I pulled stew meat out of my fridge tonight that was not at all past it's sell-by date. When I opened it, it had a strong smell and I freaked out because I had nothing else on hand. As I waited around, deciding what to do, the smell seemed to go away. I read that if you do a salt rinse and the smell goes away, the meat is most likely safe. I decided to cook it (in soup, long cook time) but the more I read, the more I wonder if I am about to poison my family. Should I throw out all of those ingredients? Ugh...
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As a former chef and such an adamant meat eater that I actually have the primal cuts of beef and pig tattooed on my calves I feel I can answer this. If this was just normal store bought meat in a package then the smell can be pretty expected. They do odd things sometimes like color the meat chemically, add water to the meat to increase weight and so on. So the longer it sits tightly wrapped the longer the smells fester. If you left them sit a bit and the smell was gone, you are fine. Also since they were not to their sell by date (which is usually way too early for it to go bad) they should be fine. Also spoilage itself doesn't mean you would get sick. Pathogens are what technically make you sick and not the deterioration (spoilage) of the meat. However even spoilage that won't make you sick should probably be avoided as it can indicate a deeper problem. If the smell is so bad you can't handle it, through it out. If the smell hits you as you open the package but lessons, don't worry it's just trapped gasses. If the meat is overly slimy or sticky, toss it. I am guessing though since you are stewing it that even if it had a bit too much bacteria it would die. What you have described sounds fine to me. |
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When in doubt, throw it out =/ I know it sucks to throw out meat but it's better than making yourself and/or your family sick. |
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You do realize that foods contaminated with E-COLI or other 'food poisoning' pathogens do NOT smell bad right? Meat can go 'bad' without any of those pathogens being present, like when you leave a hunk of cooked beef in the fridge way to long and it gets some green mold on it. PERFECTLY SAFE TO EAT, you will not get food poisoning from that. Get some E-Coli onto some lettuce and let it sit out at room temp for about 8 hours, and it won't smell at all. But you will be sick like you wouldn't believe. |
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My stewing meat usually has a very pungent smell. No need to worry. We never get sick. As long as the smell isn't revolting, just strong. |
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My experience with meat, poultry, etc., is that if it smells I rinse it off with water. If it still smells after that, then I toss it. If it smells fine, then I cut into it and smell it again. If the inside smells bad, then I toss it. If not, then I cook it and make sure that it is cooked appropriately (e.g. a little on the dry side for chicken, just to make sure!) |
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I'll echo sentiments here, as well offer this. If the meat smells "musty", in my experience the meat is older which isn't a bad thing (in fact, many pay top dollar at high end steakhouses for such service). My prep for pot-roast is to coat with kosher salt and let it sit for a week in the fridge. When it comes out, as Alton Brown has said, "it will smell a little funky". But the taste... If the meat has a pungent, sharp, foul smell... stay well away. |
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This is an issue I've encountered with irradiated ground lamb (yup, didn't get it at the Farmer's Market, but the grocery store). When I opened the package, I smelled sulfur very strongly. It didn't otherwise seem "bad", did some research, and low and behold that happens to irradiated meat sometimes. I ate it, and everything was fine. I avoid irradiated foods, but didn't want to waste the meat I already had. |
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