Mark Shaw wrote:
> BOB > wrote:
>> Mark Shaw wrote:
>>> Last Sunday I bought a couple of pork shoulders for
>>> sausage from Costco. I got busy, though, and they
>>> stayed on the bottom shelf of my fridge until yesterday
>>> (Friday) evening, at which point they were four days
>>> beyond the "sell by" date. They were sealed in plastic
>>> (I think the name for this kind of packaging is Cry-o-
>>> vac).
>
>> The "sell by" date is just that...a sell by date. The
>> meat doesn't automatically expire after the sell
>
>> What was the temperature in your refrigerator? Was it
>> contantly below 40?F? If so, you will be fine. If the
>> door was opened and closed a lot, or left open for a
>> period of time, you might have a problem.
>
> I'm running 38F, and the door doesn't get a whole lot of
> use (no teenagers in my house, for example).
>
> I'm assuming I'm fine. I'll go easy on the first batch
> of sausage or two just to be sure, though - having had
> food poisoning once, I'm not anxious to repeat the
> experience to any degree greater than necessary. The
> hallucinations are great fun, but the digestive-tract
> issues are not....
>
> Thanks for all the opinions.
>
>> My opinion is that it will be safe unless the 'fridge
>> door was open lots of times and the nominal temperature
>> wasn't kept below 40?.
>
> I think you mean "above," right? 
Yes, that's probably what I meant, unless I was trying to type "nominal
temperature *was* kept below 40?. "
Either way, I'm glad you caught the real meaning.
>
> A final note: I've gotta say I really love my new Porkert
> #12. I'd been running my meat through my Kitchenaid
> mixer's grinder attachment, and there's just NO
> comparison. I went through 13+ pounds of pork in no time
> flat.
One last thought...had this been me, and knowing my refrigerator and my
door habits, I'd fo ahead and do the whole batch and feel that I was
completely safe.
You might try going he
http://www.ask-a-butcher.com/
and ask Steve the same question you asked here. He is one of the best,
and is a retired butcher, back when a butcher meant he had to know about
meat and meat safety.
BOB