Roast Lamb ??

ABSOLUTELY! It will have a funny smell when you first open it but that will dissipate in about five minutes and it will taste as fresh as the day you bought it. ENJOY!

Not toally sure of cryovac details, but it look like a best effort at totally sealing the goods. I'm sure that helps keeping the nasties out, but still there is bound to be bacteria inside the meat and the act of refrigeration only serves to slow their growth. I believe thats why use by dates are only valid when stored at or below whatever degrees. 7 days is usually the fridge life of meat I think...? Personally, I'd stick with that. I'm not one to shy from days old food, but I'd give this one a miss.

Tonester

Provided while it was in the Esky it remained below 4 degrees, we were still eating cryovaced red meat after 6 weeks. Trust your nose!

I dont know if Lamb is any different to beef , but, as long as it has been kept cold , then month old beef that has been cryovact is no problem at all.

From what I can remember , its only if you freeze it , then thaw it , then try to freeze it again , that problems can occur. If its kept cold all the time then no problem.

We have had cryovact meat in the fridge for months (not quite the same though, granted)

We have had cryovac meat keep for 4 weeks in the engel.

What have you got to loose. Open it wash it to get rid of that cryovaced smell, and cook.
How far is the emergency room anyway ??

There wont be a prob as long as the Cryovac seal hasn't been broken. Wombat's answer is right, trust your nose. It may be necessary to scrape and trim the outside a bit. I'll come to dinner if invited.
"Bug..., your in Vic - can't make it".

A great way to do lamb in the bush is to have the butcher bone out the leg first & butterfly it. Then 1 hr before cooking remove from fridge, lay it out flat & rub in a pre prepared (at home) mix of rosemary (herb), ground pepper (lots) & course salt. Better still if the butcher can rub in the herb mix before he Cryovacs it. Leave it to come to ambient temp wrapped in a tea towel. BBQ it laid FLAT (one of the simple common old wire type clamped/hinged bbq thingies is great) over nice hot coals.
Maybe 5 mins either side will leave it a little pink in the middle. Enjoy

Musty, We get cryovac'd meat from King Island from time to time and it sits in the frigde till the slight green tingle forms in the base of the pack, then the meat is exactly right, it takes a while too. So I reckon yours should be easy well within its withholding period.

As most have said, it will be OK, if still sealed.

Crypovac process effectively ages the meat, tenderises it, preserves it, for about 6 weeks.

Ever had a nice tender steak (e.g. rump, scotch fillet, porterhouse) at a restuarant? Most likely the cook has sliced it off a cryovac peice of meat.......it's just that you did not know that he did that.

If smelly or slimy, wiping with a cloth dampened with vinegar will get it to an acceptable state very soon.

Enjoy.

Let's see...... iMusty posted this at 1420 hrs. Say he eats tonight, food poisoning takes...... what....... 6 hours to set in...... so....... we'll see if he's still posting at 0900 hrs. tomorrow.

Okay..... we're taking bets ladies & gentlemen!!

Wolfie

P.S. When in doubt, chuck it out........

Hi iMusty

Vacumed meat with bone in (bone may pearce the bag and allow the meat to spoil) next time get it boned.

when you open the bag there will be a smell this will go away with in a short time 5 to 10 min. If the colour of the meat does not return then it is wise to investigate ealier than latter. If the colour returns (oxidises) then it is usaly fine the coulr will not return if too much bad bacteria is present.

The bacteria will be in the juices that vacuming forced out of the meat if the jucie is clear and fluid and not gone to a jelly like consistency then it is fine. It is this slime jelly that will kill you wash the leg in vinigar to remove it (vinigar also kills the bacteria and may help the colour return) Just let it air and smell again. As in most of the above posts trust your nose and if in dout throw it out.

If you want to freeze it then cook it and slice it and then freeze it in small easy thaw sizes.

25 years of butchering and I only ever eaten meat on the verge of spoiling (decomposed) its the best (most tender) meat you can eat. but if it tastes (acidic or tangy) then dont swallow it just acept you missed it by a day or two of being it's best.

I dont supose Toms (Cruse) is coming over for dinner

Happy cooking

Trevor

Musty,
we use this system all the time for the last ten years and have found that if kept refrigerated will last more than 5 weeks. Watch for bones etc that puncture the seal, oh and after opening leave for at least 10 min for the meat to regain some air for cooking.

When working in the local 'meatworks' 20+ years ago we would be told to keep the unopened meat in the bottom of the fridge for at least 6 weeks before thinking about opening. On the occasions when bones were left in bone guard (fabric) was used to seperate bones and bag.

Presuming that your butcher used the same method of ..removing air, sealing bag and dunking in boiling water as we used there shouldn't be a problem.

Mrs Slave

didya didya didya cook it and whatd it taste like?