is smart, gotta stay on top of it. Makes me want to go through my own freezer now, honestly. Hope it doesn't happen again, but at least you handled it.

the_hayden1mo ago

Finding a year-old pork shoulder would FREAK me out. How did you decide it was okay for the farm pigs without any testing? I've heard vacuum sealing can keep food fresh longer, but 14 months is a long time. What if there was some bad stuff you couldn't see? Your buddy must trust you a lot to feed it to his animals. Now with your new rule, are you actually writing dates on everything or just looking at things?

cameronjenkins1mo ago

My friend fed his pigs year-old vacuum-sealed meat once, and now he always writes dates on everything.