Foul smelling raw ribs....still safe???

Jonnysouth

A good friend of ours brought out some ribs the other day that he had frozen in his freezer. I put them in my fridge so they could thaw out. Took them out this evening to prep them for tomorrow. A fairly foul odor emanated from that package. It’s a set of 3 baby backs from Sam’s Club. He’s 88 years young and brings out meat so we can have a meal and then we vacuum seal the remaining ribs into packs of 3 so he can put them in his freezer and use for easy meals going forward. Would you guys move forward with smoking them or cut losses now and get a new set? The date 9/3/19 was on the package to eat or freeze by. I’m not sure when he purchased them??

Battleborn

If it does not smell right, don't eat it...great life advice. 

HeavyG

Cryovac'ed pork ribs often have a funky smell when you first open the package. The initial smell alone is not usually a sign of trouble.

General advice is to rinse them off and set them aside and dispose of the packaging  - if the ribs still smell funky after sitting out for a while then they may have gone bad. 

If they still smell funky you should probably also areas of the rib meat that have changed color/texture and if that is the case I'd trash them out of caution.

ColbyLang

I agree with @HeavyG. If they smell funky after you rinse and dispose of package, ditch em. Baby backs ain’t pricy enough to risk it. 

wardo

I would pitch em if they smell bad. The risk reward seems too skewed to me

DoubleEgger

Send them to @caliking. He’ll eat them. 

alaskanassasin

Agree with @DoubleEgger let @caliking take a whiff 

kl8ton

I saw the thread title and eas going to reccomend that you ask @caliking but others beat me to it. 

BigreenGreg

I've opened up those Costco three pack ribs before and had them smell bad. Cleaned them up, cooked them, they were delicious.

caliking

Man... Cook one rack of smelly ribs and somehow you get a reputation

Check the meat carefully for any signs of decomposition. If it looks and feels good, may be ok. 

But given the age of your company, consider just cooking something else. I have considerable intestinal fortitude, so generally end up ok after such adventures. Even so, I had my clothes picked out and my ID ready for a trip to the ER, for the cook alluded to above. 

wardo

That's the way to be prepared!

GrateEggspectations

These threads are always so much fun. It’s like the Russian roulette of barbecue. We’ve only lost a few members along the way. 

speed51133

I recently ate a grass fed new York strip. It stunk when I opened it. Too expensive to part with it. It was also real slimy. I rinsed it and rubbed it in cold water. I then heavily salted and cooked it medium. My stomach hurt for two days but I didn't vomit or get the runs. Success??🤔

GrateEggspectations

speed51133 said:

I recently ate a grass fed new York strip. It stunk when I opened it. Too expensive to part with it. It was also real slimy. I rinsed it and rubbed it in cold water. I then heavily salted and cooked it medium. My stomach hurt for two days but I didn't vomit or get the runs. Success??🤔

As I’ve touted before, for me, once the seed of doubt has been planted, I won’t enjoy it - whether or not it has actually gone bad. When in doubt, I throw it out. 

Nature Boy

For years this comes up, and I always wonder how anybody can count on a green flag from the forum on whether it is safe to eat something Safe eating everyone! Chris