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Ways To Check If Your Pork Chops Are Bad

Who doesn’t love a delicious pork chop?! When you get your hands on a tender, moist and well-flavored pork chop, you may feel like you’ve won the lottery.

Ways To Check If Your Pork Chops Are Bad

Pork chops are filled with vitamins and minerals that your body needs, and they are also a great source of protein. 

There’s only one thing that can go wrong, and that is that the pork chops have gone off. 

There are lots of different ways that you can tell whether your pork chops have gone bad.

This article will explore the best ways for you to determine whether pork chops are good or bad, including how they look and smell, their color and their texture. 

Read on for the best way to determine whether pork chops are good or bad!

Are Your Pork Chops Bad?

When you are considering whether your pork chops are still okay to eat, there are a few things that you should do. These are explored below. 

Check The Sell By Date 

The first thing that you should look at when you are checking if your pork chops are okay to eat is the sell-by-date. In most cases, you will have around 3-5 days to eat the pork chops after the sell by date has passed. 

However, while it is a good idea to check your sell by date, it is important to make sure that you also consider the other signs to ensure that you are not eating a pork chop that is bad. 

Smell Of The Pork Chop

The smell of the pork chop could indicate that it has gone bad. If you open a package of raw pork chops, you should be hit with a nice, fresh smell. However, if the pork chops have gone bad you are likely to be able to smell this. 

If the pork chops don’t smell fresh, then it is recommended that you do not eat them. 

This is the same with all other types of meat, too. It is very important to make sure that your products smell how they should, or you should avoid eating them.

Look Of The Pork Chop 

One great way to check whether a pork chop is still edible is to consider whether they are dull or gray in color. Pork chops shouldn’t be dullened in color, instead they should be pink. 

If you’re not sure what a pork chop should look like if it is fresh, then you should measure it against the look of other meats.

Pork is usually slightly darker than fresh chicken, but a lot lighter than fresh beef. The color of pork chops should lie somewhere in between the two. 

If your pork chop is not the color it should be, then this indicates that it is not suitable to be eaten. 

Texture Of The Pork Chop

Another great way to check whether your pork chops have gone bad is by having a feel of your pork chop. If you do this, make sure to wash your hands before and after touching the raw meat. 

The texture of a pork chop should be slightly wet, cool and fresh. It should not be dry, or at all slimy. If you think your pork chops feel slimy, then you should avoid eating them! 

Ways To Check If Your Pork Chops Are Bad

In most cases, pork chops start to become slimy when bacteria have started to grow on the surface. Bacteria like salmonella and E.coli are very bad for you if they are consumed. 

What Happens If You Eat A Bad Pork Chop?

If you eat a bad pork chop, there are many complications that could occur. You are at risk of contracting Trichinosis, a foodborne illness that you can get from eating bad pork. 

Bad pork can be more dangerous to eat than lots of other meats, because it is often infested with more dangerous bacteria. Specifically, the worm species named Trichinella which is where you can catch Trichinosis from. 

If you suffer from this illness from eating bad pork, you are likely to experience a lot of negative side effects. 

These side effects include abdominal pains, vomiting, fever or chills. It is very important to avoid this at all costs as it can be very damaging to your health. 

How To Tell If Precooked Pork Chops Have Gone Bad

If you have already cooked some pork chops and you have some leftovers, you should make sure that they are okay to eat.

Leftover pork is okay to eat for a day or two after it has been cooked. How long this is okay for will depend on how it was stored. 

If you place your pork in a sealed container, then it should be safe to eat. Ensure that you check that the pork looks, smells and feels as it should before you eat it.

How Should You Store Pork Chops?

The best way to ensure that your pork chops stay fresher for longer is by ensuring that they are being stored correctly. The best way to do this is to keep them sealed and refrigerated at all times. 

If you will not need the pork chops shortly, it is best to freeze them and defrost them when you need them. 

Ensure that you check the sell-by-date on the product. You can usually keep them in the fridge for around 4 or 5 days after the sell by date.

How Should You Freeze Pork Chops?

If you are going to freeze your pork chops you will be able to do so for around six months after the sell by date. Ensure that you freeze them well before the date so that they do not go bad before you freeze them.

Final Thoughts 

There are many different ways to figure out whether your pork chops are safe to eat. It is important to consider the smell, texture and look of the meat before you cook it.

If you are unsure about any of these things, then it is better to not eat the meat as it can make you very unwell.

Justin Roberts