Spoiled Meat???

Help! Last Saturday, I bought a flat on sale at Sam's - had one day before it's expiration date. Forgot about it until 10 pm last night.

I opened it to smell it. There was a slight disageeable odor but I think it could be a combination of the styrofoam and plastic package it was in. Since I want to cook it this week end,I didn't want to freeze it for a day and then have to defrost it for a couple of days in the fridge.

Therefore, I vacum sealed and put it back in the fridge.

1. Should I have frozen it or do you think it should be ok??

2. What's the best way to determine if a piece of meat has spoiled?

By this weekend it will be a week past the expiry date- as much as I hate to loose good meat I paid for, I think I would pass on week old.

But it depends who you're cooking for- if it's just yourself or family who goes in eyes open, you can always give it a try and see how it tastes. I imagine anything that would make you really sick will be killed by the cook, so you can roll the dice with not much downside.

You are fine if it was in cryo vac. I often hold packers for 1-3 months past the sell by date in a very cold fridge and in the original cryo vac packaging.

Expiration dates, sell-by dates, use-by dates don't neccesarily mean much. They might, but you've no way of knowing what criteria were used. There is no mandated guidelines for those dates on meat.

Disagreeable odors can come from the lack of air in the packaging, especially if cryo'd. They usually dissipate after the packaging is opened and the meat is exposed to air. If the odors do not dissipate spoilage bacteria have likely taken hold. This usually occurs in cryo'd meats if the cryo has been damaged, even slightly.

Disagreeable odors can come from spoilage bacteria. Spoilage bacteria rarely cause illness. Pathogenic and toxigenic bacteria do--but they neither have nor create odors.

Meat that is not in cryo, i.e., meat that has been packaged for sale in plastic wrapped styrofoam or the like, has a much shorter shelf life than meat in intact cryo.

Odor, discoloration, a slimy feel--any or all can indicate the beginning of or advanced spoilage.

Ok - if Sat. morning I open the brisket and it hasn't chg'd much at all from when I sealed it - it is probably ok.

If slimey or really strong odor bad discoloration - discard?

Thanks - I'm afraid it's really going to be borderline.