Pork loin in the fridge for a while... has a slight smell

[starrbz]

I bought two pork loins a couple of weeks ago, one of them went into the freezer, the other I made right away. I took the frozen one out and put it in the fridge last Tuesday night, but ended up not having a chance to cook it until now. When I unwrapped it, there was no smell that jumped out at me, but if I put my nose a little closer and smell it, it has a kind of weird smell... It's hard to describe, kind of a rich, meaty smell, that's just kind of "off." Do you think the pork is okay?? Could this just be from the juices sitting in the package, not the actual meat?

[starrbz]

It was delicious, and I didn't even eat it until the day after I cooked it. Nobody got sick.

[KSlink]

I find that meats always have a funny smell upon unwrapping from the grocery store--I guess we expect them to be odorless! Never have gotten sick from anything other than restaurant food, BTW...

[starrbz]

Well, after a couple of hours marinading, the pork in the marinade smelled great, no trace of weirdness. As I browned it it still smelled awesome, and now it's in the oven... seems like it's gonna be just fine. I'll let you know if I die...

[seamunky]

or write back and let us know that you DIDN'T :)

[Njchicaa]

I'd toss it. I wouldn't feel comfortable eating pork that had lingered in my fridge for almost a week.

[Amy Wisniewski]

oooh. Tuesday last week is a long of a time to keep it in the fridge. That's about 5 days or so. You never really know how long some meat has hung out in the grocery store already, or how safely it was packaged, so it can be a bit of a gamble to wait more than 3 days.
I often find that pork can have that "meaty" smell you describe, but I'm with marymac, not worth getting sick over if you are truly concerned. Plus, even if it is safe to eat, it may not taste very good.

[starrbz]

Actually, I work at the store I bought it from, so I know it was very fresh when I bought it... assuming it was fresh then, it's probably fine?

[acgold7]

Whole cuts can easily keep a week, no problem. It's ground meats you need to worry about.

Whole Beef subprimals in cryo can keep for months.

[acgold7]

Pork does not age well and tends to develop a funky smell in the package. You can reduce the smell by brining overnight and then seasoning the roast and letting it dry overnight in the fridge. It's perfectly safe but will never completely lose the funky smell.

[starrbz]

Glad to hear it should be OK. I already put it in a marinade (it needed to start now if it was gonna be OK, I figured i'd just throw the whole bag away if people said it was bad) of balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic, spices, oil... that should probably help lessen the smell, right?

Now I think I actually kinda recognize the smell from beef that was getting on in age a little bit, but was totally OK and delicious when cooked, so I'm getting less worried...

[acgold7]

Was it sealed in the thick cryovac or in the small styrofoam tray with the thin plastic over it? I assume you washed it well and it wasn't sticky or green or anything?

[starrbz]

It came in a Styrofoam tray, but I wrapped it myself in freezer paper, which is what it was in the firdge in. Yeah, I rinsed it, and it wasn't sticky at all to begin with, and the color was fine.

[acgold7]

You're fine.

[starrbz]

awesome :D

[acgold7]

It's a fine line between meaty and gross. My kids wouldn't eat lamb for a year when I crossed it once.

[starrbz]

Heh... if it ends up tasting bad I guess we'll just have pasta and cheese

[marymac]

I would not take a chance. It's not worth getting sick over.