Old frozen roast

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

Sure, it'd be "safe"! But, the question remains, will it be palattable
and or edible (sp?)?!

Sky, who's not sure either

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Providing it hasn't suffered severe freezer burn and the freezer hasn't
had a serious power outage since 2003, I'd eat it. Mine may not be a
normal response though. And I'd cook it as you suggest after cutting of
the freezer burn. Bacteria shouldn't be a problem. Dehydration may be
for taste and texture.
In an old-time non frost free freezer, I've eaten fish that were four
years old. Because I've done it doesn't mean it's good advice.

leo

"Sky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Sure, it'd be "safe"! But, the question remains, will it be palattable
and or edible (sp?)?!

Sky, who's not sure either

When spelling fails you for :edible," use "eatable."
:-))

Dee Dee

Ron <[email hidden]> wrote:

:Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
:round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
:eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
:the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
:might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
:than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Assuming your freezer keeps a temperature of at least 0F (-18C), and
hasn't been turned off, and isn't a self-defrosting one, and it was
safet when frozen, meat (and any thing else) will be safe pretty much
forever. That's not to say it will be tasty, though.

"Ron" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

If it is dried a lot, you'll end up tossing the roast and all the added
ingredients. You can't really salvage the dehydrated muscle very well. One
bite and the texture will tell you that. If it is just one tiny tip, trim
it off.

"Ron" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

As you're eating it, think of the mammoths they found in the Siberian
permafrost.

"deja.blues" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:0HiWi.8771$R%4.449@trnddc05...

Quoted message said:

"Ron" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

As you're eating it, think of the mammoths they found in the Siberian
permafrost.

Surely they didn't do a taste test?
Dee Dee

"Ron" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Yikes! Throw it away for sure. Waaay too old I think. I believe meat only
keeps for something like 6 months. Maybe a year tops.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

Last year I found an eye of round roast that had been frozen for six and
a half years, and it was fine. Of course it had been vac-packed in a
FoodSaver bag, which really helped with the drying/freezer burn/off-
taste acquisition issues.

But if your roast has been fully frozen all this time, it should
certainly be safe to eat. Since eye of round is a pretty dense cut of
meat, I think it can take more freezer abuse than a thinner steak.

Bob

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

Perfectly safe. Frozen food does not spoil. It will lose quality, and
you might want to grind it for chili or use it in a stew.

--
Peter Aitken

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

You won't die from eating it but will it be worth all your time,
effort, and added ingredients attempting to salvage a small
inexpensive piece of meat of which you will likely take one taste and
pitch anyway. I wouldn't even consider preparing that for dinner...
I'd defrost it, slice it into strips, and pitch it into my back yard
for the carrion eaters... a raucous murder of crows will dispatch it
expediciously and my cats will enjoy the show. That piece of meat
probably cost no more than $10, more than four years ago... you
already long ago lost out on your meat investment just on the loss of
your capital for all that time and whatever interest it may have
accrued (not even gonna mention all the money you wasted over 4 years
paying for energy keeping it frozen), why add insult to injury by
trying to cook it and stuff it down your maw without heaving it up.
Stocking up on perishable food is always a [censored] poor investment,
especially in the US.

Sheldon

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

Of course it is safe. 4 years is still young. It doesn't even start to
get interesting until at least 10 years in the freezer. ;-)

Thaw it out slowly and see what you've got. Trim off any obvious
freezer burn and cut up the rest for stew meat, or grind it up, or
whatever else you'd do with an eye of round. If it is wrapped properly
in freezer paper, there may not be any freezer burn to trim off.

Bob

"Ron" wrote in message

Quoted message said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron, I'll go with several others here. If it's been solid frozen all that
time, then its still 'safe'. Depends on how well wrapped it was, as to how
good it will still taste. My husband drives me batty by freezing meats just
in the styromfoam and thin wrapper from the store. Me, I double bag frozen
items in those larger ziplock typebags (I even save them for the next use
since all they hold is pre-wrapped frozen items).

Assuming it was reasonably wrapped, I'd actually be thinking to make jerky
of it. Could be the outerlayers are burned (trim away) but the inner core
might work well still for that. Also you could trim the outer then put the
rest in a grinder and probably get decent enough ground beef from the inner
core. I do not think submerging it in beef stock will yield a tender cut.

One last idea, add it and some bones to the crockpot with water and veggies
and make home made beef broth. It probably will do that well with only
trimming any obvious freezer burn areas off.

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

I would eat it. I would probably cook it in my crockpot covered with
broth and lots of chili powder and then shred it for Texmex type
recipes -- tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc.

Tara

"Cshenk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

in the styromfoam and thin wrapper from the store. Me, I double bag
frozen items in those larger ziplock typebags (I even save them for the
next use since all they hold is pre-wrapped frozen items).

Foodsaver vacuum sealer. You won't regret it.

On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 18:57:55 -0400, Tara <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

I would eat it. I would probably cook it in my crockpot covered with
broth and lots of chili powder and then shred it for Texmex type
recipes -- tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc.

Tara

Thanks to all, I really appreciate the ideas. We usually don't let
meat sit in the freezer for more than a month, so we're new at this
long term freezing stuff. FWIW, it was double wrapped once in a
plastic wrap and again in freezer paper. The freezer stays pretty
much at -10 F all the time. We've had a few power outages, but short
lived and never long enough to melt the ice cubes. It's good to know
it probably won't kill us, but the taste may be questionable. I think
the TexMex idea may be the best bet to instill a little flavor into
the beast. Thanks again everyone.

Ron Kelley

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

I'd be more inclined to grind it and use it for burgers or hotdish.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Quoted message said:

Ron Kelley

I'd be more inclined to grind it and use it for burgers or hotdish.

I have a large bottom round in my freezer. It's probably a tear old.
I figure I'll thaw it enough to trim off all the freezer damaged
exterior, then maybe use it for stock.

Quoted message said:

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ

--Bryan

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ron said:

Well, we finally got to the bottom of our freezer and found an eye of
round roast dated 4/15/03. The question is... is it still safe to
eat? Assuming it has dried out some (a lot), I thought putting it in
the slow cooker and submerging it in beef stock and some sort of stew
might bring it back to life. Any help or suggestions would be more
than welcome. Wife wants to pitch it, I think it can still be saved.

Ron Kelley

I'd be more inclined to grind it and use it for burgers or hotdish.

That would be good idea too. Mix in a little onions and seasonings
for added flavor wouldn't hurt either. Thanks for the suggestion.

Ron Kelley