Vacuum sealed- spoiled? Or something else?

[f308gt4]

When smoking meat, i usually cook large batches and vacuum seal the left overs. I use the quart or gallon sized bags, along with a manual pump to get the air out. Has worked great for me for years.

Recently (last week) pulled out a batch of Ribs (cooked and frozen for about a month), and when reheated, the ribs had an off-smell. I took a taste, and the taste was off as well, so wound up throwing out the entire batch.

Last night I took out a bag of pulled pork (that had been cooked and frozen about a year). Reheated in the crockpot. Off-smell and taste was not quite right. Thrown out again.

Trying to figure out what’s happening. Freezer is working fine, and the food was frozen, and packages still were under vacuum. Both meats were prepared and frozen at different times.

Any ideas on what could be happening? I’ve thrown out a lot of meat these last couple of weeks and would like to prevent this happening again.

Thanks!

 

[Guiltyr1]

Are you sure you never lost power and that the food refroze?

 

[f308gt4]

Almost positive. Lots of other food in the freezer, and it gets turned around fairly quickly. Stuff like ice cream,etc that would be obvious if it had melted and refrozen.

 

[Guiltyr1]

Put a clear container with water in the freezer. Once frozen, put a penny on top. If it thaws, the penny would have sunk. Or freeze a container upside-down. Once frozen, right-side it. If it thawed, the water would have sunk to bottom.

Regarding what you froze and sealed... did you eat some before freezing your batches? Could it just be coincidental? Rather strange none-the-less.

 

[f308gt4]

Put a clear container with water in the freezer. Once frozen, put a penny on top. If it thaws, the penny would have sunk. Or freeze a container upside-down. Once frozen, right-side it. If it thawed, the water would have sunk to bottom.

Regarding what you froze and sealed... did you eat some before freezing your batches? Could it just be coincidental? Rather strange none-the-less.

Ok, will do that with the penny. Like I said earlier, I don’t think it was from thawing, but I dont have any data to truly confirm.

Yes, we always eat some fresh. Come to think of it, the pulled pork was part of several (6 ot 7) bags that were frozen. We’ve eaten other bags from that same cook date previously without issue. To me, this suggests that it was thawed out, but like I said, everything else in the freezer like ice cream, other foods were OK.

 

[IamMadMan]

I've had stuff fall behind packages in the freezer, only to find them almost 2 years later. Everything was fine. I've even had 24 hour power failures and nothing has thawed as long as the freezer has been kept closed.


If you didn't have a long-term power failure, then I suspect that maybe your manual pump isn't evacuating all of the air. Air, even just a little, can cause freezer burn; which in turn can give your meats an off flavor.



Tell tale signs of freezer burn are ice crystals forming in the bag and/or light yellowish coloring on the surface areas.



Your bags for long-term storage should be drawn down so tight that you can't manipulate any product inside the vac-sealed bag.

 

[FashionBiff]

Contaminated pump? I really dont know but love the penny idea, just will have to mark it as which way is up to remind myself and incase the better half moves it.

 

[f308gt4]

If you didn't have a long-term power failure, then I suspect that maybe your manual pump isn't evacuating all of the air. Air, even just a little, can cause freezer burn; which in turn can give your meats an off flavor.

Contaminated pump? I really dont know but love the penny idea, just will have to mark it as which way is up to remind myself and incase the better half moves it.

Hmmm, hadn’t thought about the pump. I will check it out- perhaps it isn’t working well for some reason, or contaminated.

Good ideas guys, really appeciate it!

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Yes, those pumps do wear out or maybe just a light coat of veggie oil around the O-Rings next time you use it.

 

[THoey1963]

By contaminated pump, it could mean that some meat juice or whatever got in the pump, went bad, and was somehow released into the bag? Might need to inspect the pump for mold.

 

[sleebus.jones]

I've lost items in my freezer that I've sealed for 4 (!) years and they were fine. I had a eye of round in the factory cryovac for 5 (!!) years (we were out of the country) and it was fine...and that one partially thawed due to a freezer failure. Gotta be something else at work here.

 

[cholloway]

Is it a "frost-free" freezer.
If so, it may be going through its warming cycles just enough to effect the pork.

 

[rexster314]

My money is on the vacuum sealing process. Air has to be evacuated to a minus pressure in these bags to work properly. Most handheld vacuum sealers just can't do that. And the idea that the pump was contaminated is a good one. Most Foodsavers can't accomplish a true vacuum, but it's close enough for most things.

 

[sleebus.jones]

And the idea that the pump was contaminated is a good one.

So. If the pump is sucking air OUT, how exactly is anything getting IN?

Contaminated pump doesn't make sense.

 

[Swine Spectator]

Did you seal while the food was hot/warm? If you didn't cool the food properly, it is possible it soured/ went bad before you froze it...

 

[seakuv]

Did you seal while the food was hot/warm? If you didn't cool the food properly, it is possible it soured/ went bad before you froze it...

The above is definitely a consideration - to which I would ask the question - even if the food was sealed at room temperature - did you perhaps stack a bunch of bags on top of each other? A bag in the middle of a stack or pile can take a long time to freeze. I'm in the habit of making sure to spread out the new vacuum sealed bags so that they will freeze as quickly as possible. Keeping the freezer at -6 to -10F is very helpful for long term food preservation as well.

 

[rexster314]

So. If the pump is sucking air OUT, how exactly is anything getting IN?

Contaminated pump doesn't make sense.

Excuse me, obviously you don't need my help