Is it normal for boston butt to have a good amount of blood in the cryovac?


 
B

Bryan B

TVWBB Fan
Maybe I haven't noticed it before, but all the Smithfield Boston Butts at Wal-Mart I saw on Sunday, had a pretty substantial amount of blood in the cryovac around the fatty section of the butt.

I was going to look for one that didn't have blood, but pretty much all of them did.

I've generally not seen this in the Boston Butts that I buy, but I prefer to get them from a local place when I can. I was at Wally world for something else, so I just decided to get them there.

Is this fairly normal from your experience?

I'm hoping I can just wash them off and everything will be fine.
 
It's not blood. Muscle contains water, the color is from minute amounts of blood left in the fibers after slaughter. It's just colored water you are seeing in the packaging. Blood would be very thick and congealed, not watery. Just drain it off when you open the package....
 
Sometimes when opening a cryovaced meat you may also get an unpleasant odour that some people assume means the meat has spoiled and throw it away. Rinsing the meat under cold water will normally eliminate the odour and the meat is safe to use. If after rinsing the meat still has a spoiled smell then don't eat it.
 
Bob Sample said:
Sometimes when opening a cryovaced meat you may also get an unpleasant odour that some people assume means the meat has spoiled and throw it away. Rinsing the meat under cold water will normally eliminate the odour and the meat is safe to use. If after rinsing the meat still has a spoiled smell then don't eat it.
Click to expand...

I've noticed that too Bob especially with beef ribs, do you know what causes it?
 
Bob Sample said:
Sometimes when opening a cryovaced meat you may also get an unpleasant odour that some people assume means the meat has spoiled and throw it away. Rinsing the meat under cold water will normally eliminate the odour and the meat is safe to use. If after rinsing the meat still has a spoiled smell then don't eat it.
Click to expand...



We had this happen with a package of ribs once. I had read somewhere that it is often not a big deal and just rinse them good so we did. Unfortunately, that didnt work. :(

And more unfortunately, we were cooking in a competition. We didnt win ribs. :mad:
 
Gary I'm not really sure what the cause is but I've noticed it with ribs and brisket which is about all I buy cryovaced.
 
Apparently cryovaced brisket is good up to 64 or 68 days from the kill date according to my butcher. I can't remember exactly it was over 60 days for sure. Obviously without air it can't spoil but maybe it is a stale odour for the product that has been in cryovac longer? I buy my briskets too and they are always cryovaced. One place here I get them from uses about 2000lbs a week making jerky, never noticed the odour from there possibly because of the turnover. The other place well he brings in brisket for me but does not sell as much so possibly that's the answer.
 
I just trimmed two 50 day briskets for a comp this weekend. Very strong beef odor. Not a bad smell but it you didn't know what to expect, you would think they had spoiled, but spoiled or rotten meat is not hard to tell. You need to leave the room and try to keep from puking.

BIG WARNING, don't try aging unless you have the kill or pack date from the case it came from.
 
Last edited:
I pulled the butts out of the cryovac this morning and there was initially an unpleasant smell. I took others advice and rinsed under cold water for a few minutes and that seemed to take care of it.

I put my nose up real close to them and detected a slight smell, but not a bad smell. It sounds like if meat was spoiled or rotten, it would not be a subtle smell.

The use by on these is also 4/27 so I would seriously doubt they would be bad. I am planning to smoke them tonight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top