Smelly beef

[PigletJohn]

I took a 2kg vacuum-packed joint out of the freezer last night, had been there since Christmas but am pretty sure it was frozen day of purchase.

When I put it in the oven about 1pm it smelt quite unpleasant for about half an hour (seems to have gone now)

I suppose it will have to go in the bin.

any comments?

I'd cook it and taste it cautiously, vac packed beef can smell pretty odd even when fresh.

If it was frozen on the day of purchase and kept frozen it will be fine. If DCs helping themselves to ice creams have left the door open, it may be less fine.

Even then it's generally only stuff approaching it's 2nd or third birthday that I chuck out.

but it had quite a strong unpleasant smell, surely that's not normal?

quite a lot of dark red blood in the tray when I unwrapped it.

thawed out overnight in a cool kitchen

will I really know by tasting it?

If vac packed and lying in blood, v normal.

( it's why I can't buy them. )

That's normal for vac packed (freaked me out at first). Enjoy it - it's definitely roast beef weather.

OK, thanks, I'll get the mash on.

If I'm not back tomorrow it's all your fault.

I once had a vac packed Lamb joint & it said on the packet it will smell when opened. No idea if its the same with beef??

Well the cold beef that was in my fridge too long tasted wrong and went in the bin not my couscous.

Roast beef is very unlikely to give you food poisoning anyway. Bacteria will only be on the surface and blasted to kingdom come in the oven.

Yep, start and finish on very high oven for 30 minutes.

Totally normal for vac-packed meat to smell a bit funky to begin with

No D&V yet

It looked excellent, with a good beef gravy with Primitivo.

The taste and scent were not up to my usual standard though. Business was bad last Christmas so it was tucked away for a special occasion rather than being cooked for Boxing day. Wish we'd had it sooner now. Waste of a nice piece of Topside.

I now have at least a kg of chilled topside in the fridge. I've had so much left over.

Some sort of curry or casserole perhaps? Far too much for sandwiches, and if it still tastes odd i think it will need something with quite a hearty flavour to muffle it. I think I have identified a similar (but no so bad) "liverish" taste in vacuum-packed steaks at wetherspoons, especially when rare.

Not keen on chili or hot curries. Can't make piecrust.

Cut up, use just enough for now, and freeze the rest. Chuck in a curry sauce and slow cook for 3 hours with lots of onions. Chuck in any other veg an hour before you're done depending on whatever sauce you use.
Or chuck in a bottle of beer and follow above. Garlic, onion granules, pepper and a hint of chilli/paprika and a beef stock cube or granules would be better to your taste. Or even if you fancy, a tin of toms. Trust me - I used to buy those beef roasts from the co op a fair bit in winter (when on half price) when we had a holiday home many years ago. Do try one again, and cook fairly slowly. You will see a difference.

My mum would have minced it, made it into bolognese and then froze it in small portions (to be reheated only once).

I don't have a mincer, so I would have to cut it into small pieces. I'd make sure it gets cooked through when reheated.

A strange smell is normal with vacuum packed beef. Some packs have warnings about the smell.